Item 1. Business
Item 1.
Business
Our
Company
Plum
Acquisition Corp. I (the “Company” or “Plum”) is a blank check company, incorporated 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, which we refer to throughout this Report as our initial business combination.
Ursula
Burns, Kanishka Roy and Mike Dinsdale established Plum with the mission of creating a platform, built by operators for operators, to
enable great private companies to become outstanding public companies and listed stocks. We believe there is an opportunity to create
replicable infrastructure to launch multiple SPACs, featuring different members of our large extended team over time. We seek to establish
ourselves as the first-stop SPAC platform for high-quality companies in the US and Europe that can benefit from our large 48-person extended
team, our decades of operational experience leading technology companies, our direct access to Fortune-500 company partnerships,
help with internationalization, and our proprietary Accelerating Through the Bell operational playbook that helps companies
list and grow in the public markets. Our platform is also aligned with the incentives and outcome of investors as we are funding all
our risk capital internally as a sign of confidence and commitment to a successful outcome.
We
have founded, led, advised, and invested in companies that have invented entire sectors, scaled to become market leaders, and delivered
exceptional returns for investors. Through these experiences, we have developed a deep respect for leaders of rapidly scaling technology
companies. As a result, we are motivated by a passion for working to maximize the value of their exemplary private companies as they
transition to the public markets.
We
believe the broad and diversified experience of our founders equips us to add significant value to our partner company. While Ms. Burns
is no longer part of the management team, Mr. Roy is a technology and finance veteran with over 20 years of experience as a technology
investment banker, public company executive, and growth investor. At Morgan Stanley, Mr. Roy was the Global Head of Tech M&A
Origination, helping to initiate and execute industry defining mergers. Most recently, Mr. Roy was Global CFO at SmartNews, a high-growth
multibillion dollar private AI company with over 20 million monthly active users. Mr. Dinsdale has defined the “modern
unicorn” CFO for over 20 years, with strategic expertise in building high growth international companies in Consumer and B2B SaaS.
Most recently, Mr. Dinsdale was the CFO for Gusto, a leader in SMB payroll and human resources software. Prior to that, Mr. Dinsdale
was CFO of two generational, market-leading software companies in DoorDash and DocuSign.
We
believe that the combined experience of our team and our differentiated long-term strategy positions us as an optimal partner for companies
seeking to access the public markets. Plum is focused on investments that relate directly to the experience of its team. We seek to partner
with a scaled, high-quality company that leverages platform models in the enterprise software, SMB software and infrastructure, or disruptive
marketplace models in verticals where we have extensive expertise, such as business automation, health and wellbeing, fintech and insuretech.
We
will seek to identify businesses with distinct Machine Learning and AI-driven advantages to create new markets and disrupt
existing ones to drive outsized market share and investor returns. We intend to focus on investment opportunities with sustainable and
predictable top-line growth, recurring revenue dynamics, network effects or aggregator dynamics, compelling unit economics, and brand.
We expect to align investors with a visionary management team to support long-term value creation.
1
Recent
Developments
Proposed
Business Combination (the “Business Combination”)
As
previously reported, on November 27, 2023, Plum Acquisition Corp. I, a Cayman Islands exempted company limited by shares (“Plum”),
Plum SPAC Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Plum (“Merger Sub”), and Veea Inc., a Delaware
corporation (“Veea”), entered into a Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”).
Founded
in 2014, Veea offers edge-to-cloud computing with its VeeaHub smart computing hub products that can replace or complement Wi-Fi Access
Points (APs), IoT gateways, routers, basic firewalls, network attached storage, and other types of hubs and appliances at user premises.
Subject
to its terms and conditions, the Business Combination Agreement provides that (a) on the day of the closing of the transactions contemplated
by the Business Combination (the “Closing”), Plum will change its jurisdiction of incorporation by transferring by way of
continuation from a Cayman Islands exempted company limited by shares and domesticating as a corporation incorporated under the laws
of the State of Delaware (the “Domestication”), and (b) following the Domestication, Merger Sub will merge with and
into Veea, with Veea surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Plum (the “Merger”).
