10-K
1
f10k2020_cffinanceacq3.htm
ANNUAL REPORT
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION
13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION
13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from __________
to __________
Commission file number: 001-39826
CF FINANCE ACQUISITION CORP. III
(Exact name of registrant as specified in
its charter)
Delaware
37-1827430
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)
110
East 59 th Street, New York, New York
10022
(Address of principal executive offices)
(Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including
area code: (212) 938-5000
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b)
of the Act:
Title
of Each Class:
Trading Symbol(s)
Name
of Each Exchange on Which Registered:
Units, each consisting of one share of Class A common stock and one-third
of one redeemable warrant
CFACU
The Nasdaq Stock Market
Class A common stock, par value
$0.0001 per share
CFAC
The Nasdaq Stock
Market
Redeemable warrants, exercisable for Class A common stock at an exercise
price of $11.50 per share
CFACW
The Nasdaq Stock
Market
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g)
of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant
is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is
not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant
(1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during
the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been
subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant
has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§
232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit
and post such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant
is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth
company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer, “smaller reporting company”
and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer
☐
Accelerated filer
☐
Non-accelerated filer
☒
Smaller reporting company
☒
Emerging growth company
☒
If an emerging growth company, indicate by
check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial
accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant
has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial
reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared
or issued its audit report. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant
is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☒ No ☐
The registrant’s shares were not listed
on any exchange and had no value as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of 2020. The registrant’s units
begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market on November 13, 2020 and the registrant’s
shares of Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market
on January 4, 2021. The aggregate market value of the units outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates
of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing price for the units on December 30, 2020, as reported on the
Nasdaq Stock Market was $241,500,000.
As of March 15, 2021 there were 23,500,000
shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share and 5,750,000 shares
of the Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the registrant issued and outstanding.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
PART I
Item 1.
Business
1
Item 1A.
Risk Factors
20
Item 1B.
Unresolved Staff Comments
20
Item 2.
Properties
20
Item 3.
Legal Proceedings
20
Item 4.
Mine Safety Disclosures
20
PART II
Item 5.
Market for Registrant’s
Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
21
Item 6.
Selected Financial Data
21
Item 7.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis
of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
22
Item 7A.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About
Market Risk
25
Item 8.
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
25
Item 9.
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants
on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
25
Item 9A.
Controls and Procedure
25
Item 9B.
Other Information
26
PART III
Item 10.
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate
Governance
27
Item 11.
Executive Compensation
31
Item 12.
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners
and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
32
Item 13.
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions,
and Director Independence
34
Item 14.
Principal Accounting Fees and Services
37
PART IV
Item 15.
Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
38
Item 16.
Form 10-K Summary
38
i
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This Report (as defined
below), including, without limitation, statements under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations,” includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act. These forward-looking statements
can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words “believes,” “estimates,”
“anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will,”
“potential,” “projects,” “predicts,” “continue,” or “should,” or, in
each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. There can be no assurance that actual results will not
materially differ from expectations. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our ability to
consummate any acquisition or other business combination and any other statements that are not statements of current or historical
facts. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various
factors, including, but not limited to:
●
our ability to complete the AEye Business Combination (as defined below) or any other initial business combination (as defined below);
●
our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;
●
our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements;
●
our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, if necessary;
●
our pool of prospective target businesses;
●
the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities;
●
our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;
●
the lack of a market for our securities;
●
the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; or
●
our financial performance.
The forward-looking statements
contained in this Report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects
on us. Future developments affecting us may not be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number
of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance
to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Should one or more of these risks
or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from
those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. For
forward-looking statements relating to AEye (as defined below) and the AEye Business Combination, please see the AEye Registration
Statement (as defined below) to be filed with the SEC (as defined below).
ii
Unless otherwise stated
in this Report, or the context otherwise requires, references to:
●
“AEye” are to AEye, Inc., a Delaware corporation;
●
“AEye Business Combination” are to the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement (as defined below);
●
“AEye Registration Statement” are to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-4 to be filed with the SEC (as defined below) in relation to the AEye Business Combination;
●
“board of directors” or “board” are to the board of directors of the Company;
●
“Cantor” are to Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, an affiliate of us, the sponsor and CF&Co.;
●
“CF&Co.” are to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., the representative of the underwriters in the initial public offering;
●
“Charter” are to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on November 12, 2020;
●
“Class A common stock” are to our Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share;
●
“Class B common stock” are to our Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share;
●
“common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock, collectively;
●
“Continental” are to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, trustee of our trust account (as defined below) and warrant agent of our public warrants (as defined below);
●
“founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock initially purchased by the sponsor in a private placement prior to the initial public offering, and the shares of our Class A common stock issued upon the conversion thereof as provided herein;
●
“DGCL” are to the Delaware General Corporation Law;
●
“DWAC System” are to the Depository Trust Company’s Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian System;
●
“Exchange Act” are to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended;
●
“FINRA” are to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority;
●
“initial business combination” are to a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses;
●
“initial public offering” are to the Company’s initial public offering that consummated on November 17, 2020;
●
“initial stockholders” are to the sponsor and any other holders of our founder shares prior to the initial public offering (or their permitted transferees);
●
“Investment Company Act” are to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended;
●
“JOBS Act” are to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012;
●
“management” or our “management team” are to our officers;
●
“Merger Agreement,” are to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 17, 2021, as it may be amended from time to time, by and among the Company, AEye and Merger Sub (as defined below);
●
“Merger Sub,” are to Meliora Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly-owned direct subsidiary of the Company;
●
“Nasdaq” are to the Nasdaq Stock Market;
iii
●
“PCOAB” are to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ;
●
“private placement shares” are to the shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the private placement units;
●
“private placement units” are to the units issued to the sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, which private placement units are identical to the units sold in the initial public offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this Report;
●
“private placement warrants” are to the warrants sold as part of the private placement units;
●
“public shares” are to shares of our Class A common, par value $0.0001 per share, sold as part of the units in the initial public offering (whether they were purchased in the initial public offering or thereafter in the open market);
●
“public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares;
●
“public warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in the initial public offering (whether they were purchased in the initial public offering or thereafter in the open market);
●
“Registration Statement” are to the Form S-1 filed with the SEC on October 7, 2020, as amended;
●
“Report” are to this Annual Report on Form 10-K of the Company for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020;
●
“Sarbanes-Oxley Act” are to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002;
●
“SEC” are to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission;
●
“Securities Act” are to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended;
●
“specified future issuance” are to an issuance of a class of equity or equity-linked securities to specified purchasers, which may include affiliates of Cantor, that we may determine to make in connection with financing our initial business combination, to the extent permitted under applicable regulatory and contractual requirements related to those funds and accounts;
●
“sponsor” are to CF Finance Holdings III, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company which is 100% owned by Cantor;
●
“trust account” are to the trust account in which an amount of $230,000,000 ($10.00 per unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the units in the initial public offering and private placement units was placed following the closing of the initial public offering;
●
“units” are to the units sold in our initial public offering, which consist of one public share and one-third of one public warrant;
●
“U.S. GAAP” are to the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America;
●
“warrants” are to our redeemable warrants, which includes the public warrants as well as the private placement warrants to the extent they are no longer held by the initial holders of the private placement warrants or their permitted transferees;
●
“we,” “us,” “Company” or “our Company” are to CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III; and
●
“Withum” are to WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm.
iv
PART I
Item 1. Business.
Overview
We are a blank check company
formed on March 15, 2016 as a Delaware corporation for the purpose of effecting an initial business combination. Since our
initial public offering, we have focused our search for an initial business combination on businesses that may provide significant
opportunities for attractive investor returns and on structuring, negotiating and consummating an initial business combination.
Our efforts to identify a prospective target business are not limited to a particular industry or geographic region, although we
expect to focus on a target in an industry where we believe our management team and founders’ expertise will provide us with
a competitive advantage, including the financial services, healthcare, real estate services, technology and software industries.
Our management team consists
of:
● Howard W. Lutnick, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, who joined Cantor in 1983 and has
served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cantor since 1992 and as Chairman since 1996;
● Anshu Jain, our President, who also serves as the President of Cantor, a position he has held since
January 2017, and previously served as a senior executive of Deutsche Bank, which firm he joined from Merrill Lynch in 1995,
most recently in the position of Co-CEO from June 2012 to June 2015; and
● Alice Chan, our Chief Financial Officer, who joined Cantor in March 2015 and has served as Global
Controller and Managing Director of Cantor since March 2019.
We, the sponsor, and CF&Co
are all affiliates of Cantor. Cantor is a diversified company specializing in financial and real estate services for customers
operating in the global financial and commercial real estate markets, whose businesses include CF&Co, a leading independent
middle market investment bank and primary dealer; BGC Partners, Inc., or BGC, whose common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select
Market under the ticker symbol “BGCP”, a leading global financial technology and brokerage business primarily servicing
the global financial markets; and Newmark Group, Inc., or Newmark, whose Class A common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global
Select Market under the ticker symbol “NMRK”, a leading full-service commercial real estate services business. We believe
that the combination of our management team’s and our affiliates’ financial services, financial and real estate technology,
and real estate industry expertise and proven ability to grow businesses through acquisitions make us uniquely qualified to pursue
acquisitions.
Past performance of Cantor,
its affiliates and our management team is not a guarantee either (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate
for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should
not rely on the historical performance record of Cantor, its affiliates, or our management team as indicative of our future performance.
Initial Public Offering
On November 17, 2020, we
consummated our initial public offering of 23,000,000 units, including 3,000,000 units issued to the underwriters upon full exercise
of their over-allotment option. Each unit consists of one public share and one-third of a public warrant. The units were sold at
a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $230,000,000.
Simultaneously with the
closing of the initial public offering, we completed the private sale of an aggregate of 500,000 private placement units to the
sponsor at a purchase price of $10.00 per private placement unit, generating gross proceeds of $5,000,000.
A total of $230,000,000,
comprised of $225,000,000 of the proceeds from the initial public offering and $5,000,000 of the proceeds of the sale of the private
placement units, was placed in the trust account maintained by Continental, acting as trustee.
We must complete our initial
business combination by May 17, 2021, six months from the closing of our initial public offering, as such date may be extended
by the sponsor for an additional four months up to four times, for a total of up to 22 months, or to September 17, 2022, in
accordance with the Charter (subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as set out below). If
our initial business combination is not consummated within the allotted time, then our existence will terminate, and we will distribute
all amounts in the trust account.
1
Our units, public shares
and public warrants are each traded on the Nasdaq under the symbols “CFACU,” “CFAC” and “CFACW,”
respectively. Our units commenced public trading on November 13, 2020, and our public shares and public warrants commenced separate
public trading on January 4, 2021.
AEye Business Combination
On February 17, 2021, we
entered into the Merger Agreement with Merger Sub and AEye. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, subject to the terms and conditions
set forth therein, upon the closing of the transactions contemplated thereby (the “Closing”), Merger Sub will merge
with and into AEye (the “Merger” and together with the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the
“Transactions”), whereby the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub will cease and AEye will be the surviving corporation
of the Merger and become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. As a result of the Merger, among other things, (i) all outstanding
shares of capital stock of AEye will be cancelled and AEye’s stockholders will receive a number of shares of Class A common
stock for each share of AEye capital stock held equal to the quotient obtained by dividing the Price Per AEye Share (as defined
below) by $10.00 (the “Exchange Ratio”), (ii) all outstanding options and warrants to purchase capital stock of AEye
will be assumed by the Company and instead represent the right to acquire shares of Class A common stock, with the number of shares
and price per share thereunder adjusted at the Closing based on the Exchange Ratio, and (iii) the Company will amend its charter
to, among other matters, change its name to “AEye Holdings, Inc.”
The “Price Per AEye
Share” is obtained by dividing (x) $1.9 billion (together with the aggregate exercise price of any outstanding options or
warrants being assumed by the Company), by (y) the number of outstanding shares of capital stock of AEye (calculated on a fully-diluted
basis in accordance with the Merger Agreement).
Contemporaneously with
the execution of the Merger Agreement, the Company entered into separate Subscription Agreements (the “Subscription Agreements”)
with a number of subscribers (each a “Subscriber”), including the sponsor, pursuant to which the Subscribers agreed
to purchase, and the Company agreed to sell to the Subscribers, an aggregate of 22.5 million shares of Class A common stock (the
“PIPE Shares”), for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and an aggregate purchase price of $225 million (the “PIPE
Investments”), with the sponsor’s Subscription Agreement accounting for $9.5 million of such aggregate PIPE Investments
(of which the sponsor has assigned $4.5 million of its subscription to an unrelated third-party).
Contemporaneously with
the execution of the Merger Agreement, the Company and certain AEye stockholders entered into a Stockholder Support Agreement (the
“Stockholder Support Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, certain AEye stockholders agreed (i) not to
transfer, and to vote their shares of AEye capital stock in favor of the Merger Agreement (including by execution of a written
consent), the Merger and the other Transactions, (ii) to consent to the termination of certain stockholder agreements with AEye,
effective at Closing, and (iii) release the sponsor, the Company, AEye and its subsidiaries from pre-Closing claims relating to
their capacity as stockholders, subject to customary exceptions. The AEye stockholders party to the Stockholder Support Agreement
collectively have a sufficient number of votes to approve the Merger.
Contemporaneously with
the execution of the Merger Agreement, the Company entered into a Sponsor Support Agreement (the “Sponsor Support Agreement”)
with the sponsor and AEye, pursuant to which, among other things: (i) for the benefit of AEye, the sponsor has agreed to comply
with its obligations under the letter agreement, dated as of November 12, 2020 (the “Insider Letter”), by and among
the Company, the sponsor and certain officers and directors of the Company to not transfer, to not participate in the redemption
offered to stockholders of the Company in connection with the AEye Business Combination and to vote its shares of common stock
in favor of the Merger Agreement and the Transactions (in each case other than as permitted by the Sponsor Support Agreement),
and the Company agreed to enforce such provisions, and the Company and the sponsor provided AEye with certain consent rights with
respect to transfers of the Company securities owned by the sponsor and amendments, modifications or waivers under the Insider
Letter, (ii) to waive the anti-dilution rights of the founder shares under the Charter, and (iv) to release the Company, AEye,
Merger Sub and their respective subsidiaries effective as of the Closing from all pre-Closing claims, subject to customary exceptions.
Concurrently with the execution
of the Merger Agreement, the Company and AEye entered into separate Lock-Up Agreements (each a “Lock-Up Agreement”)
with a number of AEye stockholders, pursuant to which the securities of the Company held by such stockholders upon will be locked-up
and subject to transfer restrictions for a period of time following the Closing, as described below, subject to certain exceptions.
