10-K
1
f10k2020_cmlifesciences.htm
ANNUAL REPORT
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
10-K
(Mark
One)
☒
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020
Or
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For
the transition period from __________ to __________
Commission
File No. 001-39482
CM
Life Sciences, Inc.
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
85-1966622
(State
or other jurisdiction of
incorporation
or organization)
(I.R.S.
Employer
Identification
No.)
c/o
Corvex Management LP
667
Madison Avenue
New
York, New York
10065
(Address
of Principal Executive Offices)
(Zip
Code)
Registrant’s
telephone number, including area code: (212) 474-6745
Securities
registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title
of each class
Trading
Symbol(s)
Name
of each exchange on which registered
Units,
each consisting of one share of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and one-third of one redeemable warrant
CMLFU
The
Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Class A
common stock, par value $0.0001 per share
CMLF
The
Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Redeemable
warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one share of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50
CMLFW
The
Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Securities
registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.
Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required
to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant
to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period
that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting
company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,”
“smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer
☐
Accelerated filer
☐
Non-accelerated filer
☒
Smaller reporting company
☒
Emerging growth company
☒
If
an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period
for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange
Act. ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness
of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the
registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act): Yes ☒ No ☐
As of June 30, 2020 (the last business
day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the Registrant’s securities were not publicly
traded. The Registrant’s Units began trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market on September 2, 2020 and the Registrant’s
Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, began trading separately from its Units on October 26, 2020.
As of March 29, 2021, there were 44,275,000
shares of the Registrant’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 11,068,750 shares of the Registrant’s
Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, issued and outstanding.
DOCUMENTS
INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None.
CM
LIFE SCIENCES, INC.
FORM
10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Page
Part I.
Item 1.
Business
1
Item 1A.
Risk Factors
9
Item 1B.
Unresolved Staff Comments
32
Item 2.
Properties
32
Item 3.
Legal Proceedings
32
Item 4.
Mine Safety Disclosures
32
Part II.
Item 5.
Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
33
Item 6.
Selected Financial Data
34
Item 7.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
34
Item 7A.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
38
Item 8.
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
38
Item 9.
Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
38
Item 9A.
Controls and Procedures
39
Item 9B.
Other Information
39
Part III.
Item 10.
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
40
Item 11.
Executive Compensation
47
Item 12.
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
47
Item 13.
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
49
Item 14.
Principal Accountant Fees and Services
51
Part IV.
Item 15.
Exhibit and Financial Statement Schedules
52
Item 16.
Form 10-K Summary
54
i
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
This
Annual Report on Form 10-K contains statements that are forward-looking and as such are not historical facts. This includes, without
limitation, statements under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”
regarding the our financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, including
with respect to our recently announced proposed business combination with Sema4 (as defined below). These statements constitute
projections, forecasts and forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,”
“expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,”
“potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions
may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.
The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on our current expectations and beliefs
concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting
us will be those that we have anticipated.
These
forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions
that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” alone
or in combination with other events or circumstances, may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating
results. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
● We
are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no
basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
● Our
stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial Business
Combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our Founder Shares will participate
in such vote, which means we may complete our initial Business Combination even though
a majority of our Public Stockholders do not support such a combination.
● Your
only opportunity to affect your investment decision regarding a potential Business Combination
may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
● If
we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination, our initial stockholders
and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial Business Combination,
regardless of how our Public Stockholders vote.
● The
ability of our Public Stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial
condition unattractive to potential Business Combination targets, which may make it difficult
for us to enter into a Business Combination with a target.
● The
ability of our Public Stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large
number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable Business Combination
or optimize our capital structure.
● The
requirement that we complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months after
the closing of this offering or during any extension period may give potential target
businesses leverage over us in negotiating a Business Combination and may limit the time
we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential Business Combination targets,
in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability
to complete our initial Business Combination on terms that would produce value for our
stockholders.
● If
we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination, our Sponsor, initial
stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect
to purchase shares or public warrants from Public Stockholders, which may influence a
vote on a proposed Business Combination and reduce the public “float” of
our Class A Common Stock.
ii
● If
a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our Public Shares in connection
with our initial Business Combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for submitting
or tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
● You
will not have any rights or interests in funds from the Trust Account, except under certain
limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to
sell your Public Shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
● Nasdaq
may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’
ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
● You
will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank
check companies.
● Because
of our limited resources and the significant competition for Business Combination opportunities,
it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial Business Combination. If we are
unable to complete our initial Business Combination, our Public Stockholders may receive
only their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for
distribution to Public Stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
● If
the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering not being held in the Trust Account are
insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the closing
of the Initial Public Offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search
for a target business or businesses and complete our initial Business Combination, and
we will depend on loans from our Sponsor or management team to fund our search and to
complete our initial Business Combination.
● Past
performance by our management team and their affiliates may not be indicative of future
performance of an investment in us.
● Unlike
some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial stockholders
will receive additional Class A Common Stock if we issue certain shares to consummate
an initial Business Combination.
Should
one or more of these risks materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material
respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline,
and you could lose all or part of your investment. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
iii
CM
LIFE SCIENCES, INC.
PART
I.
References
in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”) to “we,” “us,” “our”
or the “Company” are to CM Life Sciences, Inc., a blank check company incorporated in Delaware. References to our
“management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, and references to the “Sponsor”
refer to CM Life Sciences Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. References to our “initial stockholders”
refer to our Sponsor and each of our independent directors.
Item 1. Business.
Overview
We
are a blank check company incorporated on July 10, 2020, as a Delaware corporation, for the purpose of effecting a merger, share
exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business
Combination”). While we may pursue an initial Business Combination target in any industry, sector or geographic region,
we intend to capitalize on our management team’s background and experience to identify promising opportunities in the life
sciences sector. Our sponsor is CM Life Sciences Holdings, LLC a Delaware limited liability company (our “Sponsor”).
We
have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenue to date. Based on our business activities, the Company is a “shell
company” as defined under the Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) because we have no operations and nominal
assets consisting almost entirely of cash.
Registration
statements for our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) became effective on September 1, 2020.
On September 4, 2020, we consummated our Initial Public Offering of 44,275,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect
to the shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Class A Common Stock”) included in the Units
offered, the “Public Shares”), including 5,775,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments (the “Over-Allotment
Units”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $442.75 million.
Substantially
concurrently with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the private placement (the “Private Placement”)
of 7,236,667 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”),
at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant to the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $10.86 million.
Prior
to the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, on July 16, 2020, the Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share,
to cover certain offering costs of the Company in consideration for 10,062,500 shares (the “Founder Shares”) of Class B
common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (“Class B Common Stock”). In August 2020, our Sponsor transferred
25,000 Founder Shares to each of Mr. Islam, Dr. Leproust and Mr. Turner. On September 1, 2020, we effected a 1:1.1 stock split
of our Class B Common Stock, resulting in our Sponsor holding an aggregate of 10,993,750 Founder Shares and there being an aggregate
of 11,068,750 Founder Shares outstanding.
Upon
the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, $442.75 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds
of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust
Account”) with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and invested in United States government
treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain
conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), as
determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of an initial Business Combination and (ii) the
distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
1
We
entered into separate forward purchase agreements with affiliates of our Sponsor, Casdin Capital, LLC (“Casdin Capital”)
and Corvex Management LP (“Corvex Management”), in their capacities as investment advisors on behalf of one or more
investment funds, clients or accounts managed by each of Casdin Capital and Corvex Management, respectively (collectively, their
“Clients”), pursuant to which, subject to the conditions described below, they will cause certain Clients to purchase
from us up to an aggregate amount of 15,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock (the “Forward Purchase Shares”) for
$10.00 per Forward Purchase Share, or an aggregate amount of up to $150,000,000, in a private placement that will close concurrently
with the closing of our initial Business Combination. The respective obligations of Casdin Capital and Corvex Management to cause
Clients to purchase Forward Purchase Shares will, among other things, be conditioned on our completing an initial Business Combination
with a company engaged in a business that is within the investment objectives of the Clients purchasing Forward Purchase Shares
and on the Business Combination (including the target assets or business, and the terms of the Business Combination) being reasonably
acceptable to such Clients as determined by Casdin Capital or Corvex Management, as relevant, as investment advisors on behalf
of such Clients.
Our
Class A Common Stock and warrants trade on The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols “CMLF”
and “CMLFW,” respectively. Those Units not separated continue to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “CMLFU.”
Our
management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of its Initial Public Offering and
the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward
consummating our initial Business Combination. Our initial Business Combination must be with one or more operating businesses
or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (net of amounts disbursed
to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in Trust) at the
time we sign a definitive agreement in connection with the initial Business Combination. However, we will only complete a Business
Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or
otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company
under the Investment Company Act.
We
intend to effectuate a Business Combination using the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement, and from
additional issuances of, if any, our capital stock and our debt, or a combination of cash, stock and debt. We have not engaged
in, and we will not engage in, any operations until we complete a Business Combination, and we have not generated any operating
revenue to date. We will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial Business Combination, at the
earliest. Our entire activity since inception through December 31, 2020 related to our formation, the preparation for the
Initial Public Offering, and following the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the search for a prospective initial Business
Combination. Based on our business activities, we are a “shell company” as defined under the Exchange Act, because
we have no operations and nominal assets consisting almost entirely of cash.
We
will provide the holders of our Public Shares (the “Public Stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a
portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of our initial Business Combination either (i) in connection with a general
meeting called to approve the initial Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether
we will seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us. The Public
Stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account. The
per-share amount to be distributed to Public Stockholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting
commissions we pay to the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering.
If
we are unable to complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we will (i)
cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business
days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit
in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay
our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares,
which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive
further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to
the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations
under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
2
Pending
Sema4 Business Combination
On
February 10, 2021, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Mount Sinai Genomics,
Inc., a Delaware corporation, d/b/a Sema4 (“Sema4”), and S-IV Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and our direct wholly-owned
subsidiary (“Merger Sub”). Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement and subject to the conditions thereof, we
will acquire Sema4 through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Sema4, with Sema4 surviving as our wholly-owned subsidiary (the
“Merger”) and, in connection with the Merger, our name will be changed to a name to be determined by Sema4 (and reasonably
acceptable to us) (together with the other agreements and transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the “Sema4
Business Combination”). Holders of Sema4 Capital Stock will receive common stock of CM Life Sciences and, at their election,
up to $343 million in cash in exchange for shares of Sema4. The consummation of the proposed Sema4 Business Combination
is subject to certain conditions as further described in the Merger Agreement.
On
February 10, 2021, concurrently with the execution of the Merger Agreement, we entered into subscription agreements (collectively,
the “Subscription Agreements”) with certain investors (collectively, the “PIPE Investors” which include
certain existing equityholders of Sema4), pursuant to, and on the terms and subject to the conditions of which, the PIPE Investors
have collectively subscribed for 35,000,000 shares of our common stock for an aggregate purchase price equal to $350,000,000 (the
“PIPE Investment”). The PIPE Investment will be consummated immediately prior to the closing of the Sema4 Business
Combination. The Subscription Agreements provide for certain customary registration rights for the PIPE Investors. The Subscription
Agreements will terminate with no further force and effect upon the earliest to occur of: (a) such date and time as the Merger
Agreement is terminated in accordance with its terms; (b) the mutual written agreement of the parties to such Subscription Agreement;
and (c) November 9, 2021.
For
more information about the Merger Agreement and the proposed Sema4 Business Combination, see “Item 7. Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Sema4 Business Combination Announcement,”
as well as our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 11, 2021 and the Sema4 Disclosure Statement that
we will file with the SEC. Unless specifically stated, this Annual Report does not give effect to the proposed Sema4 Business
Combination and does not contain the risks associated with the proposed Sema4 Business Combination. Such risks and effects relating
to the proposed Sema4 Business Combination will be included in the Sema4 Disclosure Statement.
Strategy
Our
team intends to leverage the strong life sciences knowledge base and public and private market experience of our Sponsor in completing
our initial Business Combination. Our Sponsor is an affiliate of Eli Casdin, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Casdin Capital,
and of Keith Meister, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Corvex Management, two leading investment firms.
