Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. Business.
Introduction
This
information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and
related notes following Item 16 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Please
see the definitions above for a list of terms used throughout this Report.
Some
of our logos, trademarks or tradenames may be used in this Report. This Report also includes trademarks, tradenames and service marks
that are the property of others. Solely for convenience, trademarks, tradenames and service marks referred to in this Report may appear
without the ® , ™ and SM symbols. References to our trademarks, tradenames and service marks are not intended to indicate
in any way that we will not assert to the fullest extent under applicable law our rights or the rights of the applicable licensors if
any, nor that respective owners to other intellectual property rights will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, their
rights thereto. We do not intend the use or display of other companies’ trademarks and trade names to imply a relationship with,
or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other companies.
The
market data and certain other statistical information used throughout this Report are based on independent industry publications, reports
by market research firms or other independent sources that we believe to be reliable sources. Industry publications and third-party research,
surveys and studies generally indicate that their information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do
not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. We are responsible for all of the disclosures contained in this Report,
and we believe these industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies are reliable. While we are not aware of any
misstatements regarding any third-party information presented in this Report, their estimates, in particular, as they relate to projections,
involve numerous assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various factors, including those
discussed under the section entitled “Risk Factors” of this Report. These and other factors could cause our future performance
to differ materially from our assumptions and estimates. Some market and other data included herein, as well as the data of competitors
as they relate to the Company is also based on our good faith estimates.
Organizational History
and Business
We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated
as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase,
reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Annual Report as our initial
business combination. We have had discussions with potential business combination targets in the energy sector, including energy transition
and renewable fuels industries.
Initial Public Offering
The
registration statement for our IPO was declared effective on August 12, 2021. On August 17, 2021, we consummated our IPO of 15,000,000 units.
Each unit consists of one Class A common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share, and three-quarters of one redeemable
warrant of the Company, each whole Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Class A common stock for $11.50 per share.
The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $150,000,000.
Certain
qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors which are not affiliated with any member of the Company’s
management have purchased up to 1,485,000 units in the IPO at the offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross
proceeds of $14,850,000 included in the gross proceeds from units offered to public of $150,000,000.
1
In
connection with the closing of the IPO, the Sponsor sold membership interest reflecting an allocation of 75,000 founder shares,
or an aggregate of 825,000 founder shares, to each anchor investor at their original purchase price of approximately $0.0058 per
share.
Substantially
with the closing of the IPO, the Company completed the private sale of an aggregate of 6,000,000 warrants to the Sponsor and
the Underwriters at a purchase price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $6,000,000.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Warrants sold in the IPO, except that the Sponsor and the Underwriters agreed not
to transfer, assign or sell any of the Private Placement Warrants (except to certain permitted transferees) until 30 days after the completion
of the Company’s initial Business Combination.
The
underwriters had a 45-day option from the date of the Company’s IPO to purchase up to an additional 2,250,000 Units to
cover over-allotments, if any. On August 19, 2021, the underwriters exercised the over-allotment in full, at $10.00 per Unit, generating
additional gross proceeds of $22,500,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the over-allotment, the Company consummated the sale of
additional 450,000 Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor, and additional 225,000 Private Placement Warrants to
the Underwriters, at $1.00 per warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $675,000.
Transaction costs of our initial public offering and
the over-allotment amounted to $17,771,253 consisting of $3,450,000 of underwriting discount, $6,037,500 of deferred underwriting discount,
an excess of fair value of the founder shares acquired by the Anchor Investors of $6,265,215, fair value of the 189,750 representative
shares of $1,442,100 and $576,438 of other cash offering costs were charged to additional paid in capital.
A total
of $174,225,000 was placed in a U.S.-based trust account maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as
trustee.
Our units, public shares and public warrants are
each traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbols “CENQU,” “CENQ” and “CENQW,” respectively.
Business Strategy and Management Team Experience
Our Management Team Experience
Our
management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing potential acquisitions across the upstream, downstream
and midstream energy sectors. In addition, our team has significant hands-on experience working with oil
companies across all sectors and serving as active owners and directors working closely with energy companies to create value in the
public markets.