The securities held by such stockholders will be locked-up until the earlier of: (i) the one (1) year anniversary of the date of
the Closing, (ii) the date on which the last reported sale price of Class A common stock exceeds $12.00 per share (adjusted for
stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading
day period commencing at least 150 days after the Closing, and (iii) the date on which the Company consummates a liquidation, merger,
capital stock exchange, reorganization, or other similar transaction after the Closing which results in all of the Company’s
stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
2
Concurrently with the execution
of the Merger Agreement, the Company and certain AEye stockholders (the “Investors”) entered into a Registration Rights
Agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”), which shall be effective at the Closing. Pursuant to the terms of
the Registration Rights Agreement, the Company will be obligated, among other matters, to file one or more registration statements
to register the resales of Class A common stock held by such Investors after the Closing. Investors holding at least 25% of the
registrable securities owned by all Investors are entitled under the Registration Rights Agreement to make a written demand for
registration under the Securities Act of all or part of their registrable securities, up to a total of three (3) such demands (subject
to the right of one of the Investors to initiate one such demand on its own without any of the other Investors).
Business Strategy
Our acquisition and value
creation strategy is to identify, acquire and, after our initial business combination, which would include the AEye Business Combination,
help to build a company in an industry that complements the experience and expertise of our management team. Our acquisition selection
process leverages the network of contacts developed by our management team and those of the sponsor and its affiliates, including
relationships in the financial services, healthcare, real estate services, technology and software industries, comprising management
teams of public and private companies, investment bankers, private equity sponsors, venture capital investors, advisers, attorneys
and accountants that we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. We deployed a proactive
sourcing strategy and focused on companies where we believe the combination of our operating experience, relationships, capital
and capital markets expertise can be catalysts to transform a target company and can help accelerate the target’s growth
and performance. Following our initial public offering, our management team communicated with their network of relationships, including
employees of Cantor and its affiliates, and set forth the type of company that we wanted to target so that we could locate, identify,
pursue and review potential target companies and promising leads, which resulted in the AEye Business Combination.
Our management team and
Cantor and its affiliates have experience in:
● sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses;
● fostering relationships with sellers, capital providers and target management teams;
● negotiating transactions favorable to investors;
● executing transactions in multiple geographies and under varying economic and financial market
conditions;
● accessing the capital markets, including financing businesses and helping companies transition
to public ownership;
● operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, monitoring and recruiting
world-class talent;
● acquiring and integrating companies; and
● developing and growing companies, both organically and through acquisitions and strategic transactions
and expanding the product range and geographic footprint of a number of target businesses.
Investment Criteria
We seek to acquire one or
more businesses with an aggregate enterprise value of approximately $500 million to $1.25 billion or more. We developed
the following high level, non-exclusive investment criteria that we will use to screen for and evaluate target businesses.
We seek to acquire a business that (1) has sustainable competitive advantages, (2) generates, or has the near-term potential
to generate, predicable free cash flows, (3) would benefit from the capabilities of the sponsor and management team to improve
its operations and market position, (4) has an experienced and capable management team, (5) has the potential to grow
both organically and through additional acquisitions and (6) can be acquired at an attractive valuation to maximize potential
returns to our stockholders.
3
While we may pursue an acquisition
opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we are focusing on industries that complement our management
team’s background, and to capitalize on the ability of our officers and directors to identify and acquire a business or businesses
consistent with the experience of our management team and affiliates of the sponsor. We therefore are focusing on potential target
companies in the financial services, healthcare, real estate services, technology and software industries.
These criteria are not intended
to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent
relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant.
In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that only meets some but not
all of the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet all of the above criteria in
our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this Report, would be in the
form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the SEC
Initial Business Combination
We will initially have
until May 17, 2021 to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate
our initial business combination by May 17, 2021, and subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account
as set out below, our time to consummate a business combination shall be extended for an additional four months up to four times,
until September 17, 2022, for a total of up to 22 months to complete a business combination. Our stockholders will not be
entitled to vote or redeem their shares in connection with any such extension. However, our stockholders will be entitled to vote
and redeem their shares in connection with a stockholder meeting held to approve an initial business combination or in a tender
offer undertaken in connection with such an initial business combination if we propose such a business combination during any four-month extension
period. Pursuant to the terms of the Charter and the trust agreement we entered into with Continental on the date of the consummation
of our initial public offering, in order for the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination to be extended,
the sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the
trust account $2,300,000 ($0.10 per unit, up to an aggregate of 9,200,000) on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline,
for each four-month extension. Any such payments would be made in the form of a non-interest bearing loan which would be due
and payable on the consummation of our initial business combination out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If
we do not complete a business combination, we may repay such loans solely from assets not held in the trust account, if any.
In the event that we receive
notice from the sponsor five days prior to the applicable deadline of its wish for us to effect an extension, we intend to issue
a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue
a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. The sponsor
and its affiliates or permitted designees are not obligated to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released
to us. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such time 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 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii)
above to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
So long as we maintain
a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value
of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust
account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors
will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able
to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent
investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of
such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination
of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with
the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets
or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent
directors. If we are no longer listed on Nasdaq, we would not be required to satisfy the above-referenced fair market value
test.
4
We anticipate structuring
our initial business combination, such as the AEye Business Combination, either (i) in such a way 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, or (ii) in such a way so 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 an initial 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. Even if the post-transaction company
owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination
may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and
us in the initial business combination. 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 taken into
account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target
business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions 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.
We do not believe we will
need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimates
of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination
are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our
initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination
or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our initial business combination,
in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. In addition, we are
targeting businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of our initial offering
and the sale of the private placement units, and, as a result, if any cash portion of the purchase price, exceeds the amount available
from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy redemptions by public stockholders, we may be required to seek additional
financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We may also obtain financing prior to the closing of our initial
business combination to fund our working capital needs and transaction costs in connection with our search for and completion of
our initial business combination. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities
or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward
purchase agreements or backstop arrangements into which we may enter. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we
would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. If we are unable to complete
our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations
and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may
need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
For more information regarding
the PIPE Shares to be issued and the PIPE Investments to be made in connection with the AEye Business Combination, please see “AEye
Business Combination” above.
Our Business Combination Process
In evaluating prospective
business combinations, we conduct a thorough due diligence review that encompasses, among other things, a review of historical
and projected financial and operating data, meetings with management and their advisors (if applicable), on-site inspection
of facilities and assets to the extent possible, discussion with customers and suppliers, document reviews, as well as a review
of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us and which we deem appropriate. We utilize
our expertise and the sponsor’s expertise in analyzing companies and evaluating operating projections, financial projections
and determining the appropriate return expectations.
We are not prohibited from
pursuing an initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with Cantor or its affiliates or the sponsor, officers
or directors. While AEye is not affiliated with the sponsor or our officers or directors, in the event we do not consummate the
AEye Business Combination and we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with Cantor
or its affiliates or the sponsor or our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion
from an independent investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial
business combination is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view.
5
Cantor is the beneficial
owner of founder shares and/or private placement units by virtue of its ownership of the sponsor and members of our management
team may indirectly own such securities. Either the sponsor will transfer up to 20,000 founder shares to each of our independent
directors or we will pay cash fees to such directors, at our discretion. Because of such ownership and interests, Cantor and our
officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business
with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest
with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors
were to be included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
All of our officers are
employed by Cantor or its affiliates. Cantor is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which
we may desire to pursue for an initial business combination. While Cantor does not have any duty to offer acquisition opportunities
to us, Cantor may become aware of a potential transaction that is an attractive opportunity for us, which Cantor may decide to
share with us.
The sponsor, officers,
directors, Cantor and their affiliates may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank
check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. In particular, certain of our executive officers and directors
also serve as executive officers or directors of other special purpose acquisition companies sponsored by Cantor as set forth below,
each of which is focused on searching for businesses that may provide significant opportunities for attractive investor returns
in industries similar to the industries in which our search is focused. As a result, the sponsor, officers or directors could have
conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company
with which they may become involved.
Each of our officers and
directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties
to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination
opportunity. The Charter provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate 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,
such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue,
and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one
or more entities to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations
and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities
reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us.
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 relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of
potential business combination targets, such as AEye. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have
developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships in various industries. 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 and the experience of our management team in executing transactions under varying economic
and financial market conditions.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure
makes us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As a public company, we offer a target business an alternative
to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. Following an initial business
combination, we believe the target business would have greater access to capital and additional means of creating management incentives
that are better aligned with stockholders’ interests than it would as a private company. A target business can further benefit
by augmenting its profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees. In a business combination
transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock in the target business
for shares of Class A common stock (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of shares of Class A common stock
and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers.
6
Although there are various
costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious
and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering
process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant
expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, marketing and road show efforts
that may not be present to the same extent in connection with an initial business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed
initial 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. Following an initial business combination,
we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives
consistent with stockholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company
can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting
talented employees.
While we believe that our
structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses
may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek stockholder approval
of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
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 November 17, 2025, (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 prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt
securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to emerging growth company will have the meaning associated
with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller
reporting company” as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of
certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements.
We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common
stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceed
$100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds
$700 million as of the prior June 30.
In addition, only holders
of our founder shares have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
As a result, Nasdaq considers us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq corporate governance standards.
Under Nasdaq corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors
is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain
corporate governance requirements. We have utilized, and we intend to continue to utilize, these exemptions.
7
Financial Position
With funds available for
an initial business combination initially in the amount of $230,000,000, we offer a target business a variety of options such as
creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening
its balance sheet by reducing its debt or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using
our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination
that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, other than
with respect to the PIPE Investments for the AEye Business Combination, we have not taken any steps to secure any other third party
financing and there can be no assurance any additional third party financing will be available to us.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged
in, and we will not engage in, any operations other than the pursuit of our business combination, at which point we will engage
in the business of the target we acquire in our initial business combination. 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 units, the proceeds
of the sale of our securities in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase contracts or any
backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of our initial public offering or otherwise), shares issued to
the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing.
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 initial business combination or used for redemptions 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 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
(which may include a specified future issuance), and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such
offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. In addition, we are targeting businesses larger than we could
acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement units, and may as a result be
required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable
securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination.
In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our proxy materials or tender
offer documents disclosing the initial 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, including
pursuant to any specified future issuance, or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. Other than with
respect to the Subscription Agreements, 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
Target business candidates
are brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and investment professionals. Target
businesses are also brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us by calls or mailings.
These sources 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 the prospectus of our initial public offering and know what types of businesses we are targeting.
Our officers and directors, as well as the sponsor and its affiliates, have brought, and may 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. In addition, we have received 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 and the sponsor and its affiliates.
We may also contact targets that any of the other special purpose acquisition companies sponsored by Cantor had considered if we
become aware that such targets are interested in a potential initial business combination with us and such transaction would be
attractive to our shareholders.
8
While we have not and do
not 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, advisory 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. 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 the sponsor or any
of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which the sponsor or officers are affiliated, be paid any finder’s
fee, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation by the company prior to, or
in connection with any services rendered 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) other than as described herein. 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 initial
business combination candidate.
We are not prohibited from
pursuing an initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with Cantor or its affiliates or the sponsor, officers
or directors. While AEye is not affiliated with the sponsor, its affiliates or our officers or directors, in the event we do not
consummate the AEye Business Combination and we seek to complete our initial business combination with an initial business combination
target that is affiliated with the sponsor, its affiliates or our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors,
would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation
opinions that such an initial business combination is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. We are not required
to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Each of our officers and
directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties
to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination
opportunity to such entities. Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate
for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary, contractual or other duties. Accordingly, if
any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities
to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties
to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the
opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential
target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. The Charter provides that we renounce our interest
in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless (i) such opportunity is expressly offered to such person
solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company, (ii) such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually
permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue and (iii) the director or officer is permitted to refer
the opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Selection of a Target Business and Structuring
of our Initial Business Combination
So long as we obtain and
maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market
value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding taxes payable on the interest earned on the
trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. The fair
market value of our initial business combination 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, a valuation based on trading multiples of
comparable public businesses or a valuation based on the financial metrics of M&A transactions of comparable businesses. If
our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will
obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions
with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to
make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it
is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as
to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. 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 taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. There is no basis for our investors to evaluate
the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.
9
To the extent we effect
our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development
or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate
the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant
risk factors.
In evaluating prospective
business targets, we have conducted, and if applicable, will conduct, a thorough due diligence review, which encompassed and may
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 made available to us.
We have engaged CF&Co.
as a financial advisor and placement agent in connection with the AEye Business Combination and have agreed to pay CF&Co. a
customary financial advisory fee in an amount that constitutes a market standard financial advisory fee for comparable transactions.
In the event the AEye Business Combination is not consummated, we may engage CF&Co, or another affiliate of the sponsor, as
a financial advisor in connection with our initial business combination and pay such affiliate a customary financial advisory fee
in an amount that constitutes a market standard financial advisory fee for comparable transactions. Furthermore, we may acquire
a target company that has engaged CF&Co, or another affiliate of the sponsor, as a financial advisor, and such target company
may pay such affiliate a financial advisory fee in connection with our initial business combination.
Any costs incurred with
respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not
ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period
of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future
performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple
entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate
the risks of being in a single line of business. In addition, we focused our search for an initial business combination in a single
industry. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, 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 closely scrutinize
the management of a prospective target business, including the management team of AEye, when evaluating the desirability of effecting
our initial business combination with that business and plan to continue to do so if the AEye Business Combination is not consummated
and we seek other business combination opportunities, 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, other than with respect to the AEye Business Combination, the future role of members of our management team,
if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members
of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While
it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business
combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination;
provided that none of our directors are expected to remain with the Company after consummation of the AEye 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; provided that none of
our key personnel are expected to remain with the Company after consummation of the AEye Business Combination. 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.
10
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. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required
by applicable law or stock exchange rule (as is the case with the AEye Business Combination), 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
So long as we obtain and
maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if,
for example:
● we issue 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 (other than in a public offering);
● any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by Nasdaq rules) has a 5%
or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business
or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of common stock could result in an increase in outstanding
common shares 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.
Permitted Purchases of our Securities
If we seek stockholder approval
of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant
to the tender offer rules, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any their respective affiliates may purchase
shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion
of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors
or any of their respective affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules.