Over
the years, members of our management team from Casdin Capital have developed a rich, reflective and repeatable scientific process
as rigorous as any found in relevant research labs, which we intend to draw upon as we evaluate targets. Our strategy is to seek
out every possible data point and test every possible hypothesis. By methodically breaking down core elements, from treatments
to management teams to political-historical context, and examining them from all angles, testing theories as we go, our leadership
team learns and grows in step with the life sciences industry itself. When we assess company targets and the mechanisms for solving
them, whether a drug or a technology application, we will seek to understand their innovative methodologies, not just their market
potential. Beyond the science, we will also scrutinize target markets and competitors, question CEOs, Executive Teams and Boards
on their ability to measure outcomes and push toward solutions, and create models for everything from commercial launch capabilities
to regulatory hurdles to an entire team’s industry expertise and history. Deep knowledge of the science and its applications
is only the beginning. Our experience continually reminds us to focus on leadership’s ability to grow a business and create
an empowered workforce, and we seek companies that create the drive and resilience necessary to reach ambitious goals and, ultimately,
market success.
Casdin
Capital has developed relationships going back to the unlocking of the human genome, and today is a familiar and trusted participant
in this dynamic and complex industry, as well-versed in the science as in the business models that underpin it. As an affiliate
of Casdin Capital with key management members from Casdin Capital, we intend to leverage its reputation and position as more than
just an investor, but a key partner to major and emerging companies, to work with the most successful and innovative industry
professionals, the ones who will continue to drive growth and profits over the next few decades. Combined with Corvex Management,
our leadership team is diverse and deep, with strengths in science and business, in research and investing, capital markets and
corporate board rooms, and as alert to industry realignments as they are to subtle market moves. Success and strong returns come
as much from our collective dedication as it does from our area-expertise. Our seasoned management team and board intends to leverage
information from industry experts, scientists, management teams, and corporate directors to proceed with discipline and rigor
to complete an attractive business combination that will produce attractive returns for our shareholders.
3
Acquisition
Criteria
Consistent
with our acquisition strategy, we have identified the following criteria to evaluate prospective target businesses. We intend
to seek to acquire companies in the Life Sciences Tools, Synthetic Biology and Diagnostics fields and that we believe:
● have
a potential scientific or other business advantage or opportunity in the markets in which
they operate;
● have
strong and experienced management teams or key personnel; and
● will
offer attractive risk-adjusted equity returns for our shareholders.
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 team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business
that we believe does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above
criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which would be in the form of proxy materials
or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we would file with the SEC.
Initial
Business Combination
Nasdaq
rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of
the value of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest
earned on the Trust Account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination.
Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board
of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain
an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect
to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent
determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or
experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the
target’s assets or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved
by a majority of our independent directors.
We
anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our Public Stockholders
own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure
our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets
of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons,
but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding
voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required
to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50%
or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority
interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction.
For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding
capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the
issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own
less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity
interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such
business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test
described above. 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.
4
Sourcing
of Potential Initial Business Combination Targets
We
are not prohibited from pursuing an initial Business Combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, executive
officers or directors, or completing the Business Combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our
Sponsor, executive officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete an initial Business Combination with a target that
is affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an
opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm stating that such
an initial Business Combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Our second amended and restated certificate
of incorporation provides that a target will not be deemed an affiliate solely by virtue of ownership by our Sponsor or its affiliates,
or any of their or our executive officers or directors, of less than 10% of its common stock, individually or in the aggregate.
Members
of our management team and our independent directors will directly or indirectly own Founder 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 was 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. Our second 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 the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable
for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another
legal obligation. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors
will materially affect our ability to complete our initial Business Combination.
In
addition, our Sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to
ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial Business Combination.
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.
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 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, divided by
the number of then outstanding Public Shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in
the Trust Account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 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 initial stockholders, 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 Public Shares they may hold in connection
with the completion of our initial Business Combination.
Class
A Common Stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms
of the proposed initial Business Combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial
Business Combination or redeem any shares in connection with such initial Business Combination, and all shares of Class A Common
Stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities
or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial Business Combination, including pursuant to forward
purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of the Initial Public Offering, in order
to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
5
Limitations
on Redemptions
Our
second 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. In addition, our proposed initial Business Combination may
impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital
or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash
consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A Common Stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus
any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial Business Combination exceed the aggregate
amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial Business Combination or redeem any shares in connection with
such initial Business Combination, and all shares of Class A Common Stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders
thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other
indebtedness in connection with our initial Business Combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop
arrangements we may enter into following consummation of the Initial Public Offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy
such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
Conduct
of redemptions pursuant to tender offer rules
In
the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we will:
● conduct
the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and
● file
tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination, which contain substantially the same
financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation
14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
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
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. 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.
Submission
of our initial Business Combination to a stockholder vote
If
we provide our Public Stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in connection with a stockholder meeting,
we will:
● 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, 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 initial Business Combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders
present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the Company representing a majority of the voting power
of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count
towards this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any Founder
Shares they hold and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions)
in favor of our initial Business Combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common
stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial Business Combination once a quorum is obtained.
These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will
consummate our initial Business Combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its Public Shares irrespective of whether
they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a stockholder on the record date for the stockholder meeting
held to approve the proposed transaction.
6
If
we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial
Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors
or their respective affiliates may purchase Public Shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open
market either prior to or following the completion of our initial Business Combination. There is no limit on the number of shares
our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their respective affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject
to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in
such purchases or other transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such purchases or other 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 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, initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their respective 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 be required to 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 the requisite 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 initial
Business Combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of
public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted
to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial Business Combination. Any such purchases of our securities
may result in the completion of our initial Business Combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
Limitation
on Redemption Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Stockholder Approval
If
we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial
Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our second 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 20% of the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering, which we refer to as the
“Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. 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 20% 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 stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 20% 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 stockholders 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.
However,
we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against
our initial Business Combination.
7
Redemption
of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
Our
second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only 24 months from the closing of the
Initial Public Offering to complete our initial Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination
within such 24-month period from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any extended period of time that
we may have to consummate an initial business combination as a result of an amendment to our amended and restated certificate
of incorporation (an “Extension Period”), we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up,
(ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price,
payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held
in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses),
divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’
rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably
possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate
and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements
of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will
expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial Business Combination within the 24-month time period or during any Extension
Period.
Competition
We
may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors
(which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international,
competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have
extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing
services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry
knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors.
Additionally, the number of blank check companies looking for Business Combination targets has increased compared to recent years
and many of these blank check companies are sponsored by entities or persons that have significant experience with completing
Business Combinations. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds
from our Initial Public Offering and Private Placement, if the proposed Sema4 Business Combination is not consummated, our ability
to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources.
This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. 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. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage
in successfully negotiating a Business Combination. If we have not completed our initial Business Combination within the required
time period, our Public Stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the
liquidation of our Trust Account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Employees
We
currently have three executive officers: Eli Casdin, Brian Emes and Shaun Rodriguez. 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 the status of the proposed Sema4 Business Combination and, if the proposed Sema4 Business Combination is not consummated, whether
a different target business has been selected for our initial Business Combination and the current stage of the Business Combination
process. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial Business Combination.
8
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
An
investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together
with the other information contained in this Annual Report, including our financial statements and related notes, before making
a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating
results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could
lose all or part of your investment. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks
and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that
adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. For risk factors related to the proposed Sema4 Business
Combination, see the “Risk Factors” section of the Sema4 Disclosure Statement that we will file with the SEC.
Risks
Relating to Our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
Our
stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial Business Combination, and even if we hold a vote,
holders of our Founder Shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial Business Combination even
though a majority of our Public Stockholders do not support such a combination.
We
may choose not to hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial Business Combination if the Business Combination would not require
stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Except for as required by applicable law or stock
exchange requirement, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed Business Combination or will
allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in 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 otherwise require
us to seek stockholder approval. Even if we seek stockholder approval, the holders of our Founder Shares will participate in the
vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial Business Combination even if a majority of our Public Stockholders
do not approve of the Business Combination we complete.
Your
only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential Business Combination may be limited to the exercise of
your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
You
may not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial Business Combination. Since our
board of directors may complete a Business Combination without seeking stockholder approval, Public Stockholders may not have
the right or opportunity to vote on the Business Combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity
to affect the investment decision regarding our initial Business Combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights
within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our Public
Stockholders in which we describe our initial Business Combination.
If
we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination, our initial stockholders and management team have agreed to
vote in favor of such initial Business Combination, regardless of how our Public Stockholders vote.
Our
initial stockholders own a substantial percentage of our outstanding common stock. Our initial stockholders and management team
also may from time to time purchase Class A Common Stock prior to the completion of our initial Business Combination. Our second
amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, if we seek stockholder approval of an initial Business Combination,
such initial Business Combination will be approved if we receive the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares entitled to
vote at such meeting, including the Founder Shares. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination,
the agreement by our initial stockholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial Business Combination will increase
the likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval for such initial Business Combination.
9
The
ability of our Public Stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential
Business Combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to consummate a Business Combination with a target.
We
may seek to enter into a Business Combination transaction agreement with minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration
to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the
retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many Public Stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not
be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the Business Combination. Furthermore,
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.
Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001
or make us unable to satisfy a minimum cash condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related
Business Combination and may instead search for an alternate Business Combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these
risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a Business Combination transaction with us.
The
ability of our Public Stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us
to complete the most desirable Business Combination or optimize our capital structure.
At
the time we enter into a Business Combination Agreement, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption
rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be
submitted for redemption. If our initial Business Combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the Trust
Account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion
of the cash in the Trust Account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number
of shares is submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater
portion of the cash in the Trust Account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve
dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would
increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B Common Stock results in the issues of shares
of Class A Common Stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the shares of Class B Common Stock at
the time of our initial Business Combination. In addition, the amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the
underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial Business Combination. The per
share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred
underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the
entire deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable Business
Combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
The
ability of our Public Stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the
probability that our initial Business Combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order
to redeem your shares.
If
our initial Business Combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to pay the purchase price,
or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial Business Combination would be unsuccessful
is increased. If our initial Business Combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the Trust Account
until we liquidate the Trust Account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the
open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the Trust Account. In
either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your
exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
10
The
requirement that we complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months after the closing of the Initial Public Offering
or during any Extension Period may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a Business Combination and
may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential Business Combination targets, in particular as we approach
our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial Business Combination on terms that would produce
value for our stockholders.
Any
potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a Business Combination will be aware that we must complete
our initial Business Combination within 24 months after the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension
Period. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a Business Combination, knowing that if
we do not complete our initial Business Combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial
Business Combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition,
we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial Business Combination on terms that we would have
rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our
search for a Business Combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a Business Combination, may be
materially adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.
In
December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has and is continuing to
spread throughout China and other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health
Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.”
On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the
United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health
Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic”. The COVID-19 outbreak has and a significant outbreak
of other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial
markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a Business Combination could be
materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a Business Combination if continued concerns relating
to COVID-19 continues to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s
personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent
to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a Business Combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain
and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to
contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global
concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a Business Combination, or the operations of a target
business with which we ultimately consummate a Business Combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In
addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may
be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity
in third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
We
may not be able to complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months after the closing of the Initial Public Offering
or during any Extension Period, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would
redeem our Public Shares and liquidate.
We
may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months after the
closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period. Our ability to complete our initial Business Combination
may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described
herein. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the
impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial Business Combination,
including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable
on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek
to acquire. If we have not completed our initial Business Combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations
except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter,
redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust
Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less
up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption
will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating
distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of
our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under
Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
11
If
we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination, our Sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers,
advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from Public Stockholders, which may influence a
vote on a proposed Business Combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A Common Stock or public warrants.
If
we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial
Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors
or their respective affiliates may purchase Public Shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open
market either prior to or following the completion of our initial Business Combination, although they are under no obligation
to do so. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their respective
affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. However, other than
as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such purchases or transactions
and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such purchases or transactions. None of the funds in the Trust Account
will be used to purchase Public Shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such purchases may include a contractual acknowledgment
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.