Our
acquisition strategy will leverage our management team’s extensive experience and relationships built over more than 170 combined
years of forming, financing, and operating public and private oil and gas companies, and the financial and operational expertise of the
rest of our team, to identify potential proprietary and public transaction opportunities that we believe could benefit from our knowledge
and experience and that offer the potential for an attractive risk-adjusted return profile under our ownership. Our management team has
developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships over their careers that we believe will serve as a useful source of
acquisition opportunities. Our ability to evaluate public/private and brokered/non-brokered deals provides us exposure to a broad set
of potential acquisition opportunities in the energy sector that may not broadly available to our potential competitors.
We
will seek to capitalize on the extensive experience of each of the members of our management team. The members of our management team,
including John B. Connally III, J. Russell Porter and Michael Mayell, each have a history of creating significant value and generating
attractive shareholder returns.
2
Our
CEO, J. Russell Porter, has sourced and financed the acquisition of over 150 oil and gas producing properties in multiple basins within
North America. While Executive Vice President of Forcenergy Inc., Mr. Porter lead the acquisition team that acquired over 125 separate
producing assets in 29 transactions with aggregate net production at the time of acquisition of 18,500 BOPD and 146 MMCFD and proven
reserves of 54 million barrels of oil and 273 Bcf of natural gas. When Mr. Porter was CEO of Gastar Exploration, Inc. (“Gastar”),
he structured the acquisition of approximately 160,000 acres in the Sooner Trend of Oklahoma from Chesapeake Energy in 2013 for $80 million
in a negotiated transaction. Shortly after closing, approximately one half of that acreage position was sold to Newfield Exploration
for $80 million. Before that, Mr. Porter identified and captured an onshore coal bed methane opportunity in New South Wales, Australia,
brought in an Australian operating partner and arranged an exit from the project realizing an approximate 6:1 return on investment.
Members
of our management team and Board are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters, but they intend to devote as
much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time
that any members of our management team or our Board will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has
been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
We
believe the operational and transactional experience and industry relationships of our management team and Board will provide us with
a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team
and our Board have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through
the activities of our management team and our Board sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, and building relationships with sellers,
financing sources and management teams. The members of our management team and our Board also have a proven track record of executing
transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions, which we believe will make us an attractive partner to potential
target businesses.
Our
management team also has extensive experience in energy joint ventures. In 2005 Mr. Porter structured a joint venture between Gastar
and Chesapeake Energy in which Chesapeake acquired 33% of Gastar’s Deep Bossier play in East Texas along with a 20% equity ownership
stake in Gastar’s common stock. In 2010, Mr. Porter lead Gastar’s formation of a joint venture in the Marcellus and Utica
plays with a South Korean E&P company that resulted in the joint development of Gastar’s 40,000-acre lease position. Also,
in 2016, he oversaw the formation of a “Drilco” type joint venture between Gastar and a New York based hedge fund for
the drilling of development wells in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma within the “STACK” play.
Our Business Strategy
In
addition to industry and lending community relationships, we plan to leverage relationships with management teams of public and private
companies, family offices, private equity firms, investment bankers, restructuring advisers, attorneys and accountants, which we believe
should provide us with numerous business combination opportunities. Members of our management team and Board will communicate with their
networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target business and a potential business combination and
begin the process of pursuing and reviewing said targets.