However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms
or conditions for any such transactions.
In the event our initial
stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates determine to make any such purchases at the time
of a stockholder vote relating to our initial business combination, such purchases could have the effect of influencing the vote
necessary to approve such transaction. If they engage 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. 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. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the
extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to
purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination.
11
The purpose of any
such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the
likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an
agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our
initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such
purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any
matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases
of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of Class A common stock or warrants may
be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or
obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
The sponsor, our officers,
directors, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom the
sponsor, our officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective 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 the sponsor, our officers, directors,
advisors or any of their respective 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
our initial business combination, whether or not such stockholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business
combination. Such persons would select the stockholders from whom to acquire shares based on the number of shares available, the
negotiated price per share and such other factors as any such person may deem relevant at the time of purchase. The price per share
paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem
its shares in connection with our initial business combination. The sponsor, our officers, directors, advisors or any of their
respective affiliates will purchase shares only if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other
federal securities laws.
Any purchases by the sponsor,
our officers, directors and/or any of their respective 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. The sponsor, our
officers, directors, advisors and/or any of their respective 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. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13
and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchases are subject to such reporting requirements.
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 taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public
shares, subject to the limitations described herein. As of December 31, 2020, the amount in the trust account was approximately
$10.00 per public share and such amount will be increased by $0.10 per public share for each four-month extension of our time to
consummate a business combination, as described herein. The sponsor and our officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement
with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public
shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
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 initial business combination,
or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed initial business
combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such
as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under applicable
law or stock exchange listing requirement. Under Nasdaq rules, 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 the Charter would require stockholder approval. If we structure an initial
business combination 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 initial business combination. We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder
vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange
listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain
a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with such rules.
12
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 the Charter:
● 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.
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 the sponsor, which number will be based on the requirement
that we may only redeem our public shares so long as our net tangible assets are at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to
or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that
we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which
may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public 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 applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder
approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to the Charter:
● 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 are voted in favor
of the initial 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 pursuant to the Insider
Letter, the sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and any public
shares purchased during or after our initial public offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) 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 and private placement shares, we would need only 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 an initial business combination
(assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved. We intend to give approximately
30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 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 business combination.
The Charter provides that
we may only redeem our public shares so long as our net tangible assets are at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or
upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we
are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which
may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed initial 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 initial 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 initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete
the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be
returned to the holders thereof.
13
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 initial
business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Charter 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.” 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 initial 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 without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a
small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly
in connection with an initial 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 initial business combination.
Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection
with Redemption Rights
We may require our public
stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street
name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer materials
mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination
in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the DWAC System,
at the holder’s option. The proxy materials 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 vote on the initial business combination if we distribute
proxy materials to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. 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 tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through
the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether
or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require
holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising
redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different
from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business
combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an initial business
combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed initial business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating
such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the initial business combination was approved, the company
would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the
stockholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the initial business combination during which he or
she could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she
could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As
a result, the redemption rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become
“option” rights surviving past the completion of the initial business combination until the redeeming holder delivered
its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s
election to redeem is irrevocable once the initial business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such
shares, once made, may be withdrawn with our consent at any time up to the date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy
materials. 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.
14
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.
If the AEye Business Combination
is not completed, we may continue to try to complete an initial business combination with a different target until May 17, 2021,
as such date may be extended by the sponsor for an additional four months up to four times, for a total of up to 22 months,
or until September 17, 2022 (subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as described herein).
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation
if no Initial Business Combination
The Charter provides that
we will have until May 17, 2021 (or up to September 17, 2022 at the sponsor’s option to extend the period of time to consummate
a business combination up to four times, each by an additional four months as described herein). If we are unable to complete
our initial business combination within the allotted time 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 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 initial business combination within 6 months from
the closing of our initial public offering or prior to the expiration of the applicable four-month extension period as described
elsewhere in this Report.
The sponsor and our 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 or private placement shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial
business combination by May 17, 2021 or prior to the expiration of the applicable four-month extension period as described
elsewhere in this Report. However, if the sponsor or our officers or directors 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 by May 17, 2021 or prior to the expiration of the applicable four-month extension
period as described elsewhere in this Report.
The sponsor and our officers
and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to the Charter (i)
to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or
to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by May 17, 2021 or prior to the expiration
of the applicable four-month extension period as described elsewhere in this Report or (ii) with respect to any other provision
relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, 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 us to pay our taxes divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.
However, we may only redeem our public shares so long as our net tangible assets are at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior
to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that
we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect
to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement (described above), we would
not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.
If we do not consummate
the AEye Business Combination or any other initial business combination by the deadline set forth in the Charter, 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 $1,250 held outside the trust account as of December 31, 2020, together with the
remaining portion available under the $1,750,000 loan committed by the sponsor, although we cannot assure you that there will be
sufficient funds for such purpose. We will depend on sufficient interest being earned on the proceeds held in the trust account
to pay any tax obligations we may owe. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with
implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay
taxes 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.
15
If we were to expend all
of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement units, other than the proceeds deposited
in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption
amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00 per share (assuming the period of time to consummate
an initial business combination is not extended as provided for herein). 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 $10.00.
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.
Although we will seek to
have all vendors, service providers, 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. Withum, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of the offering, did not,
or will not, execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
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. The sponsor
has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent registered
public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered
into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds
in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual 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 share due to reductions in the value
of the trust assets, less taxes payable from interest, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party
or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or
not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering
against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked the sponsor to reserve
for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether the sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its
indemnity obligations and believe that the sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure
you that the sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors 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) $10.00 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, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net
of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and the 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 the sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our
independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against the 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 the sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations
and we cannot assure you that the 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 $10.00 per public share.
16
We 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, 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. The 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 have access to the amounts held outside the trust account ($1,250 as of December 31, 2020)
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. Because the offering expenses of our initial public offering (excluding underwriting commissions) were
less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds initially held outside the trust account was greater than the $250,000
we initially estimated.
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 initial business combination within 6 months from the closing of our initial public offering
or prior to the expiration of the applicable four-month extension period as described elsewhere in this Report 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 initial business combination within 6 months from the closing of our initial public offering or prior
to the expiration of the applicable four-month extension period as described elsewhere in this Report, is not considered a
liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition
of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), 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 initial business combination
within 6 months from the closing of our initial public offering or prior to the expiration of the applicable four-month extension
period as described elsewhere in this Report , 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 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 May 17, 2021 or prior to the expiration of the applicable four-month extension period as described
elsewhere in this Report 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, 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, the sponsor may be liable if no waiver
against the trust account is executed, only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced
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, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest withdrawn to pay
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, the sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
17
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 $10.00 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 some or all of the amounts received by our stockholders.
Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted
in bad faith, 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 to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business
combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend any provisions
of the Charter (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business
combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by the deadline for consummating
such transaction as described elsewhere in this Report or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’
rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable
to complete our business combination by May 17, 2021 or prior to the expiration of the applicable four-month extension period
as described elsewhere in this Report, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or
interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business
combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the initial business combination alone will not result in such stockholder’s
redemption of its shares for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption
rights as described above. These provisions of the Charter, like all provisions of the Charter, may be amended with a stockholder
vote.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating
and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we have encountered, and if the AEye Business Combination
is not consummated, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including
other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies and operating businesses seeking
strategic business combinations, including affiliates of the sponsor. 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 initial business
combination 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 if the AEye Business Combination
is not consummated.
Facilities
Our executive offices are
located at 110 East 59 th Street, New York, NY 10022, and our telephone number is (212) 938-5000. The cost for our
use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to the sponsor for office space, administrative and shared personnel
support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have three
officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they 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 our
officers devote in any time period varies based on the stage of the initial business combination process we are in. We do not intend
to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
18
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 accountants.
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, or reconciled to, U.S. GAAP, or the International
Financial Reporting Standards, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, 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 targets 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 business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared
in accordance with U.S. GAAP or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance
with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed
target business. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation
will be material.
We will be required to evaluate
our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 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 will we be required to have our internal control
procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy
of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
We have filed a Registration
Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result,
we are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15
to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business
combination.
We will remain an emerging
growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the November 17, 2025, (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 shares of Class A common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as
of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt
during the prior three-year period.
19
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
As a smaller reporting
company, we are not required to include risk factors in this Report. However, below is list of material risks, uncertainties and
other factors that could have a material effect on the Company and its operations:
● we are an early stage Company with no revenue or basis to evaluate our ability to select a suitable
business target;
● we may not be able to select an appropriate target business or businesses and complete our initial
business combination in the prescribed time frame;
● our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses may not
be realized;
● we may not be successful in retaining or recruiting required officers, key employees or directors
following our initial business combination;
● our officers and directors may have difficulties allocating their time between the Company and
other businesses and may potentially have conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;
● if we do not consummate the AEye Business Combination, we may not obtain additional financing to
complete our initial business combination or reduce the number of shareholders requesting redemption;
● if we do not consummate the AEye Business Combination, we may issue our shares to investors in
connection with our initial business combination at a price that is less than the prevailing market price of our shares at that
time;
● you may not be given the opportunity to choose the initial business target or to vote on the initial
business combination;
● trust account funds may not be protected against third party claims or bankruptcy;
● an active market for our public securities’ may not develop and you will have limited liquidity
and trading; and
● our financial performance following a business combination with an entity may be negatively affected by their lack an established
record of revenue, cash flows and experienced management.
For the complete list of
risks relating to our operations, see the section titled “Risk Factors” contained in our Registration Statement. For
risks relating to AEye and the AEye Business Combination, please see the AEye Registration Statement to be filed with the SEC.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
Not applicable.
Item 2. Properties.
Our executive offices are
located at 110 East 59 th Street, New York, NY 10022, and our telephone number is (212) 938-5000. The cost for our
use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to the sponsor for office space, administrative and shared personnel
support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
From time to time, the
Company may become involved in actions, claims, suits, and other legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of its business.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
20
PART II
Item 5.
Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
(a)
Market Information
Our units, public shares
and public warrants are each traded on Nasdaq under the symbols “CFACU,” “CFAC” and “CFACW,”
respectively. Our units commenced public trading on November 13, 2020, and our public shares and public warrants commenced separate
public trading on January 4, 2021.
(b)
Holders
On March 15, 2021, there
were two (2) holders of record of our units, one (1) holder of record of our Class A common stock, three (3) holders of record
of our Class B common stock and one (1) holder of record of our warrants.
(c)
Dividends
We have not paid any cash
dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and
general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent
to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board
of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. Further,
if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited
by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
(d)
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans.
None.
(e)
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
(f)
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
(g)
Use of Proceeds from the Initial Public Offering
On November 17, 2020, the
Company consummated its initial public offering of 23,000,000 units, including 3,000,000 units issued pursuant to the exercise
of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in full. Each unit consists of one public share and one-third of one public warrant,
with each whole public warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one public share for $11.50 per share. The units were sold
at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $230,000,000.
A
total of $230,000,000 of the proceeds from the initial public offering and the
sale of the private placement units (which amount includes $4,000,000 of business combination market fees payable to CF&Co.
for certain services to be provided in connection with our initial business combination), was placed in a U.S.-based trust account
at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental, acting as trustee. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested
by the trustee only in U.S. government securities with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely
in U.S. government treasury obligations and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act.
Item 6.
Reserved.
21
Item 7.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
References to “we”,
“us”, “our” or the “Company” are to CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III, except where the context
requires otherwise. The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and related notes thereto
included elsewhere in this Report.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This Report includes forward-looking statements
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. We have based these forward-looking
statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,”
“should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,”
“believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions.
Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those described in our other SEC
filings.
Overview
We
are a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on March 15, 2016 for the purpose of effecting an initial business combination.
Our sponsor is CF Finance Holdings III, LLC.
Although we are not limited
to a particular industry or sector for purpose of consummating an initial business combination, we are focusing our search on companies
operating in the financial services, healthcare, real estate services, technology and software industries. We are an early stage
and emerging growth company and, as such, subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
Our registration statement
for our initial public offering became effective on November 12, 2020. On November 17, 2020, we consummated the initial public
offering of 23,000,000 units, including 3,000,000 units sold upon the exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option
in full, at a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $230,000,000. Each unit consists of one share of
Class A common stock and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class
A common stock at a price of $11.50. Each warrant will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of the initial
business combination or until November 17, 2021 and will expire 5 years after the completion of the initial business combination,
or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
Simultaneously with the
closing of the initial public offering, we consummated the sale of 500,000 units at a price of $10.00 per private placement unit
to the sponsor in a private placement, generating gross proceeds of $5,000,000.
Following the closing of
the initial public offering and sale of private placement units on November 17, 2020, an amount of $230,000,000 ($10.00 per unit)
from the net proceeds of the sale of the units in the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement units was placed
in a trust account located in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental acting as trustee, which may
be 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 us meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined
by us, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of an initial business combination and (ii) the distribution of the trust account,
as described below.
We have until May 17, 2021
or prior to the expiration of the applicable four-month extension period, as described below, to consummate an initial business
combination (the “Combination Period”). If we are unable to complete an initial business combination by the end of
the Combination 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 the Company 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), 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) 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 an initial business combination within the Combination Period.
22
If we anticipate that we
may not be able to consummate an initial business combination by May 17, 2021, and subject to the sponsor depositing additional
funds into the trust account as set out below, the time to consummate an initial business combination shall be extended for an
additional four months up to four times, for a total of up to 22 months to complete an initial business combination. The stockholders
will not be entitled to vote or redeem their shares in connection with any such extension. Pursuant to the terms of the Charter
and the trust agreement entered into between us and Continental, in order for the time available for us to consummate an initial
business combination to be extended, the sponsor or its affiliates or permitted designees, upon five days advance notice prior
to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account $2,300,000 ($0.10 per public unit), on or prior to the date of
the applicable deadline, for each of the available four month extensions providing a total possible business combination period
of 22 months at a total payment value of $9,200,000 ($0.10 per public unit). Any such payments would be made in the form of a non-interest
bearing loan which would be due and payable on the consummation of the initial business combination out of the proceeds of the
trust account released to us. If we do not complete an initial business combination, we may repay such loans solely from assets
not held in the trust account, if any. The sponsor and its affiliates or designees intend, but are not obligated, to fund the trust
account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination.