In
the event that our Sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their respective 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. The purpose of any such purchases
of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the Business Combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining the
requisite stockholder approval of the Business Combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that
requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial Business Combination, where
it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to
reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for
approval in connection with our initial Business Combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion
of our initial Business Combination that may not otherwise have been possible. We expect 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.
In
addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A Common Stock or public warrants and the number
of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing
or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If
a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our Public Shares in connection with our initial Business Combination,
or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We
will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial
Business Combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our proxy materials or tender
offer documents, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy
materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our Public Shares in connection with our
initial Business Combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit
Public Shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our Public Stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights,
whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver
their stock certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date
set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up
to two business days prior to the date on which the vote on the proposal to approve the initial Business Combination is to be
held. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder
seeking redemption of its Public Shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days
prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. In the event that a stockholder fails
to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not
be redeemed.
12
You
will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since
the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants are intended to be used to complete
an initial Business Combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check”
company under the United States securities laws. However, because we had net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon
the completion of the Initial Public offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and we filed a Current Report on
Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to
protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or
protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units became immediately tradable and we will have a longer period
of time to complete our initial Business Combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, we were subject to
Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the Trust Account to us unless and
until the funds in the Trust Account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial Business Combination.
If
we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer
rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 20% of our Class A Common Stock, you
will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 20% of our Class A Common Stock.
If
we seek stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial
Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our second 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 the Excess Shares without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’
ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial Business Combination. Your inability
to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial Business Combination and you could
suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will
not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial Business Combination. And as
a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 20% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required
to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because
of our limited resources and the significant competition for Business Combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for
us to complete our initial Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination within the required
time period, our Public Stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available
for distribution to Public Stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We
expect to encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which
may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing
for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive
experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services
to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours or more
local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many
of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds
of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition
of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive
limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to
offer holders of our Public Shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial Business Combination in
conjunction with a stockholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available
to us for our initial Business Combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully
negotiating a Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination within the required time period,
our Public Stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution
to Public Stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
13
As
the number of special purpose acquisition companies increases, there may be more competition to find an attractive target for
an initial Business Combination. This could increase the costs associated with completing our initial Business Combination and
may result in our inability to find a suitable target for our initial Business Combination.
In
recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many companies
have entered into Business Combinations with special purpose acquisition companies, and there are still many special purpose acquisition
companies seeking targets for their initial Business Combination, as well as many additional special purpose acquisition companies
currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, effort
and resources to identify a suitable target for an initial Business Combination.
In
addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial Business Combination with
available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could
cause target companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such
as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close
Business Combinations or operate targets post-Business Combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate
or frustrate our ability to find a suitable target for and/or complete our initial Business Combination.
If
the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering not being held in the Trust Account are insufficient to allow us to operate for
at least the 24 months following the closing of the offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target
business or businesses and complete our initial Business Combination, and we will depend on loans from our Sponsor or management
team to fund our search and to complete our initial Business Combination.
Of
the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering, only $1,000,000 will be available to us initially outside the Trust Account to
fund our working capital requirements. We believe that the funds available to us outside of the Trust Account will be sufficient
to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the closing of the Initial Public Offering; however, we cannot
assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to
pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down
payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target
businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such
target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed Business Combination, although we do not have any current intention to
do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target
business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have
sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
In
the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,000,000, we may fund such excess with 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, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,000,000, the amount of funds we intend
to be held outside the Trust Account would increase by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the Trust Account will not be
impacted as a result of such increase or decrease. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds
from our Sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our Sponsor, members
of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such
advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the Trust Account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial
Business Combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-Business Combination entity
at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants.
Prior to the completion of our initial Business Combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our Sponsor
or an affiliate of our Sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against
any and all rights to seek access to funds in our Trust Account. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination
within the required time period because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations
and liquidate the Trust Account. Consequently, our Public Stockholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per public share,
or possibly less, on our redemption of our Public Shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
14
Changes
in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate
and complete an initial Business Combination.
In
recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed
in ways adverse to us and our management team. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability
coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become
less favorable. These trends may continue into the future.
The
increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more
expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial Business Combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability
insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-Business Combination entity might need to
incur greater expense and/or accept less favorable terms. Furthermore, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability
insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-Business Combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers
and directors.
In
addition, after completion of any initial Business Combination, our directors and officers could be subject to potential liability
from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to such initial Business Combination. As a result, in order to
protect our directors and officers, the post-Business Combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect
to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the
post-Business Combination entity and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial Business Combination
on terms favorable to our investors.
If
third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount
received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per public share.
Our
placing of funds in the Trust Account may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we will seek to
have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities (except for our independent registered public
accounting firm) with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind
in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of our Public Stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements,
or even if they execute such agreements they may not 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 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 consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only
enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the
best interests of the company under the circumstances. The underwriters of the Initial Public Offering as well as our registered
independent public accounting firm will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account.
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. Upon redemption of our Public Shares, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the required
time period, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial Business Combination, we will be required
to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following
redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by Public Stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per
public share initially held in the Trust Account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement dated as of
September 1, 2020, 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, or a prospective target business with which we will enter into a written letter of intent, confidentiality
or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser
of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the
liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less
taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed
a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it
apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including
liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). 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. 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 $10.00 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 or directors will indemnify
us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
15
Our
directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our Sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of
funds in the Trust Account available for distribution to our Public Stockholders.
In
the event that the proceeds in the Trust Account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per 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 less taxes payable, and our Sponsor asserts that
it is unable to satisfy its 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 and subject to their fiduciary
duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification
obligations, the amount of funds in the Trust Account available for distribution to our Public Stockholders may be reduced below
$10.00 per public share.
If,
after we distribute the proceeds in the Trust Account to our Public Stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary
bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members
of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members
of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If,
after we distribute the proceeds in the Trust Account to our Public Stockholders, 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. In addition, our board
of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, by paying
Public Stockholders from the Trust Account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims
of punitive damages.
If,
before distributing the proceeds in the Trust Account to our Public Stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary
bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over
the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with
our liquidation may be reduced.
If,
before distributing the proceeds in the Trust Account to our Public Stockholders, 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, the per-share amount that would
otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If
we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance
requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial Business Combination.
If
we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
● restrictions
on the nature of our investments; and
● restrictions
on the issuance of securities,
each
of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial Business Combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome
requirements, including:
● registration
as an investment company with the SEC;
16
● adoption
of a specific form of corporate structure; and
● reporting,
record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are not currently subject to.
In
order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we
must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our
activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting
more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business
will be to identify and complete a Business Combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets
for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan
to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We
do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds
held in the Trust Account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of
Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting
certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government
treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By
restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing
businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity
fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. An
investment in our securities is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment
securities. The Trust Account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion
of our initial Business Combination; (ii) the redemption of any Public Shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder
vote to amend our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation to 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 24 months from the closing
of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’
rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity; and (iii) absent an initial Business Combination within 24 months
from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, our return of the funds held in the Trust Account
to our Public Stockholders as part of our redemption of the Public Shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above,
we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance
with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder
our ability to complete a Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination within the required
time period, our Public Stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available
for distribution to Public Stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Changes
in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our
ability to negotiate and complete our initial Business Combination, and results of operations.
We
are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to
comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may
be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from
time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In
addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect
on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial Business Combination, and results of operations.
Our
stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption
of their shares.
Under
the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received
by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our Trust Account distributed to our Public Stockholders upon the redemption
of our Public Shares in the event we do not complete our initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of
the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If
a 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. However, it
is our intention to redeem our Public Shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 24 th month from the
closing of the Initial Public Offering in the event we do not complete our initial Business Combination and, therefore, we do
not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
17
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 10 years following our dissolution. 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. If our plan of
distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, 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 likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you
that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. 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 beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our Trust Account distributed to our
Public Stockholders upon the redemption of our Public Shares in the event we do not complete our initial Business Combination
within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period is not considered a liquidating
distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of
legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174
of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution,
instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
We
may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after the consummation of our initial Business Combination, which could delay
the opportunity for our stockholders to elect directors.
In
accordance with Nasdaq’s corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later
than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are,
however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws
unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to
elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial Business Combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b)
of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation
of our initial Business Combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court
of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.
Because
we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry, sector or geographic region nor have we selected
any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial Business Combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits
or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Our
efforts to identify a prospective initial Business Combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or
geographic region. While we may pursue an initial Business Combination opportunity in any industry, sector or geographic region,
we expect to focus our efforts on the life sciences sector and intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify,
acquire and operate a business or businesses that can benefit from our management team’s established global relationships
and operating experience. Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing strategic investments globally
and has done so successfully in a number of sectors. Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation prohibits us
from effectuating a Business Combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations.
To
the extent we complete our initial Business Combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations
with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record
of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development
stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business,
we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate
time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to
control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment
in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available,
in a Business Combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders or warrant
holders following the Business Combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant
holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction
was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able
to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable,
relating to the Business Combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
18
Past
performance by our management team and their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment
in us.
Information
regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our management team or businesses associated with them is presented for
informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee either
(i) of success with respect to any Business Combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to locate a suitable
candidate for our initial Business Combination. You should not rely on the historical record of the performance of our management
team’s or businesses associated with them as indicative of our future performance of an investment in us or the returns
we will, or is likely to, generate going forward.
In
evaluating a prospective target business for our initial Business Combination, our management will consider the availability of
funds from the sale of the Forward Purchase Shares, which may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial
Business Combination. If all or some of the Forward Purchase Shares are not purchased under the forward purchase agreement, we
may decide not to consummate our initial Business Combination, or if we decide to, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate
our initial Business Combination.
In
connection with the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, we entered into separate forward purchase agreements with affiliates
of our Sponsor, Casdin Capital and Corvex Management, in their capacities as investment advisors on behalf of their Clients, pursuant
to which, subject to the conditions described below, they will cause certain Clients to purchase from us up to an aggregate amount
of 15,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock, or the Forward Purchase Shares, for $10.00 per Forward Purchase Share, or an
aggregate amount of up to $150,000,000, in a private placement that will close concurrently with the closing of our initial Business
Combination. The proceeds from the sale of these Forward Purchase Shares, together with the amounts available to us from the Trust
Account (after giving effect to any redemptions of Public Shares) and any other equity or debt financing obtained by us in connection
with the Business Combination, will be used to satisfy the cash requirements of the Business Combination, including funding the
purchase price and paying expenses and retaining specified amounts to be used by the post-Business Combination company for working
capital or other purposes. The amount of Forward Purchase Shares sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements will be determined
in our discretion based on our need for additional capital to consummate the initial Business Combination.
Each
of Casdin Capital’s and Corvex Management’s obligation to cause Clients to purchase Forward Purchase Shares will,
among other things, be conditioned on our completing an initial Business Combination with a company engaged in a business that
is within the investment objectives of the Clients purchasing Forward Purchase Shares and on the Business Combination (including
the target assets or business, and the terms of the Business Combination) being reasonably acceptable to such Clients as determined
by Casdin Capital or Corvex Management, as relevant, as investment advisors on behalf of such Clients. In determining whether
a target is reasonably acceptable to Clients, we expect that Casdin Capital or Corvex Management, as relevant, would consider
many of the same criteria as we will consider, but will also consider whether the investment is an appropriate investment for
such Clients, including whether the investment complies with any guidelines, restrictions or conflicts of interest provisions
applicable to such Clients. Accordingly, if either Casdin Capital or Corvex Management, as relevant, determines, as an investment
advisor on behalf of such Clients that the initial Business Combination falls outside the investment objects of such Clients or
is not reasonably acceptable to such Clients, it would not be obligated to purchase any Forward Purchase Shares. In addition,
the obligation to purchase Forward Purchase Shares will be subject to fulfillment of customary closing conditions, including that
our initial Business Combination must be consummated substantially concurrently with the purchase of Forward Purchase Shares.
If the sale of Forward Purchase Shares does not close for any reason, including by reason of the failure to fund the purchase
price, for example, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial Business Combination.
