USA Rare Earth, Inc. 10-K

Item 1. Business. Introduction We are a blank check company incorporated on March 6, 2023, as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenue to date. While we may pursue an initial business combination in any industry, sector or geographic region, we intend to focus our search initially on North American and European businesses in disruptive growth sectors, which complements the expertise of our management team. Our Company combines the abilities of a diverse and founder-friendly management team. We have assembled a management team with experience across both public and private markets with deep roots in our target markets. Our team combines decades of experience sourcing, researching, and investing in complex transactions that create value for shareholders. We expect to seek an investment opportunity where each member of our management team can leverage their expertise and network to create significant value. We will seek fundamentally strong businesses in a broad range of disruptive growth sectors, with emphasis on one or more of the following attributes, although we may decide to enter into a business combination with a target business that does not have one or more of these attributes: ● Innovative, technology-enabled company of scale focused on acquiring new customers with a large addressable market, legacy analogue competitors and a differentiated path to market or superior product. ● Customer focused and deeply experienced team fueled by a shared connection and passion for the business. ● Achieved a scale such that the profit contribution from existing business offsets fixed costs and is prepared to reinvest in high return on capital opportunities. ● Adaptable to the rapidly changing business environment and major shift in demographics with the ability to generate shareholder value in any market cycle. 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 a business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this Annual Report, would be in the form of proxy solicitation or tender-offer materials, as applicable, that we would file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“ SEC ”). Our management team has the necessary corporate, financial and investment experience to successfully pursue acquisitions with companies via a myriad of potential transaction structures. We envision a transaction may be derived from many different business inflection points, which include, but are not limited to: (i) corporate carve outs; (ii) privately owned, fast-growing businesses seeking an efficient path to becoming public; (iii) venture capital and private equity owned businesses whose growth can be further accelerated; and (iv) businesses that would similarly benefit from a partnership with our management team. Whether a carve-out or whole company acquisition, we are proficient in identifying attractive opportunities and continuously adding value post deal execution. We have reviewed, and continue to review, a number of opportunities to enter into an initial business combination, but we are not able to determine at this time whether we will complete an initial business combination with any of the target businesses that we have reviewed or with any other target business. We also have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenue to date. Based on our business activities, the Company is a “shell company” as defined under the Exchange Act of 1934 (the “ Exchange Act ”) because we have no operations and nominal assets consisting almost entirely of cash. On March 8, 2023, the Sponsor made a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover certain of the Company’s expenses, for which the Company issued 5,750,000 founders shares to the Sponsor. On May 24, 2023, the Company effected a share capitalization of 575,000 founder shares, resulting in the Sponsor holding 6,325,000 founder shares. The founder shares included an aggregate of 825,000 shares that were subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised, so that the number of founder shares would collectively represent 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares upon the completion of the IPO. As a result of the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their over-allotment option on May 30, 2023, 75,000 founder shares were forfeited resulting in the Sponsor holding 6,250,000 founder shares. 1 On May 30, 2023, we consummated our initial public offering of 25,000,000 units (the “ Units ”), which includes the partial exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 3,000,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $250,000,000 (the “ IPO ”). Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share (the “ Class A ordinary shares ” or “ Public Shares ”) and one half of one redeemable warrant (the “ Public Warrants ”) of the Company, with each whole Public Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share for $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company consummated the sale of 7,650,000 private placement warrants (the “ Private Placement Warrants ” and, together with the Public Warrants, the “ Warrants ”) to the Sponsor and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., the representative of the underwriters of the IPO, at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, or $7,650,000 in the aggregate. Of those 7,650,000 Private Placement Warrants, the Sponsor purchased 6,000,000 Private Placement Warrants and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. purchased 1,650,000 Private Placement Warrants. Each whole Private Placement Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. A total of $251,250,000 of the proceeds from IPO and Private Placement, which amount included $13,100,000 of the underwriter’s deferred discount, was placed in the trust account (the “ Trust Account ”). The funds held in the Trust Account are invested 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 money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Effecting Our Initial Business Combination General We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash held in the Trust Account, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination, shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, other securities issuances 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 ordinary shares, we may use 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. Although we are not limited to a particular industry or geographic region for purposes of consummating an initial business combination, we intend to focus our search initially on North American and European businesses in disruptive growth sectors, which complements the expertise of our management team. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a target business. We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the Trust Account. In addition, we may target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of the IPO and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the Trust Account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemptions by holders of our Public Shares (the “ public shareholders ”), we may 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, regulation or stock exchange rule we would seek shareholder approval of such financing. 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 agreements we may enter into following consummation of the IPO. 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. None of our Sponsor, officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. 2 Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination The rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“ Nasdaq ”) require that 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 the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the Trust Account). 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 (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“ FINRA ”) or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it likely that our board of directors will 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 the target’s assets or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. 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, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and 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 the 80% of net assets test described above. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the aggregate value of all of the target businesses, will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% fair market value test. In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction. The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our 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. We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors, or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated (as defined in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association) with our Sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm stating that the consideration to be paid by us in such an initial business combination is fair to our Company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. Members of our management team and our independent directors indirectly own founder shares and/or Private Placement Warrants and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. 3 Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to at least one other entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. In addition, our Sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. As a result, our Sponsor, officers and directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other special purpose acquisition company with which they may become involved. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination target. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our Company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with Nasdaq’s shareholder approval rules. The requirement that we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares by one of the two methods listed above are contained in provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on Nasdaq. Such provisions may be amended if approved by a special resolution, which requires the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the votes cast by the shareholders of the issued shares present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on such matter at a general meeting of the Company, so long as we offer redemption in connection with such amendment. If we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in connection with a general meeting, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association: ● 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 shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination. 4 If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the votes cast by the shareholders of the issued shares present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on such matter at a general meeting of the Company. A quorum for such meeting will be present if the holders of one third of issued and outstanding shares entitled to vote at the meeting are represented in person or by proxy. Our Sponsor, officers and directors will count toward this quorum and, pursuant to a letter agreement (the “ Letter Agreement ”), our Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any Public Shares purchased during or after the IPO (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution, 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 shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 9,375,001, or 37.5%, of the 25,000,000 Public Shares sold in the IPO to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved, assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the parties to the Letter Agreement do not acquire any Class A ordinary shares. Assuming that only the holders of one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, representing a quorum under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association vote their shares at a general meeting of the Company, we will not need any Public Shares in addition to our founder shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to approve an initial business combination. However, if our initial business combination is structured as a statutory merger or consolidation with another company under Cayman Islands law, the approval of our initial business combination will require a special resolution, which requires the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the votes cast by the shareholders of the issued shares present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on such matter at a general meeting of the Company. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our Sponsor, officers and directors, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction, or whether they do not vote or abstain from voting on the proposed transaction, or whether they were a public shareholder on the record date for the general meeting held to approve the proposed transaction. If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will: ● 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 shareholders not tendering more than the number of Public Shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination. Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemption pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our Sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act. We intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its Public Shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our Public Shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public shareholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed initial business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by public shareholders who elected to redeem their shares. We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares for cash at a per share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (less taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein and in the registration statement relating to the IPO. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our Warrants. The Sponsor, our officers and directors have entered into the Letter Agreement, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any Public Shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. 5 Our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, 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 we may enter into following consummation of the IPO, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements. If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may purchase Public 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, although they are under no obligation or duty to do so. Any such price per share may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgment that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. It is intended that, if Rule 10b-18 would apply to purchases by our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates, then such purchases will comply with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act, to the extent it applies, which provides a safe harbor for purchases made under certain conditions, including with respect to timing, pricing and volume of purchases. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire Public Shares, vote their Public Shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their Public Shares. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the Trust Account will be used to purchase Public Shares or Public Warrants in such transactions. The purpose of any such transactions could be to (1) increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (2) reduce the number of Public Warrants outstanding and/or increase the likelihood of approval on any matters submitted to the public warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) 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. 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 securities may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. Our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming shareholders 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 shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the general meeting related to our initial business combination. Our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will be restricted from purchasing shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws. Our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of shares 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 purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. Additionally, in the event our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates were to purchase Public Shares or Public Warrants from public shareholders, such purchases would be structured in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act including, in pertinent part, through adherence to the following: ● our registration statement/proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction would disclose the possibility that our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may purchase Public Shares or Public Warrants from public shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases; ● if our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates were to purchase Public Shares or Public Warrants from public shareholders, they would do so at a price no higher than the price offered through our redemption process; 6 ● our registration statement/proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction would include a representation that any of our securities purchased by our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates would not be voted in favor of approving the business combination transaction; ● our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates would not possess any redemption rights with respect to our securities or, if they do acquire and possess redemption rights, they would waive such rights; and ● we would disclose in a Form 8-K, before our security holder meeting to approve the business combination transaction, the following material items: o the amount of our securities purchased outside of the redemption offer by our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates, along with the purchase price; o the purpose of the purchases by our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates; o the impact, if any, of the purchases by our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved; o the identities of our security holders who sold to our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates (if not purchased on the open market) or the nature of our security holders (e.g., 5% security holders) who sold to our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates; and o the number of our securities for which we have received redemption requests pursuant to our redemption offer. Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we will have only 18 months from the closing of the IPO or by such earlier liquidation date as the Company’s board of directors may approve (the “ completion window ”) to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such completion window, we will 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 (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will constitute full and complete payment for the Public Shares and completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation or other distributions, if any) subject to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and subject to the other requirements of 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 the completion window. Our Sponsor, officers and directors have entered into the Letter Agreement, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, although they will entitled to liquidating distributions from assets outside the Trust Account. However, if our Sponsor or management team acquire Public Shares in or after the IPO, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted completion window. Our Sponsor, officers, and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (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 within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (less taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares. Competition In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other special purpose acquisition companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess similar or greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our issued and 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 and completing an initial business combination. 7 Employees and Human Capital Resources We currently have two officers: Michael Blitzer and Peter Ondishin. Kevin Shannon acts as our Chief of Staff. These individuals 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 they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the 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. Periodic Reporting and Financial Information We are required to file Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q with the SEC on a regular basis, and are required to disclose certain material events in a Current Report on Form 8-K. The SEC maintains an Internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The SEC’s Internet website is located at www.sec.gov. In addition, the Company will provide copies of these documents without charge upon request from us in writing at 167 Madison Avenue Suite 205 #1017, New York, NY 10016 or by telephone at (212) 476-6908. We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents sent to shareholders 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, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“ GAAP ”) or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“ IFRS ”), depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“ PCAOB ”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such 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 the requirements outlined above, 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 not be required to evaluate our internal control procedures until our annual report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business 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 are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time (the “ Companies Act ”). As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.