Liquidity and Capital
Resources
As of December 31, 2020,
we had $1,250 of cash in our operating account, working capital deficit of approximately $45,900, and approximately $800 of interest
income in the trust account available to pay franchise and income taxes.
Our liquidity needs through
December 31, 2020 have been satisfied through a contribution of $25,000 from the sponsor in exchange for the issuance of the founder
shares, a loan of approximately $140,000 from the sponsor pursuant to a promissory note (the “Pre-IPO Note”), the proceeds
from the consummation of the private placement with the sponsor not held in the trust account, and the Sponsor Loan (as defined
below). We fully repaid the Pre-IPO Note upon completion of the initial public offering. In addition, in order to finance transaction
costs in connection with an initial business combination, our sponsor has committed up to $1,750,000 to be provided to us to fund
our expenses relating to investigating and selecting a target business and other working capital requirements after the initial
public offering and prior to the Company’s initial business combination (the “Sponsor Loan”). If the Sponsor
Loan is insufficient, the sponsor or an affiliate of the sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors intend, but are not
obligated to, provide us additional loans. As of December 31, 2020, there was approximately $428,000 outstanding under the Sponsor
Loan.
Based on the foregoing,
management believes that we will have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity from the sponsor to meet our needs through
the earlier of the consummation of an initial business combination or one year from the date of this Report. Over this time period,
we will be using these funds for paying existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective target businesses, performing
due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or
acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the initial business combination. It is the current intention of the sponsor
to exercise, at a minimum, two four month extensions should an initial business combination not occur, as noted above, such that
the life of the Company will be at least one year and one day from the issuance of the Report.
Results of Operations
Our
entire activity from inception through December 31, 2020 related to our formation, the preparation for the initial public offering, and
since the closing of the initial public offering , the search for a prospective
initial business combination . We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. We will not
generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income
in the form of interest income on investments held in trust account. We expect to incur increased expenses as a result of
being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.
For
the year ended December 31, 2020, we incurred a net loss of approximately $153,000, which consisted of approximately $116,000 in
general and administrative expenses, $14,000 in administrative expenses paid to the sponsor and approximately $24,000 of franchise
tax expense, which was partially offset by an approximately $800 interest income on investments held in the trust account.
23
For
the year ended December 31, 2019, we incurred a net loss of approximately $500, which consisted of approximately $100 in general
and administrative expenses and $400 of franchise tax expense.
Contractual Obligations
Business Combination Marketing Agreement
We engaged Cantor, an affiliate
of the sponsor, as an advisor in connection with the Company’s initial business combination to assist us in holding meetings
with our stockholders to discuss the initial business combination and the target business’ attributes, introduce us to potential
investors that are interested in purchasing the Company’s securities, assist us in obtaining stockholder approval for the
initial business combination and assist us with our press releases and public filings in connection with the initial business combination.
We will pay Cantor a cash fee (“Marketing Fee”) for such services upon the consummation of the initial business combination
in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds of the base offering in the initial public offering, and 5.5%
of the gross proceeds from the full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction
costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the sponsor has committed up to $1,750,000 in the Sponsor Loan
to be provided to us to fund expenses relating to investigating and selecting a target business and other working capital requirements,
including $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and shared personnel support services that will be paid to the sponsor,
after the initial public offering and prior to the Company’s initial business combination. As of December 31, 2020, we had
borrowed approximately $428,000 under the Sponsor Loan.
The sponsor pays expenses
on our behalf. We reimburse the sponsor for such expenses paid on our behalf. As of December 31, 2020, we had accounts payable
outstanding to the sponsor for such expenses paid on our behalf of approximately $4,300.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The Company has identified
the following as its critical accounting polices:
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial
statements and related disclosures in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect
the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements,
and income and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates.
Emerging Growth Company
Section 102(b)(1) of the
JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until
private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a
class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards.
The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that
apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out
of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates
for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time
private companies adopt the new or revised standard.
Class A Common Stock Subject to
Possible Redemption
We account for our Class A
common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”)
Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Shares of Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption
(if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Shares of conditionally redeemable Class A
common stock (including Class A common stock that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder
or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) are classified as temporary equity.
At all other times, shares of Class A common stock are classified as stockholders’ equity. Our Class A common stock
features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain
future events. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2020, 22,531,950 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption
are presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of our balance sheet.
24
Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share
We
comply with accounting and disclosure requirements of ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” Net income per common share
is computed by dividing net income (loss) applicable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of shares of common
stock outstanding for the period. We have not considered the effect of the warrants
sold in the initial public offering and the concurrent private placement to purchase an aggregate of 7,833,333 shares
of Class A common stock in the calculation of diluted earnings per share, since their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under
the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted earnings per common share is the same as basic earnings per common
share for the period.
Our statement of operations
includes a presentation of income per share for common stock subject to redemption in a manner similar to the two-class method of
income per share. Net income per share, basic and diluted for shares of Class A common stock are calculated by dividing the interest
income (loss) earned on cash equivalents and investments and held in the trust account, net of applicable taxes available to be
withdrawn from the trust account, by the weighted average number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding for the applicable
period, excluding 500,000 shares of Class A common stock held by the sponsor, which is not subject to redemption. Net loss per
share, basic and diluted for shares of Class B common stock is calculated by dividing the net income, less income attributable
to the shares of redeemable Class A common stock by the weighted average number of shares of Class B common stock and 500,000 shares
of Class A common stock held by the sponsor outstanding for the applicable period.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements and Contractual Obligations
As of December 31,
2020, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did
not have any commitments or contractual obligations.
Recent Accounting
Pronouncements
Our
management does not believe there are any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently
adopted, that would have a material effect on our financial statements.
Item 7A.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.
We are a smaller reporting
company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under
this item.
Item 8.
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
Reference is made to pages
F-1 through F-18 comprising a portion of this Report, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9.
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
Item 9A.
Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision
and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer (together,
the “Certifying Officers”), we carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure
controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on the foregoing, our Certifying
Officers concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this Report.
25
Disclosure controls and
procedures are controls and other procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed
or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s
rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that
information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to
management, including our Certifying Officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions
regarding required disclosure.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls
over Financial Reporting
This Report does not include
a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our registered
public accounting firm due to a transition period established by the rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial
Reporting
There were no changes in
our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during
the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control
over financial reporting.
Item 9B.
Other Information.
None.
26
PART III
Item 10.
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Directors and Executive Officers
As of the date of this
report, our directors and officers are as follows:
Name
Age
Position
Howard W. Lutnick
59
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Anshu Jain
58
President and Director
Alice Chan
40
Chief Financial Officer and Director
Robert Sharp
55
Director
Robert Hochberg
58
Director
The experience of our directors
and executive officers is as follows:
Howard W. Lutnick has
been our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since March 2016. Mr. Lutnick is also the Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Cantor. Mr. Lutnick joined Cantor in 1983 and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cantor since 1992
and as Chairman since 1996. Mr. Lutnick’s company, CF Group Management, Inc. (“CFGM”), is the managing general
partner of Cantor. Mr. Lutnick is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of BGC Partners, Inc. and its Chief Executive Officer,
positions in which he has served from June 1999 to the present. In addition, Mr. Lutnick has served as Chairman of Newmark Group,
Inc. since 2016. Mr. Lutnick also served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cantor SPAC I, from October 2015 until
consummation of its business combination with GCM Grosvenor, Inc. (“GCM Grosvenor”) in November 2020, and Cantor SPAC
II, from September 2019 until consummation of its business combination with View, Inc. (“View”) in March 2021. Mr.
Lutnick also serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CF Acquisition Corp. IV (“Cantor SPAC IV”) since
January 2020, CF Acquisition Corp. V (“Cantor SPAC V”) since April 2020, CF Acquisition Corp. VI (“Cantor SPAC
VI”) since April 2020, CF Acquisition Corp. VII (“Cantor SPAC VII”) since July 2020 and CF Acquisition Corp.
VIII (“Cantor SPAC VIII”) since July 2020. Mr. Lutnick is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fisher Center for
Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at Rockefeller University, the Board of Directors of the Horace Mann School, the Board of
Directors of the National September 11th Memorial & Museum, the Board of Directors of the Partnership for New York City, and
the Board of Overseers of The Hoover Institution. In addition, Mr. Lutnick has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
each of Cantor Fitzgerald Income Trust, Inc. (formerly known as Rodin Global Property Trust, Inc.) and Rodin Income Trust, Inc.
since February 2017 and as President of Rodin Income Trust, Inc. since January 2018. We believe that Mr. Lutnick is qualified
to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive investment, management and public company experience.
Anshu Jain has
been our President since March 2020 and our director since November 2020. Mr. Jain is also the President of Cantor, a position
he has held since January 2017. Mr. Jain directs strategy, vision and operational foundation across Cantor’s businesses.
Mr. Jain also served as the President of Cantor SPAC I, from January 2018, and a director of Cantor SPAC I from December 2018,
until in each case consummation of its business combination with GCM Grosvenor in November 2020, and as the President of Cantor
SPAC II, from September 2019, and a director of Cantor SPAC II, from August 2020, until in each case consummation of its business
combination with View in March 2021. Mr. Jain also serves as the President of Cantor SPAC IV since September 2020 and a director
of Cantor SPAC IV since December 2020, as the President of Cantor SPAC V since September 2020 and a director of Cantor SPAC V since
January 2021, as the President of Cantor SPAC VI since October 2020 and a director of Cantor SPAC VI since February 2021, and as
the President of Cantor SPAC VII and Cantor SPAC VIII since January 2021. Mr. Jain was Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank from June 2012 to
June 2015. Between February 2016 and March 2017, Mr. Jain was an advisor to Social Finance Inc. and consultant to Deutsche Bank
from July 2015 to January 2016. He was also a member of Deutsche Bank’s Management Board from 2009 to 2015 and Deutsche Bank’s
Group Executive Committee from 2002 to 2015 and previously led Deutsche Bank’s team advising the UK Treasury on financial
stability. Mr. Jain joined Deutsche Bank from Merrill Lynch in 1995. Mr. Jain sat on the Board of Directors of the Institute of
International Finance from 2012 to 2015 and previously was a member of the Financial Services Forum and served on the International
Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Mr. Jain is a trustee of Chance to Shine, a leading UK based sports charity
whose mission is to spread the power of cricket throughout schools and communities. Mr. Jain also serves on the MIT Sloan Finance
Group Advisory Board. Mr. Jain received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics, with honors, from the University of Delhi and
his MBA in Finance, Beta Gamma Sigma, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. We believe that Mr. Jain is qualified to serve
as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive investment and management experience.
27
Alice Chan has
been our Chief Financial Officer and director since January 2021. Ms. Chan joined Cantor in March 2015 and has served as the Global
Controller and Managing Director since March 2019. In this position, Ms. Chan oversees a range of financial functions for Cantor
and its affiliates, most notably financial reporting, consolidations, new accounting standard implementations, corporate accounting,
and process enhancements. Ms. Chan served as the Chief Financial Officer and a director of Cantor SPAC II from January 2021 until
consummation of its business combination with View in March 2021. Ms. Chan has also served as the Chief Financial Officer and a
director of Cantor SPAC IV and Cantor SPAC V since January 2021, as the Chief Financial Officer of Cantor SPAC VI, Cantor SPAC
VII and Cantor SPAC VIII since January 2021 and a director of Cantor SPAC VI since February 2021. In addition, Ms. Chan has been
the Chief Financial Officer of Fintan Master Fund Ltd. and the Chief Financial Officer of Fintan Investments Ltd since January
2019. Prior to joining Cantor, Ms. Chan worked at Goldman Sachs for approximately 10 years, focusing on broker dealers’ financial
and regulatory reporting, and bank financial reporting. Ms. Chan holds Series 27 and 99 licenses. She received a B.S. in Finance
from Pace University and a M.S. in Accounting from St. John’s University. We believe that Ms. Chan is qualified to serve
as a member of our board due to her extensive accounting and management experience.
Robert G. Sharp has
served as a member of our board of directors since November 2020. Mr. Sharp has over 25 years of experience in corporate acquisitions
and strategically building equity value, combining financial and operational expertise. Since January 2014, Mr. Sharp has
been Co-CEO of Ramy Brook, a leading contemporary fashion brand. Mr. Sharp was a founding partner and member of the Executive
Committee of MidOcean Partners, a leading private equity firm, from February 2003 to December 2013. From September 1999 to February
2003, Mr. Sharp was a Managing Director at DB Capital Partners, the private equity division of Deutsche Bank, which was acquired
out of Deutsche Bank to form MidOcean Partners. Mr. Sharp joined DB Capital Partners from Investcorp International, a global
private equity firm. Mr. Sharp has served on numerous corporate boards throughout his career, and is currently Chairman of
Thomas Scientific, one of the largest suppliers of laboratory products and services. Mr. Sharp also served as a director of
CF Finance Acquisition Corp. from March 2019 until consummation of its business combination with GCM Grosvenor in November 2020.
Mr. Sharp is a member of the Advisory Board of Mount Sinai Hospital, and a member of the Steering Committee of Duke University’s
Financial Economics Center. Mr. Sharp received his B.A. in Economics, Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude, from Union College,
and his M.B.A in Finance from Columbia University, where he was a Samuel Bronfman Fellow. We believe that Mr. Sharp is qualified
to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive investment, public company and management experience.
Robert J. Hochberg has
served as a member of our board of directors since November 2020. Mr. Hochberg is currently President and Chief Executive
Officer of Numeric Computer Systems, Inc. Mr. Hochberg has served as President since June 1984 and as Chief Executive Officer
since November 1994. Numeric Computer Systems is a global software company with offices in New York, San Juan, Auckland, Jakarta
and Sydney. Additionally, Mr. Hochberg currently serves on the Board of Directors of Rodin Income Trust, Inc. Mr. Hochberg
also served as a director of Cantor SPAC I from January 2020 until consummation of its business combination with GCM Grosvenor
in November 2020 and a director of Cantor SPAC II from August 2020 until consummation of its business combination with View in
March 2021. Mr. Hochberg is a graduate of Vassar College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. We believe that
Mr. Hochberg is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive experience in business management.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and
Directors
Our board of directors
consists of five directors. Holders of our founder shares will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to consummation
of our initial business combination and holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the election of directors
during such time. These provisions of the Charter may only be amended if approved by at least 90% of our common stock voting at
a stockholder meeting. Approval of our initial business combination will require the affirmative vote of a majority of our board
directors, including Mr. Lutnick. Our board of directors is divided into two classes with only one class of directors being elected
in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a
two-year term. In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting
until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. The term of office of the first class of directors,
consisting of Mr. Jain and Ms. Chan, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second
class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Lutnick, Hochberg and Sharp, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders.