The
Business Combination Agreement contains customary representations and warranties of the parties thereto with respect to, among other
things: corporate organization; authorization to enter into the Business Combination Agreement; capitalization; financial statements;
undisclosed liabilities; litigation; compliance with laws; material contracts; company benefit plans; labor matters; taxes; insurance;
permits; property; intellectual property, data privacy and security; environmental matters; absence of changes; brokers; transactions
with affiliates; consents and requisite governmental approvals; and related party transactions.
In
accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions of the Business Combination Agreement, at the effective time of the Merger, each
outstanding share of Veea’s common stock (the “Veea Common Stock”) and each outstanding share of Veea’s Series
A preferred stock and Series A-1 preferred stock (the “Veea Preferred Stock”) on an as-converted to Veea Common Stock basis,
but excluding Dissenting Shares, New Financing Securities (each as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) and treasury shares
(such outstanding Veea Common Stock and Veea Preferred Stock, the “Existing Veea Shares”), will be cancelled and extinguished
and converted into the right to receive the number of shares of Plum’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “New
Plum Common Shares”), determined in accordance with the Business Combination Agreement based on a pre-money equity value of Veea
of $180,000,000, including Veea’s in-the-money, vested convertible securities on a net exercise basis, and a price of $10.00 per
New Plum Common Share.
The
Business Combination Agreement also provides holders of Existing Veea Shares with a contingent right to receive up to 4.5 million additional
New Plum Common Shares (the “Earnout Shares”), subject to the following contingencies:
● 50%
of the Earnout Shares if, at any time during the ten years following the Closing (the “Earnout
Period”), the VWAP of the New Plum Common Shares is greater than or equal to $12.50
per share for any twenty trading days within any thirty trading day period; and
● 50%
of the Earnout Shares if, at any time during the Earnout Period, the VWAP of the New Plum
Common Shares is greater than or equal to $15.00 per share for any twenty trading days within
any thirty trading day period.
Extraordinary
General Meeting
On
October 23, 2023, Plum held an Extraordinary General Meeting of its Shareholders to amend Plum’s amended and restated memorandum
and articles of association (the “Articles”) (i) to extend the date (the “Termination Date”) by which Plum has
to consummate a business combination (the “Articles Extension”) to December 18, 2023 (the “Articles Extension Date”)
and (ii) to allow Plum, without another shareholder vote, to elect to extend the Termination Date to consummate a business combination
on a monthly basis for up to six times by an additional one month each time after December 18, 2023 (or such shorter period as necessary
to comply with applicable listing requirements), by resolution of the Company’s board of directors, if requested by the Sponsor,
and upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable termination date, until June 18, 2024, or a total of up to nine months after
September 18, 2023, unless the closing of a business combination shall have occurred prior thereto (the “Extension Amendment Proposal.”)
2
Our
Values
We
will seek to acquire an asset with the most promising potential for returns and enhance those returns with concerted support from our
team of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) experts. We believe there is a powerful, positive correlation between DEI
efforts and value creation. For example, a 2018 report by McKinsey examined trends in the impact of diversity on financial performance
and found that “[t]he statistically significant correlation between a more diverse leadership team and financial outperformance…continues
to hold true… The penalty for bottom-quartile for diversity persists… Not only were [these companies] not leading, they
were lagging.” As such, we are committed to leveraging our team and networks to help our future partner company hire diverse candidates
for their management team and board and to help further develop an inclusive and equitable workplace.
We
also are undertaking a “2 and 20 pledge.” Our Sponsor intends to donate interests in our Sponsor equivalent to an aggregate
of 105,000 founder shares to DEI related causes following the consummation of our initial business combination. We also commit to filling
at least 20% of our board seats with candidates who bring gender, racial and/or ethnic diversity. We currently exceed this threshold
with 60% diverse board members. We believe that our DEI strategy, along with our 2 and 20 pledge, will be highly appealing to market-leading
companies across all sectors that prioritize attracting and retaining the best talent and standing out for thought leadership in the
market.
All
of Plum’s risk capital comes from its management team and board. This backing is intended to express the confidence of the team
and align our interests with those of our investors. We also believe it will align us with the investors and management team of our eventual
partner company. Beyond meaningful capital commitments from each member of our team, we believe that our incentive structure drives both
alignment and productivity from our board, are eligible for a performance bonus of interests in our Sponsor that are equivalent to an
aggregate of up to 500,000 founder shares for their contributions toward the success of Plum. Furthermore, we intend to align ourselves
with our eventual partner company through lock-up or other provisions that incentivize long-term value creation and signal
our commitment to delivering attractive returns to all stakeholders. We believe such flexibility on lock-up to be an important
key to attracting high-quality growth companies.