We
may seek Business Combination opportunities in industries, sectors or geographic regions that may be outside of our management’s
areas of expertise.
Although
we expect to focus our search for a target business in the life sciences sector, we will consider a Business Combination in industries,
sectors or geographic regions outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a Business Combination candidate is presented
to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive Business Combination opportunity for our company. Although our
management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular Business Combination candidate, we cannot assure you
that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment
in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available,
in a Business Combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a Business Combination outside of the areas of our management’s
expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation. As a result, our management
may not be able to ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders
who choose to remain stockholders or warrant holders, respectively, following our initial Business Combination could suffer a
reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction
in value.
19
Although
we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses,
we may enter into our initial Business Combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result,
the target business with which we enter into our initial Business Combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with
our general criteria and guidelines.
Although
we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target
business with which we enter into our initial Business Combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete
our initial Business Combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be
as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce
a prospective Business Combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders
may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business
that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction
is required by law or stock exchange listing rules, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons,
it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination if the target business does
not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination, our Public Stockholders
may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to Public Stockholders,
and our warrants will expire worthless.
We
are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm, and consequently,
you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our stockholders
from a financial point of view.
Unless
we complete our initial Business Combination with an affiliated entity or our board of directors cannot independently determine
the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we are not required
to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm
that the price we are paying is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders
will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted
by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable,
related to our initial Business Combination.
Resources
could be wasted in researching Business Combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent
attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination within
the required time period, our Public Stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that
are available for distribution to Public Stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We
anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements,
disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants,
attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial Business Combination, the costs incurred up to that point
for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target
business, we may fail to complete our initial Business Combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control.
Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts
to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination within the
required time period, our Public Stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are
available for distribution to Public Stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We
may only be able to complete one Business Combination with the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering, the sale of the Private
Placement Warrants and the sale of Forward Purchase Shares, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which
may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The
net proceeds held in the Trust Account from the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement of warrants provided us with
$442,750,000 that we may use to complete our initial Business Combination (not taking into account the $15,496,250 of deferred
underwriting commissions being held in the Trust Account). The proceeds from the sale of Forward Purchase Shares will be up to
$150,000,000.
20
We
may effectuate our initial Business Combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or
within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial Business Combination with more than one target
business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare
and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target
businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial Business Combination with only a single
entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we
would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike
other entities which may have the resources to complete several Business Combinations in different industries or different areas
of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
● solely
dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or
● dependent
upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.
This
lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a
substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial Business Combination.
We
may attempt to simultaneously complete Business Combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to
complete our initial Business Combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations
and profitability.
If
we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers
to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other Business Combinations, which
may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial Business Combination. With multiple Business
Combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations
and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation
of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately
address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We
may attempt to complete our initial Business Combination with a private company about which little information is available, which
may result in a Business Combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In
pursuing our Business Combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial Business Combination with a privately held company.
Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether
to pursue a potential initial Business Combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a Business Combination
with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
We
do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to
complete our initial Business Combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders or warrant holders do not agree.
Our
second amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except 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.
In addition, our proposed initial Business Combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration
to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the
retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial Business Combination even though
a substantial majority of our Public Stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek
stockholder approval of our initial Business Combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial Business
Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our
Sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates. 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 in connection with such initial Business Combination,
all shares of Class A Common Stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search
for an alternate Business Combination.
21
In
order to effectuate an initial Business Combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various
provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we
will not seek to amend our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that
will make it easier for us to complete our initial Business Combination that our stockholders may not support.
In
order to effectuate a Business Combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions
of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies
have amended the definition of Business Combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial
Business Combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged
for cash and/or other securities. Amending our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval
of holders of 65% of our common stock, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the
public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the Private Placement Warrants or any provision of the
warrant agreement with respect to the Private Placement Warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding Private Placement
Warrants. In addition, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires us to provide our Public Stockholders
with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our a second mended and restated certificate
of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our Public Shares if we do not complete
an initial Business Combination within 24 months of the closing of the Initial Public Offering or with respect to any other
material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity. To the extent any
of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of our securities, we would register, or seek an exemption
from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments
or extend the time to consummate an initial Business Combination in order to effectuate our initial Business Combination.
The
provisions of our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-Business Combination activity
(and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our Trust Account) may be amended with the
approval of holders of 65% of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition
companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation to facilitate
the completion of an initial Business Combination that some of our stockholders may not support.
Our
second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any of its provisions related to pre-Business Combination
activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the private placement of warrants into
the Trust Account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to Public Stockholders
as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon and corresponding
provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our Trust Account may be amended if approved by holders
of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation
may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions
of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own approximately
20% of our common stock, may participate in any vote to amend our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or
trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions
of our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation which govern our pre-Business Combination behavior more easily
than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a Business Combination with
which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our second amended and restated certificate
of incorporation.
Our
Sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to written agreements with us, that they will
not propose any amendment to our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation to 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 24 months
from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period or with respect to any other material provisions
relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity, unless we provide our Public Stockholders
with the opportunity to redeem their Class A Common Stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable
in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the
Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares. Our
stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability
to pursue remedies against our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or director nominees for any breach of these agreements.
As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable
law.
22
Certain
agreements related to the Initial Public Offering may be amended without stockholder approval.
Each
of the agreements related to the Initial Public Offering to which we are a party, other than the warrant agreement and the investment
management trust agreement, may be amended without stockholder approval. Such agreements are: the underwriting agreement; the
letter agreement among us and our initial stockholders, Sponsor, officers and directors; the registration rights agreement among
us and our initial stockholders; and the Private Placement Warrants purchase agreement between us and our Sponsor. These agreements
contain various provisions that our Public Stockholders might deem to be material. For example, our letter agreement and the underwriting
agreement contain certain lock-up provisions with respect to the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and other securities
held by our initial stockholders, Sponsor, officers and directors. Amendments to such agreements would require the consent of
the applicable parties thereto and would need to be approved by our board of directors, which may do so for a variety of reasons,
including to facilitate our initial Business Combination. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment
to any of these agreements prior to our initial Business Combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising
its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement. Any
amendment entered into in connection with the consummation of our initial Business Combination will be disclosed in our proxy
materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to such initial Business Combination, and any other material amendment
to any of our material agreements will be disclosed in a filing with the SEC. Any such amendments would not require approval from
our stockholders, may result in the completion of our initial Business Combination that may not otherwise have been possible,
and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities. For example, amendments to the lock-up provision
discussed above may result in our initial stockholders selling their securities earlier than they would otherwise be permitted,
which may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.
We
may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial Business Combination or to fund the operations and growth
of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular Business Combination.
We
have not selected any specific Business Combination target but may target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than
we could acquire with the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering, the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and the sale
of the Forward Purchase Shares. As a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the Trust
Account and the sale of Forward Purchase Shares, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by Public Stockholders, or if
the Forward Purchase Shares are not purchased under the forward purchase agreement, we may be required to seek additional financing
to complete such proposed initial Business Combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable
terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial Business
Combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular Business Combination and seek
an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing
of our initial Business Combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the
post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial
Business Combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination
within the required time period, our Public Stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account
that are available for distribution to Public Stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do
not need additional financing to complete our initial Business Combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations
or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued
development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing
to us in connection with or after our initial Business Combination.
Our
initial stockholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder
vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our
initial stockholders own approximately 20% of our issued and outstanding common stock. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial
influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our
second amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If our initial stockholders purchase any units or any additional Class
A Common Stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial
stockholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities.
Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price
of our Class A Common Stock. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our Sponsor, is and will be divided
into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms for three years with only one class of directors being elected
in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial
Business Combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the
Business Combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only
a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our initial stockholders, because of their ownership
position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will continue to exert
control at least until the completion of our initial Business Combination. Any Forward Purchase Shares will not be issued until
completion of our initial Business Combination, and, accordingly, will not be included in any stockholder vote until such time.
23
Because
we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous
initial Business Combination with some prospective target businesses.
The
federal proxy rules require that the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an initial Business Combination include historical
and pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender
offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to
be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America
(“GAAP”), or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board
(“IFRS”), depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in
accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”). These
financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be
unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules
and complete our initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame.
Compliance
obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial Business Combination, require
substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial Business Combination.
Section 404
of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2021. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated
filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent
registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long
as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm
attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance
with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because
a target business with which we seek to complete our initial Business Combination may not be in compliance with the provisions
of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls.
The
development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the
time and costs necessary to complete any such Business Combination.
If
we effect our initial Business Combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a
variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.
If
we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial Business Combination,
we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial Business Combination,
and if we effect such initial Business Combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact
our operations.
If
we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial Business Combination,
we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border Business Combinations, including in connection with investigating,
agreeing to and completing our initial Business Combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction
approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange
rates.
If
we effect our initial Business Combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated
with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
● costs
and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations;
● rules
and regulations regarding currency redemption;
● complex
corporate withholding taxes on individuals;
● laws
governing the manner in which future Business Combinations may be effected;
● exchange
listing and/or delisting requirements;
● tariffs
and trade barriers;
● regulations
related to customs and import/export matters;
24
● local
or regional economic policies and market conditions;
● unexpected
changes in regulatory requirements;
● challenges
in managing and staffing international operations;
● longer
payment cycles;
● tax
issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;
● currency
fluctuations and exchange controls;
● rates
of inflation;
● challenges
in collecting accounts receivable;
● cultural
and language differences;
● employment
regulations;
● underdeveloped
or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;
● corruption;
● protection
of intellectual property;
● social
unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances;
● regime
changes and political upheaval;
● terrorist
attacks and wars; and
● deterioration
of political relations with the United States.
We
may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial
Business Combination, or, if we complete such initial Business Combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely
impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our
initial Business Combination and our structure thereafter may not be tax-efficient to our stockholders and warrant holders. As
a result of our Business Combination, our tax obligations may be more complex, burdensome and uncertain.
Although
we will attempt to structure our initial Business Combination in a tax-efficient manner, tax structuring considerations are
complex, the relevant facts and law are uncertain and may change, and we may prioritize commercial and other considerations over
tax considerations. For example, in connection with our initial Business Combination and subject to any requisite stockholder
approval, we may structure our Business Combination in a manner that requires stockholders and/or warrant holders to recognize
gain or income for tax purposes, effect a Business Combination with a target company in another jurisdiction, or reincorporate
in a different jurisdiction (including, but not limited to, the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located).
We do not intend to make any cash distributions to stockholders or warrant holders to pay taxes in connection with our Business
Combination or thereafter. Accordingly, a stockholder or a warrant holder may need to satisfy any liability resulting from our
initial Business Combination with cash from its own funds or by selling all or a portion of the shares received. In addition,
stockholders and warrant holders may also be subject to additional income, withholding or other taxes with respect to their ownership
of us after our initial Business Combination.
In
addition, we may effect a Business Combination with a target company that has business operations outside of the United States,
and possibly, business operations in multiple jurisdictions. If we effect such a Business Combination, we could be subject to
significant income, withholding and other tax obligations in a number of jurisdictions with respect to income, operations and
subsidiaries related to those jurisdictions. Due to the complexity of tax obligations and filings in other jurisdictions, we may
have a heightened risk related to audits or examinations by U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. taxing authorities. This additional
complexity and risk could have an adverse effect on our after-tax profitability and financial condition.
25
Risks
Relating to Our Management Team
We
are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our
operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors.
We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our
initial business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount
of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities,
including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. In particular, certain of our
officers and directors serve as an officer or director of CM Life Sciences II Inc. (Nasdaq: CMII) and CM Life Sciences III Inc.,
which are both blank check companies sponsored by an affiliate of Casdin Capital and Corvex Management. We do not have an employment
agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the
services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our
ability to successfully effect our initial Business Combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts
of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial Business Combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively
impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our
ability to successfully effect our initial Business Combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of
our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain
with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that
some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals
we engage after our initial Business Combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to
be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could
cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our
key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular Business
Combination, and a particular Business Combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These
agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause
them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular Business Combination is the most advantageous.