One
possibility we are exploring is identifying and acquiring long-lived assets with relatively stable decline profiles and low fixed costs
supported by existing production and cash flow, but that we believe are underperforming their potential due to capital starvation, shifting
ownership focus or geographical stranding. We believe that especially in today’s financial and commodity markets, otherwise fundamentally
sound companies can underperform their full-potential due to numerous factors, including lack of capital, a temporary period of dislocation
in the markets in which they operate, over-leveraged capital structures, excessive cost structures, incomplete management teams and/or
business strategies that no longer appeal to capital markets. Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing
such full-potential acquisitions in the energy industry. We plan to capitalize on the broad range of our team’s skill sets, backgrounds,
experiences, and other intellectual capital, to identify and realize unexploited value. Our management team and Board have successfully
executed on this business strategy across multiple energy market cycles, identifying value that the broader market has not recognized
and acquiring assets at attractive valuations. Furthermore, we believe that the current market allows for capturing assets at attractive
valuations while also taking a conservative approach to valuation. When implementing our business strategy, we will be agnostic about
commodity type (e.g., oil or gas) and will place significant emphasis on cash-on-cash returns, which we plan to maximize by employing
a conservative capital allocation strategy based on full cycle economics. We intend to mitigate risk through commodity price hedging
that will be employed for any producing assets to minimize commodity price risk and lock in projected returns. By using a disciplined
approach to capital allocation, both at the time of acquisition and the subsequent optimization of the target, we believe that we can
generate meaningful returns for our equity holders. Our objective is to form a sustainable business with multiple competitive advantages
and the potential to generate meaningful cash flow in excess of its capital. We believe that a new business model for publicly traded
energy companies is emerging that will be based on returning capital to shareholders, either through debt reduction, share buy-backs
or dividends. Inherent in the ability to return capital to shareholders will be a disciplined approach to management that is highly selective
of acquisitions, maintains a low leverage profile and keeps overhead costs low. We would expect to grow the business over time, both
organically and through acquisitions, with a focus on achieving attractive risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders, while maintaining
conservative balance sheet metrics.
3
Commodity prices have increased recently due to
multiple factors. We believe that these factors will continue to influence commodity prices well into 2022. In addition, both public
and private capital available to the E&P sector has become scarce, limiting the pool of potential asset purchasers, as well as
limiting existing companies’ operational flexibility. Escalating tensions resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine could
lead to increased volatility in global oil and gas prices, including due to increases in oil production by Russia to finance its
activities in Ukraine or to destabilize global oil and gas prices. We will also evaluate opportunities to extend our management
team’s energy expertise into energy asset related activities that utilize “green” or “clean”
components of the energy chain, such as hydrogen-based or renewable fuel supplies or carbon sequestration associated with oil and
gas production, as well as natural gas derivative plays such as helium extraction. Many of these types of opportunities may involve
traditional oil and gas products as a base and utilize additional processing or technologies to enhance the value proposition.
Acquisition Criteria
Consistent
with our acquisition strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating
prospective target assets and/or businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities. While
we intend to acquire companies or assets that we believe exhibit one or more of the following characteristics, we may decide to enter
into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to focus on
companies or assets that we believe have the following characteristics:
● Attractive
Returns: we will seek to acquire companies or assets with the
ability to generate attractive returns based upon conservative reserve or asset valuations.
● Operational
Control: we will seek to acquire companies or assets over which
we will have operational control. This will allow our management team to use their operational
and financial expertise to create value from existing assets and have control over future
capital deployment.
● Optimization
of Operations: we will seek to acquire assets or companies that:
● present opportunities
to reduce costs, increase production or otherwise optimize operations that would result in
near-term improved economics and returns to shareholders;
● have been underinvested
in by current owners due to, among other causes, liquidity limitations resulting from the
current commodity price environment, the capital intensity of other operations and balance
sheet considerations; and/or
● are at an inflection
point requiring additional capital, additional operational expertise or are susceptible to
innovative and superior optimization techniques that drive improved financial performance.
● Ease of Operating: Health,
Safety, Security, Environmental and Social (“HSSES”) standards, procedures and
performance will be a critical element of future operational activity; historical records
and performance will be an essential element in assessing suitability for future efficient
and effective performance. We will attempt to avoid operations that result in the potential
for harmful greenhouse gas emissions and will seek to use industry “best practices”
for minimizing the environmental impact of all operations.
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These
criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be
based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management
may deem relevant. If we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria
and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related
to our initial business combination, which would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would
file with the SEC.
Initial Business Combination
Our
initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least
80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on
the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our Board is not able to independently
determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking
firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or FINRA or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction
of such criteria. Except as required by applicable law, our stockholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion, nor will they
be able to rely on such opinion.