Our
Management Team and Our Sponsor
Management
Members
Biography
Kanishka Roy
● Served as Global Head of Tech
M&A Origination at Morgan Stanley
● Global CFO of private AI unicorn SmartNews
● Software Investment Banker at Oppenheimer & Co.
Mike Dinsdale
● Served as CFO of Gusto, DoorDash
and DocuSign
● Venture Partner at Akkadian Ventures
● Defined the “modern unicorn” CFO for over 20 years
Our
management team consists of Kanishka Roy and Mike Dinsdale. We are supported by our 3-person Board of Directors.
Kanishka
Roy is our President, Co-Chief Executive Officer and a director. Mr. Roy is a technology and finance
veteran, with over 20 years of experience as a technology investment banker, public company executive, and growth investor. From
2014 to 2019, Mr. Roy helped leading Software and Internet companies with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and capital markets
transactions. Mr. Roy also served as the Global Head of Tech M&A Origination for Morgan Stanley, where he was responsible for
initiating large, industry-transforming mergers, helping clients take a long-term view of the competitive landscape and implementing
winning M&A playbooks to maximize shareholder value. Over his career, Mr. Roy has participated in over $100 billion of
M&A transactions. Most recently, from 2019 to 2020, he was Global CFO at SmartNews, a multi-billion-dollar private AI company
with over 20 million monthly average users, and led the strategic finance and growth of a rapidly growing company across multiple
geographies. Mr. Roy started his career as a software engineer at two software startups, both of which were acquired by larger public
companies, and also worked in executive strategy roles at IBM. Mr. Roy is also President, Chief Executive Officer, Secretary, Treasurer,
and board member of Plum Acquisition Corp III. Mr. Roy holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering
and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Mike
Dinsdale is our Co-Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and a director. Mr. Dinsdale
has embodied the “modern unicorn” CFO for over 20 years, with strategic expertise in building high-growth international
companies that consistently exceed growth targets. Mr. Dinsdale has successfully secured over $1 billion in financing and been
part of great teams generating more than $100 billion in value. Most recently, Mr. Dinsdale was the CFO for Gusto from 2017
to 2020 and prior to that was CFO at two generational, market leading software companies: DoorDash, from 2016 to 2017, and DocuSign,
where he also served as Chief Growth Officer, from 2010 to 2016. In addition to his role at Plum, Mr. Dinsdale serves as a Venture
Partner at Akkadian Ventures, a late-stage venture fund, and as a board member for private software companies. Mr. Dinsdale also
serves as a board member of Plum Acquisition Corp III. Mr. Dinsdale earned a BS in engineering from the University of Western Ontario
and an MBA from McMaster University. Mr. Dinsdale holds the CFA designation and competed with the Canadian National Sailing Team
in the 1996 Olympic trials. He also serves on the Board of Directors for WildAid.
3
Our
Independent Directors
Directors
Biography
Mr. Alok Sama
● Served as President &
CFO of SoftBank Group International
Mr. Alan Black
● Founded and served as Board
Director for Looker Data Sciences
● Served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Intelliden
● Board Director of Nextiva and Matillion Limited, and Plum Acquisition Corp. III
Ms. Vivian Chow
● Served
as SVP, Chief Accounting Officer at Docusign, Inc.
● Board
Director at LiveRamp
Our
independent directors all have significant skin in the game, sponsoring approximately 25% of the at-risk capital, and are further
incentivized to generate exceptional returns through a performance bonus of interests in our Sponsor that are equivalent to an aggregate
of up to 500,000 founder shares. Our 5-person Board of Directors includes both members of the management team.