Our
key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial Business Combination only if they are
able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the Business Combination. Such negotiations would take
place simultaneously with the negotiation of the Business Combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation
in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the Business Combination.
Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal
and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject
to their fiduciary duties under Delaware law.
Our
executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination
as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete
our initial Business Combination.
Our
executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in
a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a Business Combination and their other
businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial Business Combination.
Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation,
and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent
directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. In particular, certain of our officers and directors serve
as an officer or director of CM Life Sciences II Inc. (Nasdaq: CMII) and CM Life Sciences III Inc., which are both blank check
companies sponsored by an affiliate of Casdin Capital and Corvex Management. If our executive officers’ and directors’
other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment
levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete
our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ other business
affairs, please see “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.”
26
Our
officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations
to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity
should be presented.
Following
the completion of the Initial Public Offering and until we consummate our initial Business Combination, we intend to engage in
the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. 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 pursuant to which such officer
or director is or will be required to present a Business Combination opportunity to such entity (including, without limitation,
CM Life Sciences II Inc. and CM Life Sciences III Inc.). Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which
entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential
target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our second amended and restated certificate
of incorporation will provide 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 the company and
such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue,
and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
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 ventures (including, without limitation, CM Life Sciences II Inc. and CM Life Sciences III Inc.)
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.
For
a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts
of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance —
Conflicts of Interest.”
Our
executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that
conflict with our interests.
We
have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having
a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction
to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a Business Combination with a target business that is
affiliated with our Sponsor, our directors or executive officers. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons
from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities
may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The
personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting
a target business and completing a Business Combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in
identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms,
conditions and timing of a particular Business Combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest. If this
were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Delaware law and we or our stockholders might
have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our stockholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful
in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
We
may engage in a Business Combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated
with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In
light of the involvement of our Sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or
more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors and officers also
serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Item 10. Directors,
Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for Business
Combination opportunities. We would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for
a business combination and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite
our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal
firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a Business Combination with one or more domestic
or international businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts
of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the Business Combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders
as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
27
Since
our Sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial Business Combination is not
completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after the Initial Public Offering), a conflict
of interest may arise in determining whether a particular Business Combination target is appropriate for our initial Business
Combination.
On
July 16, 2020, our Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration
of 10,062,500 Founder Shares. In August 2020, our Sponsor transferred 25,000 Founder Shares to each of Mr. Islam, Dr. Leproust
and Mr. Turner. On September 1, 2020, we effected a 1:1.1 stock split of our Class B Common Stock, resulting in our
Sponsor holding an aggregate of 10,993,750 Founder Shares and there being an aggregate of 11,068,750 Founder Shares outstanding.
The Founder Shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial Business Combination. In addition, our Sponsor and certain
of our independent director nominees have purchases an aggregate of 7,236,667 warrants, each exercisable for one share of Class
A Common Stock at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $10,855,000, or $1.50 per warrant, that will also be worthless
if we do not complete our initial Business Combination. The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors
may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target Business Combination, completing an initial Business Combination
and influencing the operation of the business following the initial Business Combination. This risk may become more acute as the
24-month anniversary of the closing of the Initial Public Offering nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an
initial Business Combination.
Provisions
in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits
against our directors and officers.
Our
second amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative
forum, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach
of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting
a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our second amended and
restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers
or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware,
except any claim (A) as to which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable
party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction
of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction
of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter
jurisdiction, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall have concurrent
jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented
to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased
consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision
is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our
directors and officers, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws
and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Notwithstanding
the foregoing, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the exclusive forum provision will
not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal
courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits
brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.
Additionally,
unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal courts shall be the exclusive forum for the
resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act against us or any of our directors, officers,
other employees or agents. Section 22 of the Securities Act, however, created concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state
courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.
Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provisions, and the enforceability of similar choice
of forum provisions in other companies’ charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. While the Delaware courts
have determined that such exclusive forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim
in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions, and there can be no assurance that such provisions will
be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in our
securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to these provisions; however, we note that investors cannot waive compliance
with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
28
Although
we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits
to which it applies, the provision may limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes
with us and may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
Provisions
in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit
the price investors might be willing to pay for our shares of Class A Common Stock and could entrench management.
Our
second amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals
that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the
ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock, which may make more difficult
the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market
prices for our securities.
We
are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together
these provisions may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve
payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
We
may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our officers and directors.
We
have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors
have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek
recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied
by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial Business Combination.
Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers
or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative
litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders.
Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage
awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
Risks
Relating to the Post-Business Combination Company
Subsequent
to our completion of our initial Business Combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring
and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations
and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even
if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will
identify all material issues that may be present with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material
issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control
will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure
our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully
identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with
our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity,
the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In
addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of
assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the
initial Business Combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders
or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders
or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the
reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they
are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable,
relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
29
We
may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial
Business Combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a
public company.
When
evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial Business Combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess
the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities
of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications
or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary
to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted.
Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders or warrant holders following the business combination
could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy
for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers
or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim
under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination
contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
The
officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial Business Combination. The loss of
a Business Combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination
business.
The
role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained
at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated
with the acquisition candidate following our initial Business Combination, it is possible that members of the management of an
acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Our
management may not maintain control of a target business after our initial Business Combination. We cannot provide assurance that,
upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably
operate such business.
We
may structure our initial Business Combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own
shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such Business
Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target
or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company
under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company
owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders 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 of Class A Common
Stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the
target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of Class A Common Stock, our stockholders
immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A Common Stock subsequent to
such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person
or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more
likely that our management will not maintain control of the target business.
General
Risk Factors
We
are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to
achieve our business objective.
We
are a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware with no operating results. Because we lack an operating
history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial Business
Combination. We have entered into the Merger Agreement, but we may be unable to complete the proposed Sema4 Business Combination.
If we fail to complete our initial Business Combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
30
We
are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage
of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this
could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public
companies.
We
are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may
take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are
not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls 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 nonbinding advisory vote on executive
compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders
may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years,
although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A Common Stock held
by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging
growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because
we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions,
the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for
our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further,
Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial
accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared
effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised
financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and
comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable.
We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it
has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised
standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements
with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of
using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
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 the fiscal year in which (1) the market
value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30 th ,
and (2) our annual revenues equal or exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year or the market value of our
common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30 th . To the extent
we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public
companies difficult or impossible.
Cyber
incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial
loss.
We
depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those
of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure,
or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary
information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection,
we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against,
or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination
of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
31
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 2. Properties.
We
do not own any real estate or other physical properties material to our operation. We currently maintain our executive offices
at 667 Madison Avenue, 2 nd Floor, New York, New York 10065. We consider our current office space adequate
for our current operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
We
are not currently subject to any material legal proceedings, nor, to our knowledge, is any material legal proceeding threatened
against us or any of our officers or directors in their corporate capacity.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
None.
32
PART
II.
Item 5.
Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market
Information
Our
Units began trading on Nasdaq on September 2, 2020. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A Common Stock and one-third
of one redeemable warrant to purchase one share of Class A Common Stock. On October 23, 2020, we announced that holders of
the Units may elect to separately trade the Class A Common Stock and redeemable warrants included in the Units commencing
on October 26, 2020. The Units not separated continue to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “CMLFU.” Any underlying
Class A Common Stock and redeemable warrants that were separated trade on Nasdaq under the symbols “CMLF” and “CMLFW,”
respectively.
Holders
As of March 22, 2021, there was approximately
1 holder of record of our Units, approximately 1 holder of record of our separately traded Class A Common Stock, and approximately
4 holders of record of our redeemable warrants. The number of record holders was determined from the records of our transfer agent
and does not include beneficial owners whose securities are held in the names of various security brokers, dealers, and registered
clearing agencies.
Dividends
We
have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of
our initial Business Combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings,
if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial Business Combination. The
payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial Business Combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors
at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any dividends
in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial Business Combination, our ability
to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Securities
Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
Performance
Graph
The
performance graph has been omitted as permitted under rules applicable to smaller reporting companies.
Recent
Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
Unregistered
Sales
On
July 16, 2020, our Sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain expenses on behalf
of the Company in exchange for issuance of 10,062,500 Founder Shares. In August 2020, our Sponsor transferred 25,000 Founder Shares
to each of the following directors: Mr. Islam, Dr. Leproust and Mr. Turner. On September 1, 2020, we effected a 1:1.1 stock split
of our Class B Common Stock, resulting in our Sponsor holding an aggregate of 10,993,750 Founder Shares and there being an aggregate
of 11,068,750 Founder Shares outstanding. The Sponsor agreed to forfeit up to an aggregate of 1,443,750 Founder Shares, on a pro
rata basis, to the extent that the option to purchase additional units is not exercised in full by the underwriters, so that the
Founder Shares would represent 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. The
underwriters fully exercised their over-allotment option on September 2, 2020; thus, those Founder Shares were no longer subject
to forfeiture.
Our
Sponsor and certain of our independent directors purchased an aggregate of 7,236,667 Private Placement Warrants, each exercisable
to purchase one share of Class A Common Stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.50 per warrant, generating gross proceeds
of $10,855,000, in a private placement that closed substantially concurrently with the closing of the Initial Public Offering.
This issuance was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
No
underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.
33
Use
of Proceeds
On
September 4, 2020, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 44,275,000 Units, including the issuance of 5,775,000
Over-Allotment Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $442.75 million. Jefferies LLC acted as the underwriter
for the Initial Public Offering. The securities sold in the Initial Public Offering were registered under the Securities Act on
registration statements on Form S-1 (Nos. 333-246251 and 333-248541). The registration statements became effective on September
1, 2020.
Substantially
concurrently with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the Private Placement of 7,236,667 Private
Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant to the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately
$10.86 million.
In
connection with the Initial Public Offering, we incurred offering costs of approximately $25.3 million (including deferred
underwriting commissions of approximately $15.5 million). After deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions (excluding
the deferred portion, which amount will be payable upon consummation of the initial Business Combination, if consummated) and
the Initial Public Offering expenses, $442.75 million of the net proceeds from our Initial Public Offering and
certain of the proceeds from the private placement of the Private Placement Warrants (or $10.00 per Unit sold in the Initial Public
Offering) was placed in the Trust Account. The net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain proceeds from the sale
of the Private Placement Warrants are held in the Trust Account and invested as described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
There
has been no material change in the planned use of the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement as is described
in the Company’s final prospectus related to the Initial Public Offering. For a description of the use of the proceeds generated
from the Initial Public Offering, see “Item 1. Business.”
Item 6.
Selected Financial Data.
Selected
financial data has been omitted as permitted under rules applicable to smaller reporting companies.
Item 7.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
References
to the “Company,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to CM Life Sciences, Inc. The following
discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with
the audited financial statements and the notes related thereto which are included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary
Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes
forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements
as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Risk
Factor Summary,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as those
that will be set forth in our preliminary prospectus/proxy statement to be included in a Registration Statement on Form S-4 that
we will file with the SEC relating to the proposed Sema4 Business Combination.
Overview
We
are a blank check company incorporated on July 10, 2020 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 target
businesses. We intend to effectuate our Business Combination using cash from the proceeds of our Initial Public Offering, the
sale of the Private Placement Warrants that occurred simultaneously with the completion of our Initial Public Offering and the
sale of the Forward Purchase Shares, shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners
of the target or others, or a combination of the foregoing.
We
expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to
complete a Business Combination will be successful.
34
Results
of Operations
We
have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities through December 31, 2020 were
organizational activities, the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, described below, and seeking to identify a target
company for our initial Business Combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of
our initial Business Combination. We generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held
in the Trust Account. We will incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting
and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses in connection with completing our initial Business Combination.
For
the period from July 10, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had a net loss of $192,244, which consists of operating
costs of $206,195, offset by interest income on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $13,951.
Liquidity
and Capital Resources
On
September 4, 2020, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 44,275,000 Units, which included the full exercise by the underwriters
of the over-allotment option to purchase an additional 5,775,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $442,750,000.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the sale of 7,236,667 Private Placement Warrants
to our Sponsor at a price of $1.50 per warrant, generating gross proceeds of $10,855,000.