We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination.
28
Subject to the terms of
any preferred stock, any or all of the directors may be removed from office at any time, but only for cause and only by the affirmative
vote of holders of a majority of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote generally
in the election of directors, voting together as a single class; provided, however, that prior to the consummation of our initial
business combination, any or all of the directors may be removed from office, for cause or not for cause, only by the affirmative
vote of holders of a majority of the voting power of all then outstanding founder shares. Subject to any other special rights applicable
to the stockholders, including holders of preferred stock, whenever any director shall have been elected by the holders of any
class of stock voting separately as a class, such director may be removed and the vacancy filled only by the holders of that class
of stock voting separately as a class. Vacancies caused by any such removal and not filled by the stockholders at the meeting at
which such removal shall have been made, or any vacancy caused by the death or resignation of any director or for any other reason,
and any newly created directorship resulting from any increase in the authorized number of directors, may be filled by the affirmative
vote of a majority of the directors then in office, although less than a quorum, and in any case, prior to the consummation of
our initial business combination, by a majority of the holders of our founder shares, and any director so elected to fill any such
vacancy or newly created directorship shall hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualified or until his or her
earlier resignation or removal.
Our officers are appointed
by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our
board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws
provide that our officers may consist of a Chairman of the board, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Senior Managing
Directors, Managing Directors, President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Secretaries and such other offices as
may be determined by the board of directors.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors
has two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and certain limited
exceptions, Nasdaq rules and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised
solely of independent directors. In addition, Nasdaq rules generally require that the compensation committee of a listed company
be comprised solely of independent directors, subject to certain limited exceptions set forth thereunder. We intend to rely on
the “controlled company” exemption. Each committee operates under a charter that has been approved by our board and
has the composition and responsibilities described below.
Audit Committee
We have established an
audit committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Sharp and Hochberg and Ms. Chan serve as members of our audit committee, and
Mr. Sharp chairs the audit committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have
at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent, subject to certain phase-in provisions. We
rely on the phase-in exceptions to such requirement of Nasdaq. Messrs. Sharp and Hochberg meet the independent director standard
under Nasdaq listing standards and under Rule 10-A-3(b)(1) of the Exchange Act.
Each member of the audit
committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mr. Sharp qualifies as an “audit committee
financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
We have adopted an audit
committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:
● the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent
registered public accounting firm engaged by us;
● pre-approving all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent
registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures;
● setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public
accounting firm, including but not limited to, as required by applicable laws and regulations;
● setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
● obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting
firm describing (i) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures, (ii) any
material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry
or investigation by governmental or professional authorities within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent
audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues and (iii) all relationships between the independent
registered public accounting firm and us to assess the independent registered public accounting firm’s independence;
● reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item
404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and
● reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors,
as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies
and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies
and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or
other regulatory authorities.
29
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation
committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Sharp and Hochberg serve as members of our compensation committee. Under the Nasdaq
listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we generally would be required to have at least two members of the compensation committee,
all of whom must be independent, subject to certain limited exceptions set forth under the rules of Nasdaq. Mr. Sharp and
Mr. Hochberg are each independent and Mr. Sharp chairs the compensation committee.
We have adopted a compensation
committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
● reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief
Executive Officer’s compensation, if any is paid by us, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light
of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such
evaluation;
● reviewing and approving on an annual basis the compensation, if any is paid by us, of all of our
other officers;
● reviewing on an annual basis our executive compensation policies and plans;
● implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;
● assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;
● approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit
arrangements for our officers and employees;
● if required, producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement;
and
● reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.
The charter also provides
that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel
or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser.
However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation
committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.
Director Nominations
We do not have a standing
nominating committee though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by
law or Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a
director nominee for selection by the board of directors. The board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily
carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating
committee. The directors who will participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Messrs. Sharp
and Hochberg. In accordance with Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq rules, Messrs. Sharp and Hochberg are independent. As there is no
standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.
The board of directors
will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our stockholders during such times as they are seeking proposed
nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of stockholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of stockholders).
Our stockholders that wish to nominate a director for election to our board of directors should follow the procedures set forth
in our bylaws. However, prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend
director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
30
We have not formally established
any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying
and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience,
knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests
of our stockholders.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a Code
of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our Code of Ethics and our audit and compensation
committee charters as exhibits to the Registration Statement. You are able to review these documents by accessing our public filings
at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov . In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge
upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current
Report on Form 8-K.
Item 11.
Executive Compensation
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
None of our officers or
directors has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Except as described below, to date, no compensation of
any kind, including any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee or monies in respect of any payment of a loan, will be
paid by us to our officers and directors, or, other than as described herein, to the sponsor or any affiliate of the sponsor or
officers, prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business
combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). In October and November 2020, the sponsor transferred 20,000 founder
shares to each of Mr. Sharp and Mr. Hochberg, respectively, our independent directors. In addition, on November 13, 2020,
we began paying an amount equal to $10,000 per month to the sponsor for office space, administrative and shared personnel support
services. In addition, our officers and directors will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection
with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business
combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to the sponsor and officers or directors,
or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the
trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such payments, we do not expect to have any additional controls in
place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection
with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. We have engaged CF&Co. as a financial advisor and placement
agent in connection with the AEye Business Combination and have agreed to pay CF&Co. a customary financial advisory fee in
an amount that constitutes a market standard financial advisory fee for comparable transactions. In the event the AEye Business
Combination is not consummated, we may engage CF&Co., or another affiliate of the sponsor, as a financial advisor in connection
with any other initial business combination and pay such affiliate a customary financial advisory fee in an amount that constitutes
a market standard financial advisory fee for comparable transactions. Furthermore, we may acquire a target company that has engaged
CF&Co., or another affiliate of the sponsor, as a financial advisor, and such target company may pay such affiliate a financial
advisory fee in connection with our initial business combination.
After the completion of
our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management
fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender
offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed initial business combination.
We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members
of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed initial business combination,
because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation.
Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either
by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board
of directors.
We do not intend to take
any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial
business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting
arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting
arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target
business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business
combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to
any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
31
Item 12.
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The following table sets
forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of March 15, 2021 based on information obtained from
the persons named below, with respect to the beneficial ownership of common stock, by:
●
each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding common stock;
●
each of our executive officers and directors that beneficially owns our common stock; and
●
all our executive officers and directors as a group.
In the table below, percentage
ownership is based on 29,250,000 shares of our common stock, consisting of (i) 23,500,000 shares of our Class A common stock and
(ii) 5,750,000 shares of our Class B common stock, issued and outstanding as
of March 15, 2021. On all matters to be voted upon, except for the election of directors of the board, holders of the shares of
Class A common stock and shares of Class B common stock vote together as a single class. Currently, all of the shares of Class
B common stock are convertible into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis.
Unless otherwise indicated,
we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock
beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants
as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this Report.
Class A Common Stock
Class B Common Stock
Approximate
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1)
Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
Approximate
Percentage
of Class
Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned(2)
Approximate
Percentage
of Class
Percentage
of Outstanding
Ordinary
Shares
CF
Finance Holdings III, LLC (2)(3)
500,000
2.1
%
5,710,000
99.3
%
21.2
%
Howard W. Lutnick (2)(3)
500,000
2.1
%
5,710,000
99.3
%
21.2
%
Anshu Jain
—
—
—
—
—
Alice Chan
—
—
—
—
—
Robert G. Sharp
—
—
20,000
*
*
Robert J. Hochberg
—
—
20,000
*
*
All officers and directors as a group (5 individuals)
500,000
2.1
%
5,750,000
99.3
%
21.4
%
Kepos Capital LP (4)
1,550,000
6.4
%
—
—
5.3
%
HGC Investment Management
Inc. (5)
1,501,000
6.4
%
—
—
5.3
%
Polar Asset Management
Partners Inc. (6)
1,500,000
6.4
%
—
—
5.3
%
BlueCrest Capital
Management Limited (7)
1,500,000
6.4
%
—
—
5.3
%
Highbridge Capital
Management, LLC (8)
1,300,000
5.5
%
—
—
4.4
%
Weiss
Asset Management LP (9)
1,209,253
5.1
%
—
—
4.1
%
* less than 1%
32
(1)
Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities
or individuals is c/o CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III, 110 East 59 th Street, New York, NY 10022.
(2)
Interests shown consist of founder shares, classified as shares of Class B common stock,
which shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment,
as described in Exhibit 4.5 “Description of Registered Securities,” and with respect to the interests held after
the initial public offering, and 500,000 shares of Class A common stock underling the private placement units.
(3)
The sponsor is the record holder of such shares. Cantor is the sole member of the sponsor.
CFGM is the managing general partner of Cantor. Mr. Lutnick, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is the trustee
of CFGM’s sole stockholder. As such, each of Cantor, CFGM and Mr. Lutnick may be deemed to have beneficial ownership
of the common stock held directly by the sponsor. Each such entity or person disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported
shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest they may have therein, directly or indirectly.
(4)
According to the Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 4, 2021 by Kepos Capital LP (the
“Investment Manager”), a Delaware limited partnership, and the investment adviser to certain funds and accounts
(the “Kepos Funds”), with respect to the shares of Class A common stock directly held by the Kepos Funds and (ii)
Mr. Mark Carhart (the “Mr. Carhart”, together with the Investment Manager, the “Reporting Persons”),
the managing member of Kepos Capital GP LLC, the general partner of the Investment Manager, with respect to the shares of
Class A common stock directly held by the Kepos Funds. 11 Times Square, The principal
business address of the Reporting Persons is 35 th Floor, New York, New York 10036.
(5)
According to the Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 16, 2021 by HGC Investment Management
Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of Canada (the “Reporting Person”), which serves as the investment
manager to HGC Arbitrage Fund LP, an Ontario limited partnership (the “Fund”), with respect to the share of the
Company’s Class A common stock held by the Reporting Person on behalf of the Fund. The Reporting Person is an investment
fund manager, portfolio manager, exempt market dealer and commodity trading manager registered with the Ontario Securities
Commission and disclaims beneficial ownership of the shares reported therein. The principal
business address of the Reporting Person is 366 Adelaide, Suite 601, Toronto, Ontario M5V 1R9, Canada.
(6)
According to the Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 8, 2021, by Polar Asset Management
Partners Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of Ontario, Canada (the “Reporting Person”), which serves
as the investment advisor to Polar Multi-Strategy Master Fund, a Cayman Islands exempted company (“PMSMF”) with
respect to the shares of the Company’s Class A common stock directly held by PMSMF.
The Reporting Person is an investment fund manager, portfolio manager, exempt market dealer and commodity trading manager
registered with the Ontario Securities Commission. The principal business address of
the Reporting Person is 401 Bay Street, Suite 1900, PO Box 19, Toronto, Ontario M5H 2Y4, Canada.
(7)
According to the Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on November 23, 2020, by (i) BlueCrest Capital
Management Limited (the “Investment Manager”), which serves as investment manager to Millais Limited, a Cayman
Islands exempted company (the “Fund”) and (ii) Michael Platt, a citizen
of the United Kingdom (“Mr. Platt”, together with Investment Manager, the “Reporting Persons”), who
serves as principal, director, and control person of the Investment Manager, with
respect to the shares of the Company’s Class A common held for the account of the Fund. Millais USA LLC acts as sub-investment
manager of the Fund, and reports to the Investment Manager.The principal business address of the Reporting Persons is Ground
Floor, Harbour Reach, La Rue de Carteret, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, JE2 4HR.
(8)
According to the Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on November 27, 2020, as amended February
11, 2021 by Highbridge Capital Management, LLC (“Highbridge”) and Highbridge Tactical Credit Master Fund, L.P.
(the “Highbridge Master Fund”, together with Highbridge, the “Reporting Persons”). Highbridge, as
the trading manager of Highbridge Master Fund, may have been deemed to be the beneficial owner of the shares of the Company’s
Class A common stock held by Highbridge Master Fund. Highbridge Master Fund may have been deemed to be the beneficial owner
of the shares of Class A common stock held by it. The principal business address of
the Reporting Persons is 277 Park Avenue, 23 rd Floor, New York, New York 10172.
(9)
According to the Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 12, 2021 (i) by Weiss Asset Management
LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Weiss Asset Management”, (ii) WAM GP LLC, a Delaware limited liability company
(“WAM GP”) and (iii) Andrew M. Weiss, Ph.D., a United States citizen (“Andrew Weiss”, together with
Weiss Asset Management and WAM GP, the “Reporting Persons”). Weiss Asset Management is the sole investment manager
to a private investment partnership (the “Partnership”) and a private investment fund (“Fund”). WAM
GP is the sole general partner of Weiss Asset Management. Andrew Weiss is the managing member of WAM GP. Each of the Reporting
Persons disclaims beneficial ownership of the shares reported therein as beneficially owned by each except to the extent of
their respective pecuniary interest therein. The principal business address of the Reporting
Persons is 222 Berkeley St., 16 th floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02116.
33
The sponsor and our officers
and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Securities Authorized for Issuance under
Equity Compensation Table
None
Changes in Control
For more information on
the AEye Business Combination, see “Item 1. Business”.
Item 13.
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
In March 2016, the
sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On September 24, 2020,
we effectuated a 2.5-for-1 stock split. On October 5, 2020, the sponsor returned to us, at no cost, an aggregate of 8,625,000
founder shares, which we cancelled, split resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares outstanding and held by the sponsor.
In addition, in October and November 2020, the sponsor transferred 20,000 founder shares to each of Mr. Sharp and Mr. Hochberg,
respectively, our independent directors. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such
founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of the initial public offering (not including the
shares of Class A common stock underlying the private placement units). The founder shares (including the Class A common
stock issuable upon conversion thereof in connection with our initial business combination) may not, subject to certain limited
exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder for a period of time as set forth in the Insider Letter.
The sponsor, pursuant to
a written agreement, purchased an aggregate of 500,000 private placement units for a purchase price of $10.00 per unit in a private
placement simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering. As such, the sponsor’s interest in this transaction
was valued at $5,000,000.
The private placement units
are identical to the units sold in the initial public offering except that the private placement warrants included therein, so
long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including
the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred,
assigned or sold by the sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be
exercised by the holders on a cashless basis, (iv) will be entitled to registration rights and (v) for so long as they
are held by the sponsor, will not be exercisable more than five years from the effective date of the Registration Statement in
accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8)(A). The private placement units (including the private placement shares, the private placement
warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions,
be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.