Alok
Sama is a director. Mr. Sama is currently a Senior Advisor to Warburg Pincus LLC, joining in 2020. He was formerly President &
CFO of SoftBank Group International (“SBGI”) and Chief Strategy Officer for SoftBank Group (“SBG”), from 2014
to April 2019. While at SoftBank, Mr. Sama led the $59 billion merger of Sprint and T-Mobile, the $34 billion acquisition of ARM Holdings
Plc, the $10 billion disposition of SoftBank’s stake in Alibaba Group Holding, the $8.6 billion sale of Supercell Oy to Tencent
Holdings, and the restructuring of SoftBank’s holding in Yahoo Japan. Mr. Sama was also responsible for multiple growth capital
investments across technology verticals, including ride sharing, fintech, and communications. Mr. Sama represented SoftBank as a Board
member at Arm Holdings, Fortress Investment Group, SoFi, Brightstar Corp, Softbank Energy, SoftBank Group Capital, and Airtel Africa.
Mr. Sama was also a Senior Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, where he led the firm’s communications practice in Europe and TMT
practice in the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Sama co-founded Baer Capital Partners, an alternative asset management firm focused on India
with over $300 million in assets, in partnership with the Baer family and Dubai Holdings. He continues to be a Director of Baer Capital.
He is a member of the CNBC Global CFO Council, and a former Chairman of the London Chapter of the Young President’s Organization
(YPO).
Alan
Black is a director. Mr. Black founded Surfspray Capital, LLC in 2017 through which he has advised over
a dozen companies including Looker Data Sciences where he served on the Board and was Chair of the Audit Committee (acquired by Google
in 2019); Bill.com Holdings (2019 IPO), HashiCorp (2021 IPO), and private software companies including Intercom, Komodo Health, Mattermost,
Netlify, Nozomi Networks, and others. He brings more than 35 years of experience as an executive leading public and private software
enterprises, including IPO experience as CFO at Zendesk (2014 IPO) and Openwave Systems (1999 IPO). In between those companies, Mr. Black
was President and CEO of Intelliden (acquired by IBM in 2010). Mr. Black currently sits on the boards of Nextiva’s, Matillion and
Plum Acquisition Corp. III, a special purpose acquisition company traded on Nasdaq. He holds a Bachelors of Commerce and a Graduate Diploma
in Public Accountancy degrees from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and serves on McGill’s Board of Advisors for the Western
United States, co-chairing its Bursary Subcommittee. Mr. Black is now retired from active membership in the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (Canada) and Society of Certified Public Accountants (California), in which professional organizations
he was a licensed member for over two decades.
Vivian
Chow is a director. Ms. Chow served as SVP, Strategic Execution & Operations at DocuSign, Inc., providing
of a leading e-signature product, from April 2021 through February 2022 and as Chief Accounting Officer from November 2013
through March 2021. Prior to joining DocuSign, Ms. Chow served for five years as the VP, Worldwide Controller for Electronic
Arts Inc., a leading publisher of video games. Prior to that, she held VP and Corporate Controller positions at Restoration Hardware,
a home furnishings retailer, and Thermage, Inc., a medical device manufacturer. Previously, she held leadership positions at Fair, Isaac &
Company, Inc., Calypte Biomedical Corporation and Nextel Communications. Ms. Chow started her career at Arthur Andersen & Co.,
a public accounting partnership, where she served various clients in the audit and financial services consulting practices. Ms. Chow
currently sits on the board of LiveRamp, a data collaboration platform. Ms. Chow holds a bachelor of science degree in accounting from
Lehigh University where she sits on the Dean’s Advisory Council. She is a certified public accountant (inactive) in the State of
California.
4
Our
Business Strategy
The
number of high-quality private technology companies is increasing overall, as is the number of those who are choosing to stay private
longer. Many of these companies avoid IPOs due to the inherent uncertainty around valuation at IPO, as well as the perception that many
IPOs are mispriced, especially for the high growth technology companies we will target. In addition, the time-consuming IPO process represents
a meaningful distraction from management’s core operational responsibilities. Direct listings to date have been executed only by
well-known companies, and there is limited opportunity to raise primary capital in tandem. This means that direct listings are not a
viable option for the vast majority of technology companies. And most other SPACs in the market today are transactional in nature, without
a long-term platform, or the infrastructure and team to help companies after the public listing.
This
status quo poses serious problems for quality high-growth companies that would attract significant investor interest if there were a
more optimized path to public markets with a trusted and experienced partner to guide them. We believe that Plum fills this role. We
are a purpose-built platform to help companies list publicly and build the capacity and infrastructure needed to continue scaling in
the public markets.