Any
party may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds
to complete the acquisition by issuing a class of equity or equity-linked securities to specified purchasers that we may determine in
connection with financing our initial business combination. We refer to this potential future issuance, or a similar issuance to other
specified purchasers, as a “specified future issuance” throughout this Annual Report. The amount and other terms and conditions
of any such specified future issuance would be determined at the time thereof. We are not obligated to make any specified future issuance
and may determine not to do so. This is not an offer for any specified future issuance. Pursuant to the anti-dilution provisions of our
Class B common stock, any such specified future issuance would result in an adjustment to the conversion ratio such that our initial
stockholders and their permitted transferees, if any, would retain their aggregate percentage ownership at 20% of the sum of the total
number of all shares of common stock outstanding plus all shares issued in the specified future issuance, unless the holders of a majority
of the then outstanding shares of Class B common stock agreed to waive such adjustment with respect to the specified future issuance
at the time thereof. We cannot determine at this time whether a majority of the holders of our Class B common stock at the time
of any such specified future issuance would agree to waive such adjustment to the conversion ratio. If such adjustment is not waived,
the specified future issuance would not reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class B common stock but would reduce
the percentage ownership of holders of our Class A common stock. If such adjustment is waived, the specified future issuance would
reduce the percentage ownership of holders of both classes of our common stock.
Our Acquisition Process
We
believe that conducting comprehensive due diligence on prospective investments is particularly important within the energy sector. We
will use the diligence, rigor, and expertise of our management, members of our Board and our technical committee to evaluate potential
targets’ strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to identify the relative risk and return profile of any potential target for
our initial business combination. Given our management team’s tenure investing in energy companies, we will often be familiar with
the prospective target area of operation, upside potential and potential risks.
In
evaluating a prospective initial business combination, we expect to conduct a thorough diligence review that will encompass, among other
things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of assets and facilities and financial analyses,
as well as a review of other information that will be made available to us.
5
Our
ability to evaluate assets and/or businesses is greatly enhanced by the prior experience and expertise of our management team and technical
committee. We plan to incorporate a rigorous due diligence process that will lever the diverse experience and talents of management and
the Technical Committee.
Certain
of our officers and directors are employed by or affiliated with various investment companies or funds. Such funds and individuals
are continuously made aware of potential investment opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business
combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf, including members of our Board) contacted any prospective target
business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with any
prospective target business.
We
may, at our option, pursue an opportunity with an entity to which an officer or director has a fiduciary or contractual obligation. Any
such entity may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional
proceeds to complete the acquisition by making a specified future issuance to any such entity. Our amended and restated certificate of
incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity
is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one
we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.
Status as a Public Company
We
believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we
offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination. In
this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our stock
or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although
there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a
more certain and cost-effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public
offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the
same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore,
once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public
offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could
delay or prevent the offering from occurring or could have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business
would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’
interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in
attracting talented employees.
We
are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As
such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public
companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor
attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation
in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive
compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities
less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more
volatile.
In
addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended
transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In
other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would
otherwise apply to private companies. We do not intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period and our election
to opt out is irrevocable.
6
We
will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary
of the completion of the IPO, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion (as adjusted for inflation
pursuant to SEC rules from time to time), or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market
value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30 th , and
(2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Additionally,
we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may
take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial
statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market
value of our common stock held by non-affiliates did not exceed $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues
did not exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates did not
exceed $700 million as of the prior June 30.
Financial Position
With
funds in the trust account available for a business combination initially in the amount of $174,225,000 in full ($10.10 per unit), in
each case before underwriting commissions, fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination, we offer a target business
a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its
operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our business combination
using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination
that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken
any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting our Initial Business Combination
We
are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following the IPO. We intend
to complete our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of the IPO and the private placement of the private placement
warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may
seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages
of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If
our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account
are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A common
stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance
or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing
our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other assets, companies or for working capital.