If we anticipate that we
may not be able to consummate our initial business combination by May 17, 2021, and subject to the sponsor depositing additional
funds into the trust account as set out below, our time to consummate a business combination shall be extended for an additional
four months up to four times, until September 17, 2022, to complete a business combination. Pursuant to the terms of the Charter
and the trust agreement we entered into with Continental, in order for the time available for us to consummate our initial business
combination to be extended, the sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline,
must deposit into the trust account $2,300,000 ($0.10 per unit), on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each of
the available four month extensions providing a total possible business combination period of 22 months at a total payment
value of $9,200,000 ($0.10 per unit). Any such payments would be made in the form of a non-interest bearing loan which would
be due and payable on the consummation of our initial business combination out of the proceeds of the trust account released to
us. If we do not complete a business combination, we may repay such loans solely from assets not held in the trust account, if
any. Furthermore, the letter agreement with our initial stockholders contains a provision pursuant to which the sponsor has agreed
to waive its right to be repaid for such loans in the event that we do not complete a business combination. The sponsor and its
affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business
combination.
If any of our officers
or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he or she
has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties to present such business
combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she
determines to present the opportunity to us. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may
be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. The Charter provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate
opportunity offered to any director or officer unless (i) such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his
or her capacity as a director or officer of our company, (ii) such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted
to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue and (iii) the director or officer is permitted to refer the
opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
34
We are not prohibited from
pursuing an initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with the sponsor, its affiliates, or our officers or
directors, including an Affiliated Joint Acquisition. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a
business that is affiliated with the sponsor, its affiliates or our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors,
will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation
opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view.
Other than as described
below, no compensation of any kind, including any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee or monies in respect of any
payment of a loan, will be paid by us to the sponsor, officers and directors, or any affiliate of the sponsor or officers, prior
to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of an initial business combination (regardless
of the type of transaction that it is). In October and November 2020, the sponsor transferred 20,000 founder shares to each of
Mr. Sharp and Mr. Hochberg, respectively, our independent directors. In addition, the sponsor, officers and directors,
or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities
on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our
audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to the sponsor, our officers or directors or our or
their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling
on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
Prior to the closing of
the initial public offering, the sponsor agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of the initial
public offering. This loan was non-interest bearing, unsecured and was due at the closing of the initial public offering.
The loan was repaid upon the closing of the initial public offering out of the estimated $750,000 of offering proceeds that was
allocated to the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions).
On November 13, 2020, we
began paying an amount equal to $10,000 per month to the sponsor for office space, administrative and shared personnel support
services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. Accordingly,
in the event the consummation of our initial business combination takes the maximum 22 months, the sponsor will be paid a
total of $220,000 ($10,000 per month) and will be entitled to be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses.
We have engaged CF&Co.
as a financial advisor and placement agent in connection with the AEye Business Combination and have agreed to pay CF&Co. a
customary financial advisory fee in an amount that constitutes a market standard financial advisory fee for comparable transactions.
In the event the AEye Business Combination is not consummated, we may engage CF&Co., or another affiliate of the sponsor, as
a financial advisor in connection with any other initial business combination and pay such affiliate a customary financial advisory
fee in an amount that constitutes a market standard financial advisory fee for comparable transactions. Furthermore, we may acquire
a target company that has engaged CF&Co, or another affiliate of the sponsor, as a financial advisor, and such target company
may pay such affiliate a financial advisory fee in connection with our initial business combination.
In order to finance transaction
costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the sponsor has committed $1,750,000 to fund our expenses relating
to investigating and selecting a target business and other working capital requirements after the initial public offering and prior
to our initial business combination. In addition, the sponsor or an affiliate of the sponsor or certain of our officers and directors
may, but are not obligated to, loan us additional funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we
would repay such loaned amounts. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the
event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust
account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. The terms
of such additional loans by the sponsor, its affiliates and our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no
written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than the sponsor or an affiliate
of the sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights
to seek access to funds in our trust account.
After our initial business
combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined
company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy
solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known
at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial
business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive
and director compensation.
35
We entered into a registration
rights agreement with respect to the private placement units, the private placement shares, the private placement warrants and
the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares.
We paid the underwriters
an aggregate of $4,000,000 (or $0.20 per unit) in underwriting discounts and commissions in connection with the initial public
offering. No commissions were paid on any units sold pursuant to the underwriters’ over-allotment option. We also paid
$100,000 to Odeon Capital Group, LLC for acting as the “qualified independent underwriter” in the initial public offering.
We have engaged CF&Co.
as an advisor in connection with our business combination pursuant to the business combination marketing agreement entered into
in connection with the initial public offering. We will pay CF&Co. a cash fee for such services upon the consummation of our
initial business combination in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds of the base offering and 5.5%
of the gross proceeds from the full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. As a result, CF&Co. will
not be entitled to such fee unless we consummate our initial business combination.
Related Party Policy
Prior to our initial public
offering, we had not yet adopted a formal policy for the review, approval or ratification of related party transactions. Accordingly,
the transactions discussed above were not reviewed, approved or ratified in accordance with any such policy.
We have adopted a code
of ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved
by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under
our code of ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including
any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the Company. A copy of the code of ethics that we adopted was filed as
an exhibit to the Registration Statement.
In addition, our audit
committee, pursuant to a written charter that we adopted prior to the consummation of the initial public offering, is responsible
for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote
of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present will be required in order
to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee will constitute a quorum. Without
a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party
transaction. A copy of the audit committee charter that we adopted prior to the consummation of the initial public offering was
filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement. We also require each of our directors and officers to complete a directors’
and officers’ questionnaire that elicits information about related party transactions.
These procedures are intended
to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest
on the part of a director, employee or officer.
To further minimize conflicts
of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of the
sponsor or officers or directors unless we, or a committee of independent directors, have obtained an opinion from an independent
investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination
is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. Furthermore, there will be no finder’s fees, reimbursement, consulting
fee, non-cash payments, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation paid by us to the sponsor, our officers
or directors, or any affiliate of the sponsor or our officers prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to
effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is) other than
the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of the initial public offering held in the trust account prior
to the completion of our initial business combination:
● Repayment to the sponsor for office space, administrative and shared personnel support services,
in an amount equal to $10,000 per month;
● Either the sponsor will transfer up to 20,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors
or we will pay cash fees to such directors, at our discretion;
● Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred related to identifying, investigating
and completing an initial business combination;
36
● Repayment of loans, including the $1,750,000 loan commitment made by the sponsor for working capital,
which may be made by the sponsor or an affiliate of the sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction
costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written
agreements been executed with respect thereto (provided that in no event will any loans provided by the sponsor be convertible
into our securities);
● Repayment of up to an aggregate of $9,200,000 in non-interest bearing loans made by the sponsor
or its affiliates or designee which are due and payable on the consummation of our initial business combination out of the proceeds
of the trust account released to us, which we may deposit in the trust account in return for up to four 4-month extensions
($2,300,000 per 4-month extension) as further described herein; and
● Payment to CF&Co. of its underwriting discount, Marketing Fee, fees for any financial advisory,
placement agency or other similar investment banking services CF&Co. may provide to our company in the future, including in
connection with the closing of our initial business combination, and reimbursement of CF&Co. for any out-of-pocket expenses
incurred by it in connection with the performance of such services.
Our audit committee will
review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to the sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates.
Director Independence
So long as we maintain
a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, a majority of our board of directors generally must be independent, subject to certain
limited exceptions set forth under the rules of Nasdaq. We rely on the “controlled company” exemption to such requirement
of Nasdaq. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company
or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors,
would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director.
Our board of directors has determined that each of Messrs. Hochberg and Sharp is an “independent director” as
defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules.
Item 14 .
Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
The following is a summary
of fees paid to Withum, for services rendered.
Audit Fees . Audit
fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements, reviews of our
quarterly financial statements and services that are normally provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in
connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Withum, for audit fees, inclusive of required filings with the
SEC for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, and of services rendered in connection with our initial public offering, totaled
$50,470 and $0, respectively.
Audit-Related Fees .
Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the
audit or review of our year-end financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include
attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultation concerning financial accounting and reporting standards.
We did not pay Withum any audit-related fees during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.
Tax Fees . Tax fees
consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. We did not pay Withum
any tax fees during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.
All Other Fees .
All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services. We did not pay Withum any other fees during the years ended December
31, 2020 and 2019.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was
formed in November 2020 upon effectiveness of the Registration Statement. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve
all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our
board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has pre-approved
and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the
fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved
by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
37
PART IV
Item 15.
Exhibits, Financial Statements and Financial
Statement Schedules
(a)
The following documents are filed as part of this
Report:
(1)
Financial Statements
Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
F-2
Financial Statements:
Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019
F-3
Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
F-4
Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
F-5
Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
F-6
Notes to Financial Statements
F-7
(2)
Financial Statements Schedule
All financial statement
schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the amounts are immaterial and not required, or the required information
is presented in the financial statements and notes beginning on F-1 on this Report.
(3)
Exhibits
We hereby file as
part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can
be accessed on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
Item 16.
Form 10-K Summary
Not applicable.
38
CF FINANCE ACQUISITION CORP. III
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
F-2
Financial Statements:
Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019
F-3
Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
F-4
Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
F-5
Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
F-6
Notes to Financial Statements
F-7
F- 1
Report of Independent Registered Public
Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors
of
CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance
sheets of CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the related statements
of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the years then ended, and the related notes (collectively
referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash
flows for the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility
of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on
our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”)
and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable
rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance
with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required
to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are
required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion
on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures
to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures
that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures
in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made
by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide
a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC
We have served as the Company’s auditor
since 2020.
New York, New York
March 15, 2021
F- 2
CF FINANCE ACQUISITION CORP. III
BALANCE SHEETS
December 31,
2020
2019
Assets:
Current assets:
Cash
$ 1,250
$ 25,000
Prepaid expenses
437,500
-
Total current assets
438,750
25,000
Other assets
364,583
-
Cash equivalents held in Trust Account
230,000,819
-
Total Assets
$ 230,804,152
$ 25,000
Current Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity:
Current liabilities:
Accrued expenses
$ 28,099
$ 98
Payables to related party
4,295
2,351
Sponsor loan - promissory notes
427,612
-
Franchise tax payable
24,615
-
Income tax payable
26
-
Total current liabilities
484,647
2,449
Commitments and Contingencies
Class A common stock, 22,531,950 and -0- shares subject to possible redemption at $10.00 per share as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively
225,319,500
-
Stockholders’ Equity:
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding
-
-
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; 968,050 and -0- shares issued and outstanding (excluding 22,531,950 and -0- shares subject to possible redemption) as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively
97
-
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 30,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2020 and 2019
575
575 (1)
Additional paid-in capital
5,154,665
24,425
Accumulated deficit
(155,332 )
(2,449 )
Total Stockholders’ Equity
5,000,005
22,551
Total Current Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
$ 230,804,152
$ 25,000
(1) This
number has been retroactively restated to reflect the recapitalization of the Company
in the form of a 2.5-for-1 stock split and subsequent return to the Company, which resulted
in cancellation of 8,625,000 Founder Shares (see Note 6).
The accompanying notes are an integral
part of these financial statements.
F- 3
CF FINANCE ACQUISITION CORP. III
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the Year Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
General and administrative costs
$ 115,204
$ 98
Administrative expenses - related party
14,333
-
Franchise tax expense
24,165
450
Loss from operations
(153,702 )
(548 )
Interest income on investments held in Trust Account
819
-
Loss before income tax expense
(152,883 )
(548 )
Net loss
$ (152,883 )
$ (548 )
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
Class A - Public shares
23,000,000
-
Class A - Private placement
500,000
-
Class B - Common stock
5,090,659
5,000,000 (1)
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share:
Class A - Public shares
$ (0.00 )
$ -
Class A - Private placement
$ (0.03 )
$ -
Class B - Common stock
$ (0.03 )
$ (0.00 )
(1)
Excludes an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriter. This number has been retroactively restated to reflect the recapitalization of the Company in the form of a 2.5-for-1 stock split and subsequent return to the Company, which resulted in cancellation of 8,625,000 Founder Shares (see Note 6).
The accompanying notes are an integral
part of these financial statements.
F- 4
CF FINANCE ACQUISITION CORP. III
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’
EQUITY
For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Common Stock
Additional
Total
Class A
Class B
Paid-In
Accumulated
Stockholders’
Shares
Amount
Shares
Amount
Capital
Deficit
Equity
Balance - December 31, 2018
-
$ -
5,750,000 (1)
$ 575
$ 24,425
$ (1,901 )
$ 23,099
Net loss
-
-
-
-
-
(548 )
(548 )
Balance - December 31, 2019
-
$ -
5,750,000 (1)
$ 575
$ 24,425
$ (2,449 )
$ 22,551
Sale of units in initial public offering
23,000,000
2,300
-
-
229,997,700
-
230,000,000
Offering costs
-
-
-
-
(4,550,163 )
-
(4,550,163 )
Sale of private placement units to Sponsor in private placement
500,000
50
-
-
4,999,950
-
5,000,000
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption
(22,531,950 )
(2,253 )
-
-
(225,317,247 )
-
(225,319,500 )
Net loss
-
-
-
-
-
(152,883 )
(152,883 )
Balance - December 31, 2020
968,050
$ 97
5,750,000
$ 575
$ 5,154,665
$ (155,332 )
$ 5,000,005
(1)
This number has been retroactively restated to reflect the recapitalization of the Company in the form of a 2.5-for-1 stock split
and subsequent return to the Company, which resulted in cancellation of 8,625,000 Founder Shares (see Note 6).
The accompanying notes are an integral
part of these financial statements.