Each
of the individuals on the Plum team understands, through hard-earned experience, the importance of helping companies accelerate their
vision and build massive scale without sacrificing the culture that made them successful in the first place. From our own experience,
we believe both our operational approach and our company-centric worldview will be advantageous in helping us to attract a very strong
eventual partner company.
We
have developed a clear value-add playbook for public company growth and have staffed ourselves appropriately to execute on
a variety of formalized initiatives in service of our eventual partner company. Most of our team of operators have chosen to work with
Plum over other SPACs, and to invest in our risk capital, because we offer them the chance to leverage their skills and expertise for
the benefit of our eventual partner company. We have formalized this value-add process through our playbook, Accelerating
Through the Bell . This playbook consists of plays from tested, successful operators to help our partner company de-risk its
listing and enhance its growth post-listing.
We
believe our approach stands in stark contrast to many SPACs that rely on the stature, experience, and network of a few individuals. It
is our view that these SPACs lack sufficient depth of team members and skillsets to have a credible claim to helping companies de-risk their
listing and maintain, or even accelerate, their growth after listing.
We
believe that the value of our operator driven approach to success is highly differentiated by virtue of the size, playbook, financial
alignment, credibility in DEI, and the diverse skillsets and backgrounds of our team. We further believe that our model is one that will
be very positively received by high-performing companies for many reasons:
● Conviction
and Aligned Incentives for Investors: We are funding all of our risk capital internally.
We believe this indicates a high level of confidence and commitment on the part of our team.
This investment also creates alignment between our team, IPO investors, and future PIPE investors
because we are all focused on maximizing the long-term value of our business combination.
5
●
Focus on Long-Term Value Creation
for the Partner Company: Self-funding the entirety of our risk capital also closely aligns us with our eventual partner company’s
outcome. Our willingness to tie our promote lock-up to company stock-price performance should also be attractive to companies. We
plan to carefully curate our IPO and PIPE investors, focusing on long-term investors with a track record of supporting high-quality
growth companies. In addition, we believe that our performance bonus of interests in our Sponsor that are equivalent to an aggregate
of up to 500,000 founder shares provides meaningful motivation to our Board of Directors to help us deliver the best possible returns
to our shareholders.
● Decentralized
and Proprietary Deal Sourcing: Each member of our 48-person extended team has been selected
for their personal networks and access to Tech companies and boards in the U.S. and Europe.
The breadth and connectivity of this extended team, combined with our incentive structure,
increases our ability to source proprietary opportunities without relying on bankers for
deal flow, and reduces the likelihood that we will have to participate in competitive bid
processes or “SPAC-offs”.
● Incremental
Value through DEI Focus and Execution: Core to our thesis is evidence that there is tremendous
value to be unlocked when both management teams and investors prioritize DEI. We will draw
upon a diverse, world-class team for public board construction and to assist our future partner
company on its own DEI journey, along with specific DEI strategies and initiatives that have
worked at world-class companies such as Intel and Google.
● Proprietary
Accelerating Through the Bell Operational Playbook: We believe our public growth playbook,
with a focus on short-term tactical plays, medium-term growth plays, and longer-term culture-defining
plays, will provide our eventual partner company with a strong competitive edge and make
our SPAC an attractive partner. Each play is owned by a highly regarded executive with a
proven track record of success in that specific area. For example, one of the individuals
running our public investor relations strategy was instrumental in executing the Shopify
and Zendesk IPOs, among others; the individual in charge of go-to-market acceleration play
served as the sales leader during Tableau’s ramp from $800 million in revenue;
one of the individuals in charge of the international growth play led his company’s
entry into more than 18 countries.
Our
Acquisition Criteria
We
do not think that there is a one-size fits-all list of criteria that we can use to evaluate companies. However, wise and
flexible employment of our investment principles is the north star of our investment decision process:
● Large
Addressable Market: We will seek to invest in companies that offer room for compelling, long-term
growth in their key markets. Large addressable markets have been a hallmark of our previous
successful investments. We believe green field or rapidly growing markets often create the
largest absolute returns.
● Experienced
and Visionary Management Team: Seasoned and visionary management teams are necessary for
success in our model. We intend to acquire a company with forward-thinking leaders with a
demonstrated history of success, and whose interests and vision are aligned with those of
our team and shareholders.