We
may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial
business combination (which may include a specified future issuance), and we may complete our initial business combination using the
proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws,
we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. In the case of an initial
business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing
the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek stockholder approval of
such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately, including pursuant to any specified future issuance,
or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding
with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.
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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 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.
Sources of Target Businesses
We
expect to receive a number of proprietary transaction opportunities to originate as a result of the business relationships, direct outreach,
and deal sourcing activities of our officers and directors. In addition to the proprietary deal flow, we anticipate that target business
candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment banking firms, consultants, accounting
firms, private equity groups, large business enterprises, and other market participants. These sources may also introduce us to target
businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read our reports and
know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention
target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions
they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. Some of our officers or directors may enter into employment or consulting
agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or
arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate. In no event will our sponsor or any
of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or
other compensation before, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination
(regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, in connection with the successful completion of our initial business combination,
we may determine to provide a payment to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or our or their affiliates, which payment would not
be made from the proceeds of the IPO held in the trust account. We currently do not have any agreement or arrangement with our sponsor,
any of our officers, directors, advisors or our or their affiliates to make any such payments.
We
are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor,
officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers
or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated
with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment
banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company
from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. If any of our officers or directors
becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing
fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity before
presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Any such entity may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our
initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by making a specified future issuance
to any such entity.
Lack of Business Diversification
For
an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely
on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with
multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate
the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our business combination with only a single 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.
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Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s
Management Team
Although
we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our business
combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’ management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the
future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future
role of members of our management team or of our Board, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty.
While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our business combination,
it is presently unknown if any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs after our business combination. Moreover, we cannot
assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular
target business. The determination as to whether any members of our Board will remain with the combined company will be made at the time
of our initial business combination.
Following
a business combination, to the extent that we deem it necessary, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent
management team 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.
Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to
Approve our Initial Business Combination
We
may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. However, we will seek stockholder approval
if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal
reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether
stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.
Type
of Transaction
Whether
Stockholder
Approval is
Required
Purchase of assets
No
Purchase of stock of target not involving
a merger with the company
No
Merger of target into a subsidiary
of the company
No
Merger of the company with a target
Yes
Under
NASDAQ’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
● we issue shares
of Class A common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares
of our Class A common stock then outstanding;
● any of our directors,
officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by NASDAQ rules) has a 5% or greater interest
(or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in
the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance
of common stock could result in an increase in outstanding common shares or voting power
of 5% or more; or
● the issuance or
potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control.
9
Permitted Purchases of our Securities
In
the event we seek stockholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business
combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or
public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either before or after the completion of our initial business
combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in
such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and the rules of NASDAQ. However, they have no current commitments, plans
or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds
in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they
will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if
such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that
such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to
exercise its redemption rights. If our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated
transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be
required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute
a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules
under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such
rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
The
purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase
the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement
with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where
it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce
the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection
with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our business combination
that may not otherwise have been possible.
In
addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock may be reduced and the number of beneficial
holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our
securities on a national securities exchange.
Our
sponsor, officers, directors, advisors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor,
officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us
directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with
our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private
purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares
for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against the business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their
affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities
laws.
Any
purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18
under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which
is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18
has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor,
officers, directors, advisors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of common stock if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2)
or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange
Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
10
Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders
upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination
We
will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon
the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit
in the trust account as of two business days before the consummation of the initial business combination including interest earned on
the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating
to the administration of the trust account, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described
herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.10 per public share. The per-share amount we
will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay
to the underwriters. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed
to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion
of our business combination. The anchor investors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by
them in connection with the completion of our business combination.
Manner of Conducting
Redemptions
We
will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon
the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business
combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business
combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as
the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or
stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct
mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or
seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. If we structure a business combination
transaction with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a
stockholder vote to approve the proposed business combination. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to
the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose
to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on NASDAQ,
we will be required to comply with such rules.
If
a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant
to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:
● conduct the redemptions
pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer
tender offers, and
● file tender offer
documents with the SEC before completing our initial business combination that contain substantially
the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption
rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the
solicitation of proxies.