Following
the Initial Public Offering, the exercise of the over-allotment option and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, a total
of $442,750,000 was placed in the Trust Account. We incurred $24,895,463 in transaction costs, including $8,855,000 of underwriting
fees, $15,496,250 of deferred underwriting fees and $544,213 of other offering costs.
For
the period from July 10, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, cash used in operating activities was $386,106. Net loss
of $192,244 was affected by interest earned on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $13,951 and changes in operating
assets and liabilities, which used $179,911 of cash from operating activities.
As
of December 31, 2020, we had cash and marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $442,763,951. We intend to use substantially
all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account (less taxes
payable and deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial Business Combination. To the extent that our capital stock
or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial Business Combination, the remaining proceeds held
in the Trust Account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other
acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies. During the period ended December 31, 2020, we did not withdraw any interest income
from the Trust Account.
As
of December 31, 2020, we had $1,094,681 of cash held outside of the Trust Account. We intend to use the funds held outside the
Trust Account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses,
travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners,
review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a Business
Combination.
In
order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with our initial Business Combination, our
Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as
may be required. If we complete a Business Combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that a Business Combination
does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts but no
proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants
identical to the Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender.
We
do not believe we will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However,
if our estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a Business Combination
are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to
our Business Combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial Business Combination
or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our Public Shares upon consummation of our initial Business Combination,
in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Business Combination. Subject to compliance
with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial Business
Combination. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to
us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the Trust Account. In addition, following our initial Business Combination,
if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
35
Sema4
Business Combination Announcement
On
February 10, 2021, the Company announced that it executed an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”)
with Mount Sinai Genomics, Inc., a Delaware corporation, d/b/a Sema4 (“Sema4”) and the other parties thereto (the
transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, including the Merger (as defined below), the “Sema4 Business Combination”).
Specifically, the Company entered into the Merger Agreement with Sema4 and S-IV Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a direct,
wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub”). Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, CMLS will acquire
Sema4 through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Sema4, with Sema4 surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CMLS (the “Merger”)
The
Sema4 Business Combination is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, following the receipt of the required approval
by CMLS’s stockholders and the satisfaction of certain other customary closing conditions.
At
the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”), each share of Sema4 class B common stock, par value $0.00001
per share (“Sema4 Class B Common Stock”) issued and outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time will
be converted into 1/100th of a share of Sema4 class A common stock, par value $0.00001 per share (“Sema4 Class A Common
Stock”, together with Sema4 Class B Common Stock, “Sema4 Common Stock”) in accordance with Sema4’s organizational
documents.
Immediately
thereafter, each share of Sema4 Common Stock and Sema4’s series A-1 preferred stock, series A-2 preferred stock, series
B preferred stock and series C preferred stock (collectively, “Sema4 Capital Stock”) issued and outstanding immediately
prior to the Effective Time (other than Excluded Shares and Dissenting Shares (each as defined in the Merger Agreement)) will
be converted into the right to receive a portion of the total closing merger consideration, with each Sema4 stockholder being
entitled to receive the following:
(a) if
such stockholder has made a cash election as set forth and in accordance with the terms
of the Merger Agreement, a portion of the specified aggregate amount of cash consideration
payable under the terms of the Merger Agreement (such aggregate amount not to exceed
$343,000,000) and pursuant to the terms of such stockholder’s cash election; and
(b) a
number of shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of CMLS (the “Common
Stock”) equal to the quotient of: (i) (A) the product of (x) such stockholder’s
total shares of Sema4 Capital Stock multiplied by (y) the per share amount calculated
in accordance with the Merger Agreement minus (B) the amount of cash
payable to such stockholder pursuant to its cash election, if any, divided by (ii) $10.
In
addition, at the Effective Time, each outstanding option to purchase Sema4 Capital Stock, each outstanding and unsettled restricted
stock unit in respect of shares of Sema4 Capital Stock and each outstanding stock appreciation right will be rolled over into
options to purchase Common Stock, restricted stock units in respect of Common Stock and stock appreciation rights in respect of
Common Stock, all as further set forth in and in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement.
In
addition to the payment of cash, issuance of Common Stock and rollover of other Sema4 equity awards described above as of the
Effective Time, in the event that the closing sale price of Common Stock exceeds certain price thresholds for 20 out of any 30
consecutive trading days during the period of time commencing upon the expiration of the lock-up period applicable to the Sponsor
under the Letter Agreement, dated as of August 27, 2021, by and among the Company, Sponsor and each of the executive officers
and directors of the Company and ending on the second anniversary of the closing of the Merger, an additional number of shares
equal to an amount up to an aggregate of 11% of the shares of Common Stock that would have been issuable upon closing of the Merger
to the stockholders of the Company if no cash elections were made and the closing cash payment amount under the Merger Agreement
was $0.00 (the “Earn-Out Shares”) shall become issuable, in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement following
the achievement of those certain price thresholds, to the stockholders of Sema4 as of immediately prior to the closing of the
Merger; provided that the board of directors of Sema4 (or a duly authorized committee thereof) may, prior to the closing
of the Merger, allocate a portion of such Earn-Out Shares to be issued to service providers of Sema4 in the form of restricted
stock units of the Company.
36
Off-Balance
Sheet Financing Arrangements
We
have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2020.
We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often
referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet
arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities,
guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets.
Contractual
Obligations
We
do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than as
described below.
The
underwriters are entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $15,496,250 in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable
to the underwriter from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination,
subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
In
addition, we entered into separate forward purchase agreements with affiliates of the Sponsor, Casdin and Corvex, in their capacities
as investment advisors on behalf of one or more investment funds, clients or accounts managed by the Clients, pursuant to which,
subject to the conditions described below, they will cause the Clients to purchase from us up to an aggregate amount of 15,000,000
Forward Purchase Shares, for $10.00 per Forward Purchase Share, or an aggregate amount of up to $150,000,000, in a private placement
that will close concurrently with the closing of a Business Combination. The amount of Forward Purchase Shares sold pursuant to
the forward purchase agreements will be determined at our discretion based on our needs for additional capital to consummate a
Business Combination. Under each forward purchase agreement, we are required to approach Casdin and Corvex if it proposes to raise
additional capital by issuing any equity, or securities convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for equity securities in
connection with a Business Combination. The respective obligations of Casdin and Corvex to purchase Forward Purchase Shares will,
among other things, be conditioned on us completing a Business Combination with a company engaged in a business that is within
the investment objectives of the Clients purchasing Forward Purchase Shares and on the Business Combination (including the target
assets or business, and the terms of the Business Combination) being reasonably acceptable to such Clients as determined by Casdin
or Corvex, as relevant, as investment advisors on behalf of such Clients. Each of Casdin and Corvex will have the right to transfer
a portion of its purchase obligation under the forward purchase agreement to third parties, or upon mutual agreement to each other,
subject to compliance with applicable securities laws. To the extent that we obtain alternative financing to fund the initial
Business Combination and the Clients participate in such financing, the aggregate commitment under the forward purchase agreement
will be reduced by the amount of such alternative financing.
Critical
Accounting Policies
The
preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the
United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and
liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and income and expenses
during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have identified the following critical
accounting policies:
Class
A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
We
account for our Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification
(“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A Common stock subject to mandatory
redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including
common stock that features redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the
occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock
is classified as stockholders’ equity. Our common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside
of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption
is presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of our balance sheet.
37
Net
Income (Loss) Per Common Share
We
apply the two-class method in calculating earnings per share. Net income per common share, basic and diluted for Class A
redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the interest income earned on the Trust Account, net of applicable franchise
and income taxes, by the weighted average number of Class A redeemable common stock outstanding for the period. Net loss
per common share, basic and diluted for Class B non-redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the net income, less
income attributable to Class A redeemable common stock, by the weighted average number of Class B non-redeemable common
stock outstanding for the period presented.
Recent
Accounting Standards
Management
does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material
effect on our financial statements.
JOBS
Act
The
Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain
reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under
the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not
publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we
may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required
for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new
or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally,
we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act.
Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on
such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an independent registered public accounting firm’s
attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the
compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation
or a supplement to the independent registered public accounting firm’s report providing additional information about the
audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis), and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related
items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to
median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of the Initial Public
Offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever earlier.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk.
As
of December 31, 2020, we were not subject to any market or interest rate risk. The net proceeds received into the Trust Account,
have been invested in U.S. government treasury bills, notes or bonds with a maturity of 185 days or less or in certain money market
funds that invest solely in US treasuries. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated
material exposure to interest rate risk.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
This
information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is included herein by reference.
Item 9.
Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
38
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation
of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure
controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our
reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this Report, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period
specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information
is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate
to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management evaluated, with the participation of our current chief
executive officer and chief financial officer (our “Certifying Officers”), the effectiveness of our disclosure controls
and procedures as of December 31, 2020, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, our Certifying
Officers concluded that, as of December 31, 2020, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.
We
do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors and all instances of fraud. Disclosure controls
and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives
of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the
fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent
limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute
assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls
and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance
that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
Management’s
Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
This
Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial
reporting or an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established
by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
Changes
in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There
were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of
the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially
affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information.
None.
39
PART
III.
Item 10.
Directors, Executive Officer and Corporate Governance.
Our
current directors and executive officer are as follows:
Name
Age
Title
Eli
D. Casdin
47
Chief
Executive Officer and Director
Keith
A. Meister
47
Chairman
Brian
Emes
38
Chief
Financial Officer and Secretary
Shaun
Rodriguez
43
Chief
Strategy Officer
Sean
George
47
Director
Munib
Islam
47
Director
Emily
Leproust
48
Director
Nat
Turner
35
Director
Eli
Casdin has been our Chief Executive Officer since July 2020. He founded Casdin Capital, LLC, an investment firm focused
on the life sciences and healthcare industry, in November 2011 and currently serves as its Chief Investment Officer. Since December
2020 and January 2021, Mr. Casdin has also served as Chief Executive Officer and a director of CM Life Sciences II Inc. (Nasdaq:
CMII) and CM Life Sciences III Inc., respectively, both blank check companies. Mr. Casdin previously served on the board
of directors of Exact Sciences Corp. (Nasdaq: EXAS). Mr. Casdin holds a B.S. degree from Columbia University School of General
Studies and an MBA from Columbia Business School. His qualifications to serve on our board of directors include his extensive
leadership experience as an executive officer of an investment firm, his extensive public and private company directorship experience
in the life sciences and healthcare sectors, and his expertise in finance, capital markets, and the biotechnology industry.
Keith
Meister has been Chairman of our board of directors since July 2020. He founded Corvex Management LP, a New York
based investment manager, in December 2010 and since its inception has served as its Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer.
From 2003 to 2010, Mr. Meister served as Chief Executive Officer and then Principal Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of
the Board of Icahn Enterprises L.P. (Nasdaq: IEP), the primary investment vehicle for Carl Icahn. Mr. Meister currently serves
as Chairman of CM Life Sciences II Inc. (Nasdaq: CMII) and CM Life Sciences III Inc., since December 2020 and January 2021, respectively.
Mr. Meister also serves on the Board of Directors of MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM), a global hospitality and entertainment
company, and its affiliate Roar Digital. Mr. Meister has previously served on the Board of Directors of numerous other public
companies in his career, including Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM), The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE: WMB), ADT, Inc. (NYSE: ADT),
Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. and Motorola, Inc. (now Motorola Solutions, Inc., NYSE: MSI/Motorola Mobility, Inc.). He is Chairman of
the board of the Harlem Children’s Zone and also serves on the board of trustees of the American Museum of Natural History.
Mr. Meister holds a B.A. degree in government from Harvard College where he graduated cum laude. His qualifications to serve
on our board of directors include his extensive leadership experience as managing partner and executive officer of an investment
firm and a diversified holding company, his extensive public company directorship experience in a variety of industries, and his
expertise in finance, capital markets, strategic development, and risk management.