● Robust
Growth: While many things must fall in place for an investment to succeed, we believe that
growth is the primary driver of returns. We believe that revenue growth, not cost cutting,
leverage, or other strategies, is the most important driver of long-term value.
6
● Strong
Business Model: We believe business models that enable reinvestment win in the long-haul.
As such, the most investable companies must show, through compelling unit economics and business
model, both the ability to deliver impressive cash flows and productively reinvest over the
long term.
● Competitive
Moat: Real, sustainable accumulating advantages enable companies to compound value. We favor
businesses with strong structural advantages, including various forms of network effects,
aggregator dynamics, and brand.
● Visible
Market Opportunity: We seek to invest in businesses with recurring or re-occurring business
models that provide good revenue visibility and ample data, allowing us to clearly understand
growth drivers. We intend to invest in those businesses where future revenue cannot be confounded
by significant market, technology, or regulatory risks.
Potential
Conflicts of Interest
In
evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things,
meetings with incumbent management and key employees, document reviews and inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial,
operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. We will also utilize our management team’s operational
and capital planning experience.
We
are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers, or directors.
In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor or any of our Sponsor,
officers, or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm
or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company
from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Members
of our management team or board of directors may directly or indirectly own our founder shares, ordinary shares and/or private placement
warrants following the initial public offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular
target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, 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.
Each
of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations
to another 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.
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. Any such
companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However,
we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
7
Initial
Business Combination
So
long as our securities are then listed on Nasdaq, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that
together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting
commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of signing a definitive agreement in connection
with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the
target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent valuation or appraisal
firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board will not be able to make an independent
determination of the fair market value of a target business or businesses, it may be unable to do so if the board is less familiar or
experienced with the target company’s business, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the company’s
assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction
involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board determines that outside expertise would be helpful or
necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the target business
meets the 80% of net assets threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business
or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our shareholders. However,
if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to shareholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed
transaction will include such opinion.
We
anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-business combination 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-business combination 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-business combination 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-business
combination 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-business combination 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 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-business combination
company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets
test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value
of all of the target businesses. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination
without the prior consent of our Sponsor. If our securities are not then listed on Nasdaq for whatever reason, we would no longer be
required to meet the foregoing 80% of net asset test.
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.
The
time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs
associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification
and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in
our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
8
Status
as a Public Company
We
believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we
offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with
us. 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 our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A
ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. 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,
which may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore,
once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public
offering is always subject to the underwriter’s ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could
delay or prevent the offering from occurring or have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would
then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ 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 shareholder
approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
Financial
Position
With
funds available for a business combination of approximately $35.6 million held in the Trust Account, we offer a target business a variety
of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations
or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using
our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination
that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken
any steps to secure third-party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
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 following the initial public
offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of the initial public offering and the
private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination
(pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of the 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 or other sources. 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, 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 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-business combination 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.
Additionally,
we have not engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, to conduct
any research or take any measures, directly or indirectly, to locate or contact a target business, other than our officers and directors.
Accordingly, there is no current basis for investors to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may
ultimately complete our initial business combination. 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.
9
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 need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash
than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public
shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with
such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial
business combination. We are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any
additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.
Sources
of Target Businesses
We
anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various affiliated and unaffiliated sources, including,
investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises.
Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or
mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis,
since some of these sources will have read this Report and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors,
as well as their affiliates and other affiliated sources may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become
aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending
trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise
necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate
engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may
engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation
to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent
our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders
approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. 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. We have agreed to pay our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space,
secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse our Sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying,
investigating and completing an initial business combination. In addition, pursuant to our Administrative Services Agreement we may make
payments or reimbursements to our Sponsor or its affiliates, for the reasonable salaries and other services provided to us prior to or
in connection with our initial business combination by its employees, consultants and/or members, who may include our officers or directors,
and may also pay certain fees to our Sponsor or its respective affiliates. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment
or consulting agreements with the post-business combination company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence
of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate.
We
are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers, or directors.