F- 5
CF FINANCE ACQUISITION CORP. III
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
For the Year Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net loss
$ (152,883 )
$ (548 )
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:
General and administrative expenses paid by related party
101,060
1,001
Interest income on investments held in Trust Account
(819 )
-
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accrued expenses
28,001
(453 )
Franchise tax payable
24,615
-
Income tax payable
26
-
Net cash provided by operating activities
-
-
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Cash deposited in Trust Account
(230,000,000 )
-
Net cash used in investing activities
(230,000,000 )
-
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from note payable to related party
427,612
-
Deferred offering costs paid by related party
139,870
-
Repayment of note payable to related party
(1,041,069 )
-
Proceeds from collection of stock subscription receivable from stockholder
-
25,000
Proceeds received from initial public offering
230,000,000
-
Proceeds received from private placement
5,000,000
-
Offering costs paid
(4,550,163 )
-
Net cash provided by financing activities
229,976,250
25,000
Net change in cash
(23,750 )
25,000
Cash - beginning of the period
25,000
-
Cash - end of the period
$ 1,250
$ 25,000
Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities:
Offering costs included in note payable
$ 139,870
$ -
General and administrative expenses paid by related party
$ 1,043,013
$ -
Change in Class A common stock subject to possible redemption
$ 225,319,500
$ -
The accompanying notes are an integral
part of these financial statements.
F- 6
CF FINANCE ACQUISITION CORP. III
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1—Description of Organization, Business Operations
and Basis of Presentation
CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III (the
“Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on March 15, 2016. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger,
capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses
(the “Business Combination”).
Although the Company is not limited to
a particular industry or sector for purpose of consummating a Business Combination, the Company intends to focus its search on
companies operating in the financial services, healthcare, real estate services, technology and software industries. 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 December 31, 2020, the Company had
not yet commenced operations. All activity through December 31, 2020 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial
public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues
until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company has generated non-operating income
in the form of interest income on U.S. Treasury Securities and cash equivalents on cash from the proceeds derived from the Initial
Public Offering.
The Company’s sponsor is CF Finance
Holdings III, LLC (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for the Initial Public Offering was declared effective
on November 12, 2020. On November 17, 2020, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 23,000,000 units (each, a “Unit”
and with respect to the shares of Class A common stock included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”), including
3,000,000 Units sold upon the exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option in full, at a purchase price of $10.00
per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $230,000,000, which is described in Note 3. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A
common stock and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A
common stock at a price of $11.50. Each warrant will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of the Business
Combination or 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering and will expire 5 years after the completion of the Business
Combination, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
Simultaneously with the closing of the
Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 500,000 units (the “Private Placement Units”) at a price
of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit to the Sponsor in a private placement, generating gross proceeds of $5,000,000, which is
described in Note 4.
The proceeds of the Private Placement
Units were deposited into the Trust Account (as defined below) and will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares subject
to the requirements of applicable law (see Note 4).
Offering costs amounted to approximately
$4,600,000, consisting of $4,100,000 of underwriting fees and approximately $500,000 of other costs.
Following the closing of the Initial Public
Offering and sale of Private Placement Units on November 17, 2020, an amount of $230,000,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds
of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Units (see Note 4) was placed in
a trust account (“Trust Account”) located in the United States at UMB Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer &
Trust Company acting as trustee, which may be invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section
2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (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
the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) 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 Trust Account, as described
below.
Initial Business Combination -
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
generally 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 having an aggregate fair market
value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding taxes payable on income earned on the Trust Account)
at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, 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 sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company
under the Investment Company Act.
F- 7
The Company will provide the holders of
the Public Shares (the “public stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares
upon the completion of a 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 the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business
Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. 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 $10.00 per Public Share).
The per share amount to be distributed to public stockholders who redeem the Public Shares will not be reduced by the Marketing
Fee (as defined below in Note 4). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect
to the Company’s warrants. The Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of
at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon such consummation of a Business Combination and a majority of the shares
voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a stockholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide
to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its amended and restated certificate
of incorporation (as may be amended, the “Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation”), conduct the redemptions
pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents
with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the Business Combination is required
by law, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or legal 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. Additionally,
each public stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed
Business Combination. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the initial stockholders
(as defined below) have agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined below in Note 4), their shares underlying the Private
Placement Units and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of a Business Combination.
In addition, the initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and any
Public Shares held by the initial stockholders in connection with the completion of a Business Combination.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the 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 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% or more of the Class A common stock sold in the Initial Public Offering, without
the prior consent of the Company.
The Sponsor and the Company’s officers
and directors (the “initial stockholders”) have agreed not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate
of Incorporation (i) that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its Public
Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination 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.
Failure to Consummate a Business Combination
– The Company has until May 17, 2021 or prior to the expiration of the applicable four-month extension period, as described
below, to consummate a Business Combination (the “Combination Period”). If the Company is unable to complete a Business
Combination by the end of the Combination Period, 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 the Company 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), subject to applicable law,
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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii)
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.
If the Company anticipates that it may
not be able to consummate a Business Combination by May 17, 2021, and subject to the Sponsor depositing additional funds into
the Trust Account as set out below, the time to consummate a Business Combination shall be extended for an additional four months
up to four times, for a total of up to 22 months to complete a Business Combination. The stockholders will not be entitled to
vote or redeem their shares in connection with any such extension. Pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated Certificate
of Incorporation and the trust agreement entered into between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company,
in order for the time available for the Company to consummate a Business Combination to be extended, the Sponsor or its affiliates
or permitted designees, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the Trust Account $2,300,000
($0.10 per Public Unit), on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each of the available four month extensions providing
a total possible business combination period of 22 months at a total payment value of $9,200,000 ($0.10 per Public Unit). Any
such payments would be made in the form of a non-interest bearing loan which would be due and payable on the consummation of the
Business Combination out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. If the Company does not complete a Business
Combination, it may repay such loans solely from assets not held in the Trust Account, if any. The Sponsor and its affiliates
or designees intend, but are not obligated, to fund the Trust Account to extend the time for the Company to complete our initial
business combination.
F- 8
The initial stockholders 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 initial stockholders acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, they
will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to
complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per
share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be less than $10.00
per share initially held in the Trust Account. 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 vendor 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. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver
of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account or 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 public accounting firm, prospective
target businesses or 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.
Liquidity
and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2020, the Company had
$1,250 of cash in its operating account, working capital deficit of $45,897, and approximately $800 of interest income in the
Trust Account available to pay franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of such net interest to pay dissolution expenses).
The Company’s liquidity needs through
December 31, 2020 have been satisfied through a contribution of $25,000 from the Sponsor in exchange for the issuance of the Founder
Shares, the loan of approximately $140,000 from the Sponsor pursuant to a promissory note (the “Pre-IPO Note”) (see
Note 4), the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Units not held in the Trust Account, and the Sponsor Loan (as defined
below). The Company fully repaid the Pre-IPO Note upon completion of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, in order to finance
transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor has committed up to $1,750,000 to be provided to the
Company to fund the Company’s expenses relating to investigating and selecting a target business and other working capital
requirements after the Initial Public Offering and prior to the Company’s initial Business Combination (the “Sponsor
Loan”). If the Sponsor Loan is insufficient, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s
officers and directors intend, but are not obligated to, provide the Company Working Capital Loans (as defined in Note 4). As
of December 31, 2020, there was approximately $428,000 outstanding under the Sponsor Loan.
Based on the foregoing,
management believes that the Company will have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity from the Sponsor or an affiliate
of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors, to meet its needs through the earlier of the consummation
of a Business Combination or one year from this filing. Over this time period, the Company will be using these funds for paying
existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective target businesses, performing due diligence on prospective target
businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating
and consummating the Business Combination. The Company also intends, but is not obligated to, utilize extensions available to extend
the Business Combination Period, if necessary. It is the current intention of the Sponsor to exercise, at a minimum, two four month
extensions should a Business Combination not occur, as noted above, such that the life of the Company will be at least one year
and one day from the issuance of these financial statements.
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements
are presented in U.S. dollars, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S.
GAAP”) for financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is
an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business
Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements
that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being
required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, reduced disclosure
obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements
of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not
previously approved.
F- 9
Further, Section
102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting
standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective
or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial
accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period
and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable.
The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised
and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt
the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard.
This may make
comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company
nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the
potential differences in accounting standards used.
Note 2—Basis of Presentation
and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements
in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported
amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements
and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Making estimates requires management to exercise
significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances
that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in
the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments
with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company had no cash equivalents in
its operating account as of December 31, 2020 and 2019. The balance of the Company’s investments held in Trust Account as
of December 31, 2020 is comprised of cash equivalents.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially
subject the Company to concentration of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution which, at times, may exceed
the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage limit of $250,000, and cash equivalents held in Trust Account. For the years ended December
31, 2020 and 2019, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed
to significant risks on such accounts.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
As of December 31, 2020, the carrying
values of cash, accrued expenses payables to related party, the Sponsor Loan, franchise tax payable and income tax payable approximate
their fair values due to the short-term nature of the instruments.
Offering Costs Associated with the
Initial Public Offering
Offering costs consisted of legal, accounting,
and other costs incurred in connection with the preparation for the Initial Public Offering. These costs, together with the underwriting
discount, were charged to stockholders’ equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering.
Class A Common Stock Subject to
Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its Class A common
stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.”
Shares of Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured
at fair value. Shares of conditionally redeemable Class A common stock (including Class A common stock that feature redemption
rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely
within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, shares of Class A common stock are
classified as stockholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A common stock features certain redemption rights that are
considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly,
as of December 31, 2020, 22,531,950 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity,
outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.
F- 10
Net Loss Per Common Share
Net loss per share of common stock is
computed by dividing net loss applicable to stockholders by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding
during the periods. The Company has not considered the effect of the warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and Private
Placement to purchase an aggregate of 7,833,333 shares of Class A common stock in the calculation of diluted earnings per share,
since their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted earnings per common share is
the same as basic earnings per common share for the periods presented.
The Company’s statement of operations
includes a presentation of income per share for common stock subject to redemption in a manner similar to the two-class method
of income per share. Net income per share, basic and diluted for shares of Class A common stock is calculated by dividing the
interest income on investments held in Trust Account, net of applicable taxes available to be withdrawn from the Trust Account
by the weighted average number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding for the period, excluding 500,000 shares of Class
A common stock held by the Sponsor, which is not subject to redemption. Net loss per share, basic and diluted for shares of Class
B common stock is calculated by dividing the net income, less income attributable to the shares of redeemable Class A common stock
by the weighted average number of shares of Class B common stock and 500,000 shares of Class A common stock held by the Sponsor
and outstanding for the period.
The following table reflects the calculation of basic and diluted
net income (loss) per common share:
For the Year Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
Redeemable Class A common shares
Numerator: earnings allocable to redeemable Class A common shares
Interest income on investments held in Trust Account
$ 819
$ -
Less franchise tax available to be withdrawn from the Trust Account
$ 819
$ -
Net earnings
$ -
$ -
Denominator: weighted average number of redeemable Class A common share
23,000,000
-
Basic and diluted net income per redeemable Class A common share
$ 0.00
$ -
Non-redeemable Class A and Class B common shares
Numerator: net loss minus redeemable net earnings
Net loss
$ (152,883 )
$ (548 )
Redeemable net earnings
$ -
$ -
Non-redeemable net loss
$ (152,883 )
$ (548 )
Denominator: weighted average number of non-redeemable Class B common shares
Non-redeemable Class A private placement and Class B common
shares, basic and diluted
5,590,659
5,000,000
Basic and diluted net loss per non-redeemable Class A private
placement and Class B common share
$ (0.03 )
$ (0.0 )
Income Taxes
The Company complies
with the accounting and reporting requirements of ASC, 740, “Income Taxes,” which requires an asset and liability
approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated
future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities
and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to
taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred
tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. Valuation
allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
F- 11
ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold
and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken
in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination
by tax authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense.
No amounts were accrued for the payment
of interest and penalties as of December 31, 2020 and 2019. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that
could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.
The Company is subject to income tax examinations
by major taxing authorities since inception.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Management does not believe that any recently
issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have an effect on the Company’s financial
statements.
Note 3—Initial Public Offering
Pursuant to the Initial Public Offering,
the Company sold 23,000,000 Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit, including 3,000,000 Units sold upon exercise of the underwriters’
overallotment option in full. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock, and one-third of one redeemable warrant
(each, a “Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common
stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 6). No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation
of the Units and only whole warrants will trade.
Note 4 - Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
In March 2016, the Sponsor purchased 5,750,000
shares (the “Founder Shares”) of the Company’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 (“Class B common
stock”) for an aggregate price of $25,000. On September 24, 2020, the Company effectuated a 2.5-for-1 stock split. On October
5, 2020, the Sponsor returned to the Company, at no cost, an aggregate of 8,625,000 Founder Shares, which the Company cancelled,
resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 Founder Shares outstanding and held by the Sponsor. All share and per share amounts have
been retroactively restated. In addition, in October and November 2020, the Sponsor transferred 20,000 Founder Shares to two of
the independent directors of the Company. The Founder Shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at
the time of the Business Combination and are subject to certain transfer restrictions.
The initial stockholders have agreed,
subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of its Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one
year after the completion of the initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the
last reported sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends,
reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20-trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least
150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital
stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange
their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Private Placement Units
Simultaneously with the closing of the
Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 500,000 Private Placement Units at a price of $10.00 per
Private Placement Unit ($5,000,000 in the aggregate). Each Private Placement Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock
and one-third of one warrant. Each whole warrant sold as part of the Private Placement Units is exercisable for one whole share
of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. The proceeds from the Private Placement Units have been added to the net
proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within
the Combination Period, the warrants included in the Private Placement Units will expire worthless. The warrants included in the
Private Placement Units will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor or
its permitted transferees.
The warrants will expire five years after
the completion of the Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
The Sponsor and the Company’s officers
and directors have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Units
until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.
F- 12
Underwriter
The lead underwriter is an affiliate of
the Sponsor (see Note 5).
Business Combination Marketing Agreement
The Company has engaged Cantor Fitzgerald &
Co., an affiliate of the Sponsor, as an advisor in connection with the Business Combination to assist the Company in holding meetings
with its stockholders to discuss the Business Combination and the target business’ attributes, introduce the Company to
potential investors that are interested in purchasing the Company’s securities, assist the Company in obtaining stockholder
approval for the Business Combination and assist the Company with its press releases and public filings in connection with the
Business Combination. The Company will pay Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. a cash fee (“Marketing Fee”) for such
services upon the consummation of the Business Combination in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds
of the base offering in the Initial Public Offering, and 5.5% of the gross proceeds from the full exercise of the underwriters’
over-allotment option.
Related Party Loans
The Sponsor made available to the Company,
under the Pre-IPO Note, up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of the Initial Public Offering. Prior to closing
the Initial Public Offering, the amount outstanding under the Pre-IPO Note was $139,870. The Pre-IPO Note was non-interest bearing
and was repaid in full upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering.