Upon
the public announcement of our business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1
to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer,
to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
If
we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance
with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration
of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified
number of public shares which are not purchased by our sponsor, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem
public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business
combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash
requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more
shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.
11
If,
however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder
approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:
● conduct the redemptions
in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange
Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules,
and
● file proxy materials
with the SEC.
If
we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide
our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete
our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business
combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock
of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote
at such meeting. Our sponsor will count toward this quorum and has agreed to vote its founder shares and any public shares purchased during
or after the IPO, and the anchor investors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them, in favor of our initial business combination.
For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the
approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than
10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve
our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our sponsor, and the voting agreements
of our initial shareholders and the anchor investors, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.
Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
The anchor investors are not required to vote any of their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or for or against
any other matter presented for a shareholder vote.
Our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would
cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules)
or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination.
For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash
to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy
other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we
would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required
to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to
us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption
will be returned to the holders thereof.
Limitation on Redemption
upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if we Seek Stockholder Approval
Notwithstanding
the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with
our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public
stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as
a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with
respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the IPO (the “Excess Shares”). We believe this restriction
will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to
exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares
at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder
holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the IPO could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s
shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting
our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in the IPO, we believe we will limit the ability of a small
group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our business combination, particularly in connection with
a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not restrict our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their
shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination.
12
Tendering Stock Certificates
in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
We
may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares
in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent before the date set forth in the tender offer
documents, or up to two business days before the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute
proxy materials, 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. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders
of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to
satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials
until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days before the vote on 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 exercise period,
it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There
is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through
the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not
to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking
to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless
of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The
foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with
their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an initial
business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed 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 stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had
an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the
company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open
market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which stockholders
were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion
of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery
before the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’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 the date set forth in the tender offer materials or the
date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered
its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides before 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 business combination.
If
our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their
redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case,
we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
13
If
our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different
target until 12 months (or until 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate our initial business combination in accordance
with the terms described in the IPO’s registration statement) from the closing of the IPO.
Redemption of Public
Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination
Our
amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only 12 months from the closing of the IPO to complete our
initial business combination. If we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 12 months,
we may, but are not obligated to, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination two times by an additional three months
each time (for a total of up to 18 months to complete a business combination); provided that our Sponsor, as defined below (or its designees)
must deposit into the trust account funds equal to one percent (1%) of the gross proceeds of the offering (including such proceeds from
the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) for each 3-month extension of the time period to complete our initial
business combination (the “Additional Funds”), in exchange for a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note. However,
if we filed a proxy statement, registration statement or similar filing for an initial business combination within the initial 12-month
period, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by three months (or up to 15 months to complete a business
combination) without depositing the Additional Funds. If we are unable to complete our business combination within such prescribed time
period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but
not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount
then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to
us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000
of interest released to us to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will
completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions,
if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval
of our remaining stockholders and our Board, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide
for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions
with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time
period.
Holders
of our founder shares will not be entitled to rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to the founder
shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or up to 18 months, as applicable) from
the closing of the IPO. However, if our sponsor, officers, directors, or the anchor investors acquire public shares in or after the IPO,
they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our
initial business combination within the allotted 12-month time period (or up to 18-month time period, as applicable). Our sponsor, officers
and directors have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated
certificate of incorporation that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do
not complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate our
initial business combination in accordance with the terms described in the IPO’s registration statement) from the closing of the
IPO, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval
of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including
interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well
as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we
may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of
our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption
right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement
(described above) we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares.
14
All costs and expenses
associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, have been funded from amounts remaining out
of the approximately $600,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient
funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan
of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay franchise and income taxes
as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may
request the trustee to release to us an amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses. As of March
28, 2022, we have not requested the trustee to release any funds.
If
we were to expend all of the net proceeds of the IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited
in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount
received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.10.