In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor or any of our Sponsor,
officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm
or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company
from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Each
of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations
to other entities, including and other entities that are affiliates of our Sponsor, 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 entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. See “Management—Conflicts
of Interest.”
10
Evaluation
of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In
evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which may encompass, as applicable and
among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection
of facilities and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. We will also utilize our management
team’s operational and capital planning experience. 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. The company
will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection
with our initial business combination. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business
combination without the prior consent of our Sponsor.
Lack
of Business Diversification
For
an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely
on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with
multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate
the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our 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 intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial
business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition,
the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
Furthermore,
the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. 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. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience
or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We
cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The
determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business
combination.
Following
a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We
cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills,
knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
11
Shareholders
May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We
may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended
and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by applicable law or
stock exchange listing requirement, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
Under
Nasdaq’s listing rules, shareholder approval would typically be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
● We
issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our ordinary
shares then-outstanding;
● Any
of our directors, officers or substantial shareholders (as defined by Nasdaq rules) has a
5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly
or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present
or potential issuance of 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 ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change
of control.
The
decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval
is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and reasons, which include a variety
of factors, including, but not limited to:
● the
timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would
require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval
or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other
additional burdens on the company;
● the
expected cost of holding a shareholder vote;
● the
risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination;
● other
time and budget constraints of the company; and
● additional
legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome
to present to shareholders.
Permitted
Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities
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, directors, executive officers, or their affiliates may purchase public shares
or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business
combination. 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, directors, executive officers, or 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 warrants in such transactions. 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.
In
the event that our Sponsor, directors, officers, or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public
shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination,
such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our
initial business combination. 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
be required to comply with such rules.
12
The
purpose of any such transaction could be to (i) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of
obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (ii) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants
on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (iii) 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 Class A ordinary shares or public 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.
Our
Sponsor, officers, directors, and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our Sponsor, officers,
directors, or 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 tender
offer or proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our Sponsor, officers, directors, or
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 shareholder meeting related to our initial business combination. Our Sponsor, executive officers,
directors, or 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, officers, directors, and/or 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. We expect any such purchases would be reported by such person pursuant
to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
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 at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in
the trust account calculated 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, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding
public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per
public share. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem
its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants.
Further, we will not proceed with redeeming our public shares, even if a public shareholder has properly elected to redeem its shares,
if a business combination does not close. Our Sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us,
pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them
in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment
to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation
to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business
combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the combination period
or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
Manner
of Conducting Redemptions
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 shareholder meeting called to approve the business combination
or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination
or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing
of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under 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 typically require shareholder
approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required
by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the
SEC for business or other reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply
with the Nasdaq rules.
13
If
we held a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, 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 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.
If
we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented
in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting are voted in favor of the business combination. In
such case, our Sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares in favor of
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 vote at all. In addition, our Sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into
an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public
shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve
an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of
our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our
initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the
combination period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
If
we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles
of association:
● conduct
the redemptions pursuant to Rule13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate
issuer tender offers; and
● file
tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination
which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business
combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange
Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
Upon
the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we
and our Sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase Class A ordinary shares
in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In
the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days,
in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination
until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering
more than 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 such initial business combination.
Limitation
on Redemption upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval
If
we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business
combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public
shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as
a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect
to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the initial public offering, which we refer to as “Excess Shares,”
without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent
attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means
to force us or our 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 shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the initial public offering
could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our Sponsor or our management
at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no
more than 15% of the shares sold in the initial public offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a
small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in
connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain
amount of cash.
14
However,
we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial
business combination.
Tendering
Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
Public
shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,”
will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation
or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using
The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/ Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case up to
two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials,
as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate
the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself to validly redeem
its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the
tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination
if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the
relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their
public shares.
There
is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through
the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the
broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not
we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising
redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The
foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with
their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders’ vote on an initial
business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating
such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact
such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had
an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the
company’s shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open
market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders
were aware they needed to commit before the shareholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion
of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery
prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming shareholder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is
approved.
Any
request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote
on the proposal to approve the business combination, unless otherwise agreed to by us. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered
its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect
to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically).
It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed
promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If
our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their
redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case,
we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If
our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different
target until the combination period.