Brian
Emes has been our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary since July 2020. Mr. Emes is also the Chief Financial
Officer of Corvex Management LP, a New York based investment manager, which he joined in January 2013. Since December 2020 and
January 2021, Mr. Emes has also served as Chief Financial Officer of CM Life Sciences II Inc. (Nasdaq: CMII) and CM Life Sciences
III Inc., respectively. Mr. Emes holds a B.S. degree in finance and marketing from Elon University’s Martha & Spencer
Love School of Business, and is a licensed certified public accountant.
Shaun
Rodriguez has been our Chief Strategy Officer since July 2020. Mr. Rodriguez joined Casdin Capital, LLC, an
investment firm focused on the life sciences and healthcare industry, in July 2015 as a Senior Research Analyst and currently
serves as its Director of Life Science Research. His coverage universe at Casdin Capital, LLC focuses on life science tools, diagnostics,
health technology and services, and industrial applications of biotechnology. Since December 2020 and January 2021, Mr. Rodriguez
has also served as Chief Financial Officer of CM Life Sciences II Inc. (Nasdaq: CMII) and CM Life Sciences III Inc., respectively.
From February 2011 to July 2015, Mr. Rodriguez served as Director and Senior Research Analyst in the healthcare equity research
group of Cowen Inc. (Nasdaq: COWN), an investment bank and financial services company. Mr. Rodriguez holds a Ph.D. in biological
sciences from Harvard University.
40
Sean
George has served as a director since completion of the Initial Public Offering in September 2020. Dr. George has
been Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Invitae Corporation (NYSE: NVTA) since January 2017 and a director since
2010. He also served as Invitae’s President and Chief Operating Officer from August 2012 to January 2017 and as Chief Executive
from January 2010 to August 2012. Prior to Invitae, he served as COO at Navigenics, Inc. an early pioneer in personalized genetics
from 2007 to November 2009. Before joining Navigenics, Dr. George served in a variety of product, operating and commercial roles
at Affymetrix, Inc., Invitrogen Corporation and Molecular Probes, Inc. Dr. George holds a B.S. in Molecular Genetics from UCLA,
an M.S. in Molecular Biology from UC Santa Barbara, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from UC Santa Cruz. His qualifications to
serve on our board of directors include his extensive experience in the life sciences sector and his leadership experience guiding
an early stage company from startup to market leader.
Munib
Islam has served as a director since completion of the Initial Public Offering in September 2020. Mr. Islam
served as Co-Chief Investment Officer and a Partner at Third Point LLC, an investment management firm, from July 2019 through
2020. Prior to becoming co-Chief Investment Officer, he served as Head of Equities at Third Point from 2011 to July 2019,
where he spearheaded research on Third Point’s strategic block investments globally. From 2008 to 2011, Mr. Islam worked
at Highbridge Capital, an investment management firm, where he was a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of Highbridge’s
European Value Equities fund. Mr. Islam previously served on the Board and Executive Selection and Audit Committees of Baxter
International, Inc. (NYSE: BAX) from 2015 to 2019, and he currently sits on the Boards of the Stanford Business School Trust and
the Brearley School in New York City. Mr. Islam holds a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College, where he graduated magna
cum laude, and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. His qualifications to serve on our board of
directors include his significant experience in governance, evaluation of investment opportunities, capital allocation, investment
management and financial research.
Emily
Leproust , has served as a director since completion of the Initial Public Offering in September 2020. Dr. Leproust has
been President and Chief Executive Officer of Twist Bioscience Corp. (Nasdaq: TWST) since co-founding Twist in 2013. Since
October 2018, she has also served as Chair of the board of directors for Twist. Prior to Twist, Dr. Leproust served in various
positions at Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A), most recently as its Director, Applications and Chemistry R&D from February
2009 to April 2013. Dr. Leproust holds a M.Sc. in Industrial Chemistry from the Lyon School of Industrial Chemistry and a Ph.D.
in Organic Chemistry from the University of Houston. Her qualifications to serve on our board of directors include her extensive
professional and educational experience in the life sciences industry.
Nat
Turner has served as a director since completion of the Initial Public Offering in September 2020. Mr. Turner
has been the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flatiron Health, Inc., a healthcare technology company focusing on
accelerating oncology research and improving patient care acquired by Roche Holding AG, since June 2012. Previously, Mr. Turner
co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of Invite Media, Inc., an advertising technology company, from March 2007
until it was acquired by Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL) in June 2010, after which he remained at Google until June 2012. Mr. Turner
received a B.S., cum laude, in Economics with concentrations in entrepreneurship and marketing from The Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania. His qualifications to serve on our board of directors include his significant experience in the life
sciences industry, both as an executive and as an angel investor.
Number,
Terms of Office and Election of Officers and Director
Our
board of directors consists of six members divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year,
and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year
term. In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year
after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting
of Dr. George and Dr. Leproust, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class
of directors, consisting of Mr. Islam and Mr. Turner, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office
of the third class of directors, consisting of Mr. Casdin and Mr. Meister, will expire at the third annual meeting of stockholders.
Our
officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific
terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our second amended
and restated certificate of incorporation.
41
Committees
of the Board of Directors
Our
board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate
governance committee. Each of our audit committee, compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee are
composed solely of independent directors. Each committee operates under a charter that was approved by our board of directors
and has the composition and responsibilities described below. We have filed a copy of each committee charter as an exhibit to
this Annual Report.
Audit
Committee
The
members of our audit committee are Dr. George, Mr. Islam and Dr. Leproust. Mr. Islam serves as chairman of the audit committee.
Each
member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mr. Islam qualifies as an
“audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management
expertise.
We
have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:
● assisting
board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance
with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting
firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal
audit function and independent registered public accounting firm; the appointment, compensation,
retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public
accounting firm and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by
us;
● pre-approving all
audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public
accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing
pre-approval policies and procedures; reviewing and discussing with the independent
registered public accounting firm all relationships the independent registered public
accounting firm have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence;
● setting
clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered
public accounting firm describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm’s
internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most
recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by
any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the
preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm
and any steps taken to deal with such issues;
● meeting
to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial
statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, including
reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis
of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; reviewing and approving any
related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation
S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and
● reviewing
with management, the independent, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal,
regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government
agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues
regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes
in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board,
the SEC or other regulatory authorities.
Compensation
Committee
The
members of our compensation committee are Mr. Islam, Dr. Leproust and Mr. Turner. Dr. Leproust serves as chair of the compensation
committee.
42
We
have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
● reviewing
and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief
Executive Officer’s compensation (if any) evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s
performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration
(if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation;
● reviewing
and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation,
and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval
of all of our other officers;
● reviewing
our executive compensation policies and plans;
● implementing
and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;
● assisting
management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;
● approving
all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit
arrangements for our officers and employees;
● producing
a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and
● reviewing,
evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.
Notwithstanding
the foregoing, as indicated above, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid
to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services
they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial Business Combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to
the consummation of an initial Business Combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation
of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial Business Combination.
The
charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation
consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and
oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external
legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including
the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.
Nominating
and Corporate Governance Committee
The
members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Dr. George, Mr. Islam and Mr. Meister. Dr. George serves as chair
of the nominating and corporate governance committee.
We
have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the principal functions of the nominating
and corporate governance committee, including:
● screening
and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved
by the board, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for
election at the annual meeting of stockholders or to fill vacancies on the board of directors;
● developing
and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate
governance guidelines;
43
● coordinating
and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees,
individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and
● reviewing
on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as
and when necessary.
The
charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the
advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and is directly responsible for approving
the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We
have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors
to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background,
diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and
the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders. Prior to our initial Business Combination, holders of our Public
Shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Code
of Ethics
We
have adopted a code of ethics and business conduct (our “Code of Ethics”) applicable to our directors, officers and
employees. We have filed a copy of our Code of Ethics as an exhibit to this Annual Report. You are able to review these documents
by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be
provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our
Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Conflicts
of Interest
In
general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present
business opportunities to a corporation if:
● the
corporation could financially undertake the opportunity;
● the
opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and
● it
would not be fair to our company and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation.
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 entity. Our second 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 the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable
for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another
legal obligation. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors
will materially affect our ability to complete our initial Business Combination.
44
Below
is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual
obligations to another entity (excluding non-profit and educational organizations with no connection to the life sciences
sector):
Individual
Entity
Entity’s
Business
Affiliation
Eli Casdin
AbSci
Biotechnology
Director
C2i Genomics
Biotechnology
Director
Casdin Capital,
LLC (1)
Investment manager
Chief Investment
Officer
Cedilla Therapeutics,
Inc.
Biotechnology
Director
CM Life Sciences
II Inc.
Blank check company
Chief Executive
Officer and Director
CM Life Sciences
III Inc.
Blank check company
Chief Executive
Officer and Director
DNA Script
Biotechnology
Director
EQRx, Inc.
Biotechnology
Director
GeneMatters, LLC
Biotechnology
Director
Genomatica, Inc.
Biotechnology
Director
New York Genome
Center
Biotechnology
Director
Prominex Inc.
Biotechnology
Director
Sexton Biotechnologies
Biotechnology
Director
Somalogic Inc
Biotechnology
Director
Tenaya Therapeutics,
Inc.
Biotechnology
Director
Verana Health
Biotechnology
Director
Vineti
Biotechnology
Director
Keith Meister
Corvex Management
LP (1)
Investment manager
Managing Partner
and Chief Investment Officer
CM Life Sciences
II Inc.
Blank check company
Chairman
CM Life Sciences
III Inc.
Blank check company
Chairman
MGM Resorts International
Hospitality and
entertainment
Director
Roar Digital, LLC
Sports betting and
online gaming
Director
Brian Emes
Corvex Management
LP (1)
Investment manager
Chief Financial
Officer
CM Life Sciences
II Inc.
Blank check company
Chief Financial
Officer and Secretary
CM Life Sciences
III Inc.
Blank check company
Chief Financial
Officer and Secretary
Shaun
Rodriguez
C2i Genomics
Biotechnology
Director
Casdin Capital,
LLC (1)
Investment manager
Director of Life
Science Research
CM Life Sciences
II Inc.
Blank check company
Chief Strategy Officer
CM Life Sciences
III Inc.
Blank check company
Chief Strategy Officer
GeneMatters, LLC
Biotechnology
Director
Invetx
Biotechnology
Director
Ivexsol
Biotechnology
Director
Prominex Inc.
Biotechnology
Director
Sean George
Invitae Corporation
Biotechnology
President, Chief
Executive Officer and Director
Emily Leproust
Twist Bioscience
Corp.
Biotechnology
President, Chief
Executive Officer and Chair of the Board
Nat Turner
Flatiron Health,
Inc.
Biotechnology
Chief Executive
Officer and Director
Clover Health, Inc.
Biotechnology
Director
Zenreach, Inc.
Biotechnology
Director
(1) Including
with respect to one or more investment funds, clients or accounts for which such entity acts as investment advisor.
45
Potential
investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
● Our
executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full
time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time
between our operations and our search for a Business Combination and their other businesses.
We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our
initial Business Combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other
business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our
executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week
to our affairs.
● Our
initial stockholders purchased Founder Shares prior to the Initial Public Offering and
will purchase Private Placement Warrants in a transaction that will close simultaneously
with the closing of the Initial Public Offering. Our initial stockholders have entered
into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption
rights with respect to their Founder Shares and any Public Shares they hold in connection
with the completion of our initial Business Combination. The other members of our management
team have entered into agreements similar to the one entered into by our initial stockholders
with respect to any Public Shares acquired by them in or after the Initial Public Offering.
Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating
distributions from the Trust Account with respect to their Founder Shares if we fail
to complete our initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame or during
any Extension Period. If we do not complete our initial Business Combination within the
prescribed time frame, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore,
our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder
Shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial
Business Combination and (ii) the date following the completion of our initial Business
Combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other
similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange
their common stock for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
if the closing price of our Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as
adjusted for stock splits, stock capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations
and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing
at least 150 days after our initial Business Combination, the Founder Shares will be
released from the lockup. Subject to certain limited exceptions, the Private Placement
Warrants will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial
Business Combination. Because each of our executive officers and director nominees will
own common stock or warrants directly or indirectly, they 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.
● Our
officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular
Business Combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors
was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our
initial Business Combination.
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 completing the Business Combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership
with our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial Business Combination with an Business Combination
target that is affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would
obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm, 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. Furthermore, in no event will our Sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any of their
respective affiliates, be paid by the company any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any
services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial Business Combination.
We
cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
In
the event that we submit our initial Business Combination to our Public Stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders have
agreed to vote their Founder Shares, and they and the other members of our management team have agreed to vote any Founder Shares
they hold and any shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial Business Combination.
46
Item 11.
Executive Compensation.
In
August 2020, our Sponsor transferred 25,000 Founder Shares to each of Mr. Islam, Dr. Leproust and Mr. Turner. None of
our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Our Sponsor, executive officers
and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection
with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable Business
Combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our Sponsor, executive officers
or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial Business Combination will be made from funds held
outside the Trust Account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional
controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses
incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial Business Combination.
Other than these reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the
company to our Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial
Business Combination.
After
the completion of our initial Business Combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid
consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent
then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed
Business Combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to
our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed
Business Combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive
officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive officers will be determined, or recommended to
the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by
a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We
do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation
of our initial Business Combination, although it is possible that some or all of our executive officers and directors may negotiate
employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial Business Combination. The existence or terms of any
such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in
identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the
consummation of our initial Business Combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential Business
Combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination
of employment.
Item 12.
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The following table sets forth information
available to us at March 29, 2021 with respect to our common stock held by:
● each
person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares
of common stock;
● each
of our executive officers and directors; and
● all
our executive officers and directors as a group.
The following table is based on 44,275,000
shares of Class A Common Stock and 11,068,750 shares of Class B Common Stock outstanding as of March 29, 2021. Unless otherwise
indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of
common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the Private Placement
Warrants as these are not exercisable within 60 days of March 29, 2021.
47
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1)
Number
of Shares Beneficially
Owned (2)
Percentage
of Outstanding Common
Stock
CMLS Holdings, LLC (our Sponsor) (3)
10,993,750
19.9 %
Eli Casdin (3)
10,993,750
19.9 %
Keith Meister (3)
10,993,750
19.9 %
Brian Emes
—
—
Shaun Rodriguez
—
—
Sean George
—
—
Munib Islam
25,000
*
Emily Leproust
25,000
*
Nat Turner
25,000
*
Sachem Head Capital Management LP (4)
3,465,000
7.8 %
Magnetar Financial LLC (5)
2,898,231
6.5 %
BlueCrest Capital Management Limited (6)
2,500,000
5.6 %
Millennium Management LLC (7)
2,467,288
5.6 %
All directors, officers and director nominees as a group (8 individuals)
11,068,750
20.0 %
* Less
than one percent.
(1) Unless
otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Corvex Management LP, 667 Madison
Avenue, New York, New York 10065.
(2) Interests
shown consist of shares of Class A Common Stock and shares of Class B Common Stock. The Class B Common Stock will automatically
convert into Class A Common Stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial Business Combination
on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities”
in our prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) (File No. 333-246251). Excludes Class A Common Stock issuable
pursuant to the forward purchase agreements, as such shares will only be issued concurrently with the closing of our initial Business
Combination.
(3) The
Board of Managers of CMLS Holdings LLC is comprised of Mr. Casdin and Mr. Meister who share voting and investment discretion with
respect to the common stock held of record by CMLS Holdings LLC. C-LSH LLC and M-LSH LLC are the members of CMLS Holdings LLC,
and Mr. Casdin and Mr. Meister are the managing members of C-LSH LLC and M-LSH LLC, respectively. As such, each of the foregoing
may be deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of the Class B Common Stock held directly by CMLS Holdings LLC. Each of C-LSH
LLC, M-LSH LLC and Messrs. Casdin and Meister disclaims beneficial ownership of these shares except to the extent of its or his
respective pecuniary interest therein.
(4) According
to a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on September 11, 2020, each of Sachem Head Capital Management LP, Uncas GP LLC, Sachem Head
GP LLC and Scott D. Ferguson has shared voting and dispositive power with regard to 3,465,000 shares of Class A Common Stock of
the Company. The business address for each is 250 West 55th Street, 34th Floor, New York, New York 10019.
(5) According
to a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 12, 2021, each of Magnetar Financial LLC, Magnetar Capital Partners LP,
Supernova Management LLC and Alec N. Litowitz shares voting and dispositive power with regard to 2,898,231 shares of Class A Common
Stock of the Company. The business address for each is 1603 Orrington Avenue, 13 th Floor, Evanston, IL 60201.
(6) According
to a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on September 11, 2020, each of BlueCrest Management Limited and Michael Platt share voting
and dispositive power with regard to 2,500,000 shares of Class A Common Stock of the Company. The business address for each is
Ground Floor, Harbour Reach, La Rue de Carteret, St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, JE2 4HR.
(7) According
to Amendment No. 1 to Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on January 19, 2021, each of Millennium Management LLC, Millennium Group
Management LLC and Israel A. Englander share voting and dispositive power with regard to 2,632,318 shares of Class A Common Stock
of the Company. The business address for each is 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10103.
48
Our
initial stockholders beneficially own approximately 20% of the issued and outstanding common stock. Because of this ownership
block, our initial stockholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our
stockholders, including amendments to our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of significant
corporate transactions including our initial Business Combination.
We
have no compensation plans under which equity securities are authorized for issuance.
Item 13.
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
Founder
Shares
On
July 16, 2020, our Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain expenses on our behalf in consideration
of 10,062,500 Founder Shares. In August 2020, our Sponsor transferred 25,000 Founder Shares to each of Mr. Islam, Dr. Leproust
and Mr. Turner. On September 1, 2020, we effected a 1:1.1 stock split of our Class B Common Stock, resulting in our
Sponsor holding an aggregate of 10,993,750 Founder Shares and there being an aggregate of 11,068,750 Founder Shares outstanding.
The Sponsor agreed to forfeit up to an aggregate of 1,443,750 Founder Shares to the extent that the option to purchase additional
units was not exercised in full by the underwriters, so that the Founder Shares would represent 20% of the Company’s issued
and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. The underwriters fully exercised their over-allotment option on September
2, 2020; thus, those Founder Shares were no longer subject to forfeiture.
Our
initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A)
one year after the completion of our initial Business Combination and (B) subsequent to our initial Business Combination, (x)
if the closing price of our Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock capitalizations,
reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least
150 days after our initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital
stock exchange, or other similar transaction that results in all of our Public Stockholders having the right to exchange their
common stock for cash, securities or other property (except to certain permitted transferees). Any permitted transferees will
be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our Sponsor, directors and our management team with respect to any
Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and shares of Class A Common Stock issued upon conversion or exercise thereof.
Private
Placement Warrants
Substantially
concurrently with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the Private Placement of 7,236,667
Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $10,855,000.
Our Sponsor purchased 6,903,335 Private Placement Warrants and each of Mr. Islam and Dr. Leproust purchased 166,666 Private Placement
Warrants.
Each
Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one share of Class A Common Stock at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion
of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held
in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement
Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable for cash and exercisable on a cashless
basis, except under limited circumstances, so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
The
Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell
any of their Private Placement Warrants (including the Class A Common Stock issuance upon the exercise of the warrants) until
30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable (except
as described in Exhibit 4.5 to this Annual Report under the heading “Redemption of warrants when the price per share of
Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $10.00”) and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by their initial
purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by holders other than their initial purchasers
or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the
same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in the Initial Public Offering.
If
we do not complete an Initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during
any Extension Period, the proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be used to fund the redemption of our Public
Shares, subject to the requirements of applicable law, and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.
49
Registration
Rights
The
holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants, any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital
Loans (and any Class A Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants or warrants issued upon
conversion of the Working Capital Loans and upon conversion of the Founder Shares) and any Forward Purchase Shares that may be
issued in a private placement concurrently with the initial Business Combination are entitled to registration rights pursuant
to a registration rights agreement. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short
form demands, that the Company registers such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration
rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the initial Business Combination. The Company
will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Related
Party Notes
On
July 16, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company up to $300,000 to be used for the payment of costs related to the Initial
Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Pre-IPO Note”). The Pre-IPO Note was non-interest bearing,
unsecured and due upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. The Company borrowed approximately $165,081 under the Pre-IPO
Note. The Company repaid the Note in full as of September 4, 2020.
In
addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an initial Business Combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate
of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required on a non-interest basis.
If we complete an initial Business Combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial Business Combination
does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts but no
proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants
of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical
to the Private Placement Warrants. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no
written agreements exist with respect to such loans. To date, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans. Prior
to the completion of our initial Business Combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our Sponsor or an
affiliate of our Sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any
and all rights to seek access to funds in our Trust Account.
Forward
Purchase Agreements
We
have entered into separate forward purchase agreements with affiliates of our Sponsor, Casdin Capital and Corvex Management, in
their capacities as investment advisors on behalf of their Clients, pursuant to which, subject to the conditions described below,
they will cause certain Clients to purchase from us up to an aggregate amount of 15,000,000 Forward Purchase Shares, for
$10.00 per Forward Purchase Share, or an aggregate amount of up to $150,000,000, in a private placement that will close concurrently
with the closing of our initial Business Combination. The amount of Forward Purchase Shares sold pursuant to the forward purchase
agreements will be determined in our discretion based on our need for additional capital to consummate the initial Business Combination.
Under each forward purchase agreement, we are required to approach Casdin Capital and Corvex Management if we propose to raise
additional capital by issuing any equity, or securities convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for equity securities in
connection with the initial Business Combination. The respective obligations of Casdin Capital and Corvex Management to cause
Clients to purchase Forward Purchase Shares will, among other things, be conditioned on our completing an initial Business Combination
with a company engaged in a business that is within the investment objectives of the Clients purchasing Forward Purchase Shares
and on the Business Combination (including the target assets or business, and the terms of the Business Combination) being reasonably
acceptable to such Clients as determined by Casdin Capital or Corvex Management, as relevant, as investment advisors on behalf
of such Clients. In determining whether a target is reasonably acceptable to Clients, we expect that Casdin Capital or Corvex
Management, as relevant, would consider many of the same criteria as we will consider, but will also consider whether the investment
is an appropriate investment for such Clients, including whether the investment complies with any guidelines, restrictions or
conflicts of interest provisions applicable to such Clients. Each of Casdin Capital and Corvex Management will have the right
to transfer a portion of the purchase obligation under the forward purchase agreement to third parties, or upon mutual agreement,
to each other, subject to compliance with applicable securities laws. To the extent that we obtain alternative financing to fund
the initial Business Combination and the Clients participate in such financing, the aggregate commitment under the forward purchase
agreement will be reduced by the amount of such alternative financing.
The
Forward Purchase Shares will be identical to the shares of Class A Common Stock included in the units being sold in the Initial
Public Offering, except that they will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial
Business Combination, except under limited circumstances to certain permitted transferees, and will be subject to registration
rights.
50
Sponsor
Support Agreement
On
February 10, 2021, the Company entered into a Sponsor Support Agreement with the Sponsor and Sema4, whereby Sponsor has agreed
to, among other things, (a) vote at any meeting of the stockholders of the Company all of their shares of capital stock of the
Company held of record or thereafter acquired in favor of the Stockholder Approvals (as defined in the Merger Agreement), (b)
be bound by certain other covenants and agreements related to the Business Combination and (c) be bound by certain transfer restrictions
with respect to such securities, prior to the closing of the Business Combination, in each case, on the terms and subject to the
conditions set forth in the Sponsor Support Agreement.
Forfeiture
Agreement
On
February 10, 2021, we entered into a Forfeiture Agreement with Sema4 and the Sponsor, whereby the Sponsor has agreed, subject
to certain limitations and in accordance with the terms of the Forfeiture Agreement, to forfeit up to 33% of its (i) warrants
for Class A Common Stock and (ii) shares of our Class B Common Stock, such actual amount tied to the actual exercise of redemption
rights of our stockholders in connection with the Business Combination, as more fully described in the Forfeiture Agreement.
Director
Independence
Nasdaq
listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of the Initial Public Offering.
Our board of directors has determined that Dr. George, Mr. Islam, Dr. Leproust, and Mr. Turner are “independent directors”
as defined in Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules and Mr. Meister is an “