In order to finance transaction costs
in connection with an intended initial Business Combination, the Sponsor has committed, pursuant to the Sponsor Loan, up to $1,750,000
to be provided to the Company to fund the Company’s expenses relating to investigating and selecting a target business and
other working capital requirements, including $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and shared personnel support
services that will be paid to the Sponsor, after the Initial Public Offering and prior to the Company’s initial Business
Combination. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had borrowed approximately $428,000 under the Sponsor Loan.
If the Sponsor Loan is insufficient to
cover the working capital requirements of the Company, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s
officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”).
If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the
Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the
Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside
the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working
Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written
agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination,
without interest.
The Sponsor pays expenses on the Company’s
behalf. The Company reimburses the Sponsor for such expenses paid on its behalf. The unpaid balance is included in Payables to
related parties on the accompanying balance sheet. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had accounts payable outstanding to Sponsor
for such expenses paid on the Company’s behalf of approximately $4,300.
The Company may extend the period of time
to consummate a Business Combination up to four times, each by an additional four months (for a total of 22 months to complete
a Business Combination). It is the current intention of the Sponsor to exercise, at a minimum, two four-month extensions should
a Business Combination not occur, as noted above, such that the life of the Company will be at least one year and one day from
the issuance of the financial statement. In order to extend the time available for the Company to consummate a Business Combination,
the Sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the Trust Account $2,300,000 ($0.10 per Public Share), up to an aggregate
of $9,200,000, or $0.10 per Public Share, on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each four month extension. Any
such payments would be made in the form of a non-interest bearing loan which would be due and payable on the consummation of the
Business Combination out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. If the Company does not complete a Business
Combination, it may repay such loans solely from assets not held in the Trust Account, if any. The Sponsor and its affiliates
or designees are not obligated to fund the Trust Account to extend the time for the Company to complete a Business Combination
(see Note 1).
F- 13
Note 5 – Commitments and Contingencies
Registration Rights
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement
entered into on November 12, 2020, the holders of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units (and component securities) are entitled
to registration rights (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion of such shares to shares of Class A common stock).
These holders are entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. The Company will bear the expenses
incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted Cantor Fitzgerald &
Co., the lead underwriter and an affiliate of the Sponsor, a 45-day option to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional Units to cover
over-allotments at the Initial Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. Cantor Fitzgerald &
Co. exercised the over-allotment option in full concurrent with the closing of the Initial Public Offering.
The lead underwriter was paid a cash underwriting
discount of $4,000,000.
The Company also engaged a qualified independent
underwriter to participate in the preparation of the registration statement and exercise the usual standards of “due diligence”
in respect thereto. The Company paid the independent underwriter a fee of $100,000 upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering
in consideration for its services and expenses as the qualified independent underwriter. The qualified independent underwriter
received no other compensation.
Business Combination Marketing Agreement
The Company has engaged Cantor Fitzgerald &
Co. as an advisor in connection with the Company’s Business Combination. (see Note 4).
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have an effect
on the Company’s financial position, results of operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not
readily determinable as of the date of the financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that
might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Note 6 - Stockholders’ Equity
Class A Common Stock - The
Company is authorized to issue 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of
December 31, 2020, there were 968,050 shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding, excluding 22,531,950 shares subject
to possible redemption. Class A common stock includes 500,000 shares included in Private Placement Units. There were no shares
of Class A common stock issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2019. The shares of Class A common stock included in the Private
Placement Units do not contain the same redemption features contained in the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering.
Class B Common Stock - The
Company is authorized to issue 30,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders
of Class B common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. As of both December 31, 2020 and 2019, there were 5,750,000 shares
of Class B common stock issued and outstanding. The initial stockholders collectively own 20% of the Company’s issued and
outstanding common stock after the Initial Public Offering (not including the Private Placement Units).
Only holders of Class B common stock will
have the right to vote on the election of directors until completion of the Business Combination. Holders of Class A common stock
and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of stockholders except
as required by law.
The shares of Class B common stock will
automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of the Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject
to adjustment. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued
in excess of the amounts offered in the Initial Public Offering and related to the closing of the Business Combination, the ratio
at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders
of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance
or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common
stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock
outstanding upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities
issued or deemed issued in connection with the Business Combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued,
or to be issued, to any seller in the Business Combination).
F- 14
On September 24, 2020, the Sponsor effectuated
a recapitalization of the Company, which included a 2.5-for-1 stock split. On October 5, 2020, the Sponsor returned to the Company,
at no cost, an aggregate of 8,625,000 Founder Shares, which were cancelled. The foregoing transactions resulted in an aggregate
of 5,750,000 Founder Shares outstanding and held by the initial stockholders. Share and per share information contained in the
financial statements have been retroactively adjusted for this split and cancellation.
Preferred stock - The Company
is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share with such designations, voting
and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of December
31, 2020 and 2019, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.
Warrants - Public Warrants
may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Public Warrants.
The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination
or (b) 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering; provided in each case that the Company has an effective registration
statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants and a current
prospectus relating to them is available.
The Company has agreed that as soon as
practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its
commercially reasonable best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities
Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Company will use its commercially
reasonable best efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement,
and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the Public Warrants in accordance with the provisions of the
warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable
upon exercise of the Public Warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of Business Combination,
warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company shall
have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided
by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption,
is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. The Public Warrants will expire five
years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
The warrants included in the Private Placement
Units are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units being sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the warrants
included in the Private Placement Units and the Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the warrants included in the
Private Placement Units are not transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination,
subject to certain limited exceptions.
Additionally, the warrants included in
the Private Placement Units will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial
purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the warrants included in the Private Placement Units are held by someone other than
the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the warrants included in the Private Placement Units will be redeemable
by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
The Company may redeem the Public Warrants
(except with respect to the warrants included in the Private Placement Units):
● in whole and not in part;
● at
a price of $0.01 per warrant;
● at
any time during the exercise period;
● upon
a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption;
● if,
and only if, the last reported sale price of the Company’s common stock equals
or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20-trading days within a 30-trading day period ending
on the third business day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of
redemption to the warrant holders; and
● if,
and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the
shares of common stock underlying such warrants.
F- 15
If the Company calls the Public Warrants
for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a
“cashless basis”, as described in the warrant agreement.
The exercise price and number of shares
of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event
of a stock dividend, or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted
for issuance of Class A common stock at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required
to net cash settle the warrants. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and
the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect
to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with
the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.
Note 7—Income Taxes
The Company’s
taxable income primarily consists of interest income on the Trust Account. The Company’s general and administrative expenses
are generally considered start-up costs and are not currently deductible. There was no income tax expense for the years ending
December 31, 2020 and 2019.
The income tax provision (benefit) consists
of the following for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:
December 31,
2020
2019
Current
Federal
$ (4,908 )
$ (95 )
State
-
-
Deferred
Federal
(27,218 )
(20 )
State
-
-
Change in valuation allowance
32,126
115
Income tax provision expense
$ -
$ -
The Company’s net deferred tax assets
are as follows as of December 31, 2020 and 2019:
December 31,
2020
2019
Deferred tax asset
Startup/Organizational Costs
$ 27,218
$ 20
Net operating loss carryforwards
4,908
95
Total deferred tax assets
32,126
115
Valuation Allowance
(32,126 )
(115 )
Deferred tax asset, net of allowance
$ -
$ -
In assessing the realization of deferred
tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not
be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during
the periods in which temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts become deductible. Management considers
the scheduled reversal of deferred tax assets, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment.
After consideration of all of the information available, management believes that significant uncertainty exists with respect
to future realization of the deferred tax assets and has therefore established a full valuation allowance.
F- 16
There were no unrecognized tax benefits
as of December 31, 2020 and 2019. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties as of December 31, 2020 and
2019. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material
deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
A reconciliation of the statutory federal
income tax rate (benefit) to the Company’s effective tax rate (benefit) is as follows for the years ended December 31, 2020
and 2019:
December 31,
2020
2019
Statutory Federal income tax rate
21.0 %
21.0 %
Change in Valuation Allowance
(21.0 )%
(21.0 )%
Income Taxes Benefit
0.0 %
0.0 %
Note 8—Fair
Value Measurements
Fair value is
defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction
between market participants at the measurement date. U.S. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes
the inputs used in measuring fair value.
The hierarchy
gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements)
and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
●
Level 1, defined as observable
inputs such as quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets;
●
Level 2, defined as inputs
other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar
instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and
●
Level 3, defined as unobservable
inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations
derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable.
In some circumstances,
the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances,
the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is
significant to the fair value measurement.
The following
table presents information about the Company’s assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December
31, 2020 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques that the Company utilized to determine such fair value.
December 31,
2020
Description
Quoted Prices
in Active Markets
(Level 1)
Significant Other
Observable Inputs
(Level 2)
Significant Other
Unobservable Inputs
(Level 3)
Total
Assets held in Trust Account:
U.S. Treasury Securities
$ 230,000,819
$ -
$ -
$ 230,000,819
Total
$ 230,000,819
$ -
$ -
$ 230,000,819
Transfers to/from
Levels 1, 2, and 3 are recognized at the end of the reporting period. There were no transfers between levels for the year ended
December 31, 2020.
Level 1 instruments
include investments in money market funds and U.S. Treasury securities. The Company uses inputs such as actual trade data, benchmark
yields, quoted market prices from dealers or brokers, and other similar sources to determine the fair value of its investments.
F- 17
Note 9—Subsequent Events
On February 17, 2021, the Company entered
into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) by and among Meliora Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation
and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub”), and AEye, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“AEye”),
a provider of high-performance, active LiDAR systems for vehicle autonomy, advanced driver assistance systems and robotic vehicle
applications. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein, upon the closing of the
transactions contemplated thereby (the “Closing”), Merger Sub will merge with and into AEye (the “Merger”
and together with the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the “Transactions”), whereby the separate
corporate existence of Merger Sub will cease and AEye will be the surviving corporation of the Merger and become a wholly owned
subsidiary of the Company. Contemporaneously with the execution of the Merger Agreement, the Company entered into separate Subscription
Agreements (the “Subscription Agreements”) with a number of subscribers (each a “Subscriber”), including
the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Subscribers agreed to purchase, and the Company agreed to sell to the Subscribers at the Closing,
an aggregate of 22.5 million shares of Class A common stock, for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and an aggregate purchase
price of $225 million (the “PIPE Investments”), with the Sponsor’s Subscription Agreement accounting for $9.5
million of such aggregate PIPE Investments (of which the Sponsor has assigned $4.5 million of its subscription to an unrelated
third-party) The board of directors of each of AEye and the Company have unanimously approved the Transactions. The closing of
the Transactions will require the approval of the stockholders of AEye and the Company, and is subject to other customary closing
conditions, including the receipt of certain regulatory approvals.
The Company evaluated subsequent events
and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued and determined
that there have been no events that have occurred that would require adjustments to the disclosures in the financial statements,
except for the events described above.
F- 18
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exh ibit
No.
Description
1.1
Underwriting
Agreement, dated November 12, 2020, by and between the Company and Cantor. (3)
1.2
Business
Combination Marketing Agreement, dated November 12, 2020, by and between the Company and Cantor. (3)
2.1
Agreement
and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 17, 2021, by and among the Company, Merger Sub and AEye. (4)
3.1
Amended
and Restated Certificate of Incorporation. (3)
3.2
Amended
and Restated Bylaws. (2)
4.1
Specimen
Unit Certificate. (2)
4.2
Specimen
Class A Common Stock Certificate. (2)
4.3
Specimen
Warrant Certificate. (2)
4.4
Warrant
Agreement, dated November 12, 2020, by and between the Company any Continental. (3)
4.5
Description
of Registered Securities.*
10.1
Letter
Agreement, dated November 12, 2020, by and among the Company, the sponsor and each of the directors and executive officers
of the Company. (3)
10.2
Investment
Management Trust Agreement, dated November 12, 2020, by and between the Company and Continental. (3)
10.3
Registration
Rights Agreement, dated November 12, 2020, by and among the Company, the sponsor and the Holders signatory thereto. (3)
10.4
Expense
Reimbursement Agreement, dated November 12, 2020, by and between the Company and the sponsor. (3)
10.5
Private
Placement Units Purchase Agreement, dated November 12, 2020, by and between the Company and the sponsor. (3)
10.6
Form
of Indemnity Agreement. (2)
10.7
Promissory
Note, dated September 10, 2020, issued to the sponsor. (1)
10.8
Promissory
Note, dated November 12, 2020, issued to the sponsor. (3)
10.9
Administrative
Services Agreement, dated November 12, 2020, by and between the Company and the sponsor. (3)
10.10
Form
of Subscription Agreement. (4)
10.11
Form
of Stockholder Support Agreement. (4)
10.12
Form
of Sponsor Support Agreement. (4)
10.13
Form
of Lock-Up Agreement. (4)
10.14
Form
of Registration Rights Agreement. (4)
31.1
Certification of the Principal Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).*
31.2
Certification of the Principal Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).*
32.1
Certification of the Principal Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and 18 U.S.C. 1350**
32.2
Certification of the Principal Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and 18 U.S.C. 1350**
101.INS
XBRL Instance Document*
101.SCH
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema*
101.CAL
XBRL Taxonomy Calculation Linkbase*
101.LAB
XBRL Taxonomy Label Linkbase*
101.PRE
XBRL Definition Linkbase Document*
101.DEF
XBRL Definition Linkbase Document*
*
Filed
herewith.
**
Furnished herewith
(1)
Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form S-1,
filed with the SEC on October 7, 2020.
(2)
Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form S-1/A, filed with
the SEC on October 21, 2020.
(3)
Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form 8-K, filed with
the SEC on November 18, 2020.
(4)
Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form 8-K, filed with
the SEC on February 17, 2021.
39
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements
of Section13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
March 15, 2021
CF
Finance Acquisition Corp. III
By:
/s/ Howard
W. Lutnick
Name:
Howard
W. Lutnick
Title:
Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer)
Pursuant to the requirements
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant
and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Name
Position
Date
/s/
Howard W. Lutnick
Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer
March 15, 2021
Howard W. Lutnick
(Principal Executive Officer)
/s/
Alice Chan
Chief Financial Officer and
Director
March 15, 2021
Alice Chan
(Principal Financial and
Accounting Officer)
/s/
Anshu Jain
President and Director
March 15, 2021
Anshu Jain
/s/
Robert Sharp
Director
March 15, 2021
Robert Sharp
/s/ Robert
Hochberg
Director
March 15, 2021
Robert Hochberg
40
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.