15
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 the combination period to consummate an initial
business combination. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 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 us to pay our taxes,
if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which
redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation
distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining
shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations
under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption
rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to consummate an initial business
combination within the combination period. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, if we wind
up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect
to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to
applicable Cayman Islands law.
Our
Sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their
rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to consummate an initial
business combination within the combination period (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account
with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame).
Our
Sponsor, executive 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) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation
to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business
combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the combination period
or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, 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 and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares
We
expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be
funded from amounts remaining held in Company accounts outside the trust account plus up to $100,000 of funds from the trust account
available to us to pay dissolution expenses, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose.
If
we were to expend all of the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the
proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption
amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become
subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure
you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be less than $10.00. 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.
16
Although
we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (except our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses
and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or
to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such
agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including,
but not limited, to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging
the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the
funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust
account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third-party
that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third-party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial
to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third-party that refuses to execute a waiver include
the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior
to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider
willing to execute a waiver. The representative of the underwriter will not execute an agreement 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. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us
if and to the extent any claims by a third-party for services rendered or products sold to us (other than our independent registered
public accounting firm), or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce
the amounts 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 public share due to reductions
in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such
liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to
seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the representative of the underwriter of the
initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver
is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such
third-party claims. However, we have not asked our Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently
verified whether our Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets
are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our 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 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 public
share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay our
tax obligations, and our Sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification
obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our Sponsor
to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf
against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their
business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. 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.
We
will seek to reduce the possibility that our Sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring
to have all vendors, service providers (except our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other
entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies
held in the trust account. Our Sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the initial
public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to the amounts remaining
in Company accounts outside the trust account following the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants with
which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated
to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate, and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims
and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors,
however such liability will not be greater than the amount of funds from our trust account received by any such shareholder.
17
If
we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against
us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may
be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To
the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per public share to
our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition
is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor
and/or bankruptcy or insolvency laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.”
As
a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. 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, and thereby exposing
itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims
of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our
public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public
shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the combination period, (ii) in connection with a shareholder
vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation
to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business
combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the combination period
or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, or (iii) if
they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. Public shareholders who redeem
their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall
not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we
have not consummated an initial business combination within the combination period, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares
so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event
we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the
business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the
trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated
memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be
amended with a shareholder vote.
18
Comparison
of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with Our Initial Business Combination and If We Fail to Complete Our Initial Business
Combination.
The
following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion
of our initial business combination and if we have not consummated an initial business combination within the combination period:
Redemptions
in Connection
with Our Initial Business
Combination
Other
Permitted Purchases
of Public Shares by Our
Affiliates
Redemptions
if We Fail to
Complete an Initial
Business Combination
Calculation of redemption
price
Redemptions
at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote.
The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder
vote. In either case, our public shareholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit
in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially
anticipated to be $10.00 per public share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released
to us to pay our taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, subject to any limitations (including,
but not limited, to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination.
If
we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor, directors, officers, or their affiliates may purchase
shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following completion of our initial business
combination. There is no limit to the prices that our Sponsor, directors, officers, or their affiliates may pay in these transactions.
If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material
nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. 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 be required to comply
with such rules.
If
we have not consummated an initial business combination within the combination period, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price,
payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00
per public share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our
taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding public
shares.
Redemptions
in Connection
with Our Initial Business
Combination
Other
Permitted Purchases
of Public Shares by Our
Affiliates
Redemptions
if We Fail to
Complete an Initial
Business Combination
Impact to remaining shareholders
The
redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining shareholders,
who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable.
If
the permitted purchases described above are made, there would be no impact to our remaining shareholders because the purchase price
would not be paid by us.
The
redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for
the shares held by our Sponsor, who will be our only remaining shareholder after such redemptions.
19
Competition
In
identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from
other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged
buyout funds, public companies, operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and
have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors
possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than 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 outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially
represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage
in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Facilities
We
currently maintain our executive offices at 2021 Fillmore St. #2089, San Francisco, California
94115. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we accrue
to our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor for office space, unless waived by our Sponsor,
administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our
current operations.
Employees
We
currently have two executive officers. 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.
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.