The
proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority
than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by stockholders
will not be substantially less than $10.10. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims
against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These
claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay
such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although
we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities
with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest and claim of any kind in or to any monies held
in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even
if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited
to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability
of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the
trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management
will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed
a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party
consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants
that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver.
In
addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising
out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Our sponsor
has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent auditors) for services
rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement,
reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.10 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share
held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in
each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the
trust account, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account
and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under
the Securities Act. If an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible
to the extent of any liability for such third party claims Our sponsor does not have sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations
and our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification
obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims
were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced
to less than $10.10 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive
such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers will indemnify us for claims
by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
15
If
the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (i) $10.10 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held
in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each
case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust
account, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations
related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce
its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against
our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business
judgment may choose not to do so if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high
relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. We have not asked
our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those
obligations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will
not be less than $10.10 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 (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses or other
entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to
monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of
the IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to approximately
$600,000 from the proceeds of the IPO 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). If we liquidate, and it is
subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust
account could be liable for claims made by creditors. If our offering expenses exceeded our estimate of $900,000, we would fund such
excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside
the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, since the offering expenses of $576,438 are
less than our estimate of $900,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account will increase by a
corresponding amount.
Under
the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by
them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public
shares in the event we do not complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time
to consummate our initial business combination in accordance with the terms described in the IPO’s registration statement) from
the closing of the IPO may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures
set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including
a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation
may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders,
any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata
share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third
anniversary of the dissolution.
16
Furthermore,
if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event
we do not complete our business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate our initial
business combination in accordance with the terms described in the IPO’s registration statement) from the closing of the IPO, is
not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant
to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption
distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our business combination
within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate our initial business combination in accordance with
the terms described in the IPO’s registration statement) from the closing of the IPO, we will: (i) cease all operations except
for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the
public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest
earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes as well as expenses
relating to the administration of the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest released to us to pay dissolution expenses), divided
by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders
(including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as
reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our Board, dissolve and liquidate,
subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable
law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 24 th month
and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims
to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third
anniversary of such date.
Because
we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to
us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against
us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations
will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors
(such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained
in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective
target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim
of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account. As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are
significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote.
Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below
(i) $10.10 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation
of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest withdrawn to pay taxes
as well as expenses relating to the administration of the trust account and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of
the underwriters of the IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. If 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.
If
we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the
trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of
third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot
assure you we will be able to return $10.10 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an
involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed
under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.”
As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our Board may be
viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and our company
to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account before addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot
assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
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Our
public stockholders 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 business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate
our initial business combination in accordance with the terms described in the IPO’s registration statement) from the closing of
the IPO, subject to applicable law, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated
certificate of incorporation (a) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not
consummated an initial business combination within 12 months (or within 18 months if we extend the period of time to consummate our initial
business combination in accordance with the terms described in the IPO’s registration statement) from the closing of the IPO or
(b) relating to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (iii) our
completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of our common stock that such stockholder
properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any
kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s
voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable
pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights as described above.
Competition
In
identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other
entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout
funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience
identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial,
technical, human and other resources than we do. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial
resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation
to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us
for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed
favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating
an initial business combination.
Facilities
Our shared executive offices are located at 4550 Post Oak Place Dr.,
Suite 300, Houston, Texas 77027, and our telephone number is (713) 820-6300. We consider our current office space adequate for our current
operations.
Employees
We currently have two officers. We have no paid
employees. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters, but they intend to
devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount
of time that any such person will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial
business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We
will register our units, Class A common stock and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the
requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act,
our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We
will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials
or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial
statements will need to be prepared in accordance with GAAP. We cannot assure you that any particular target business selected by us
as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP or that the potential target business
will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with GAAP. To the extent that this requirement cannot be met, we may not
be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe
that this limitation will be material.
We
will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act. Only if we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control procedures
audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal
controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase
the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
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Legal Proceedings
There
is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team
in their capacity as such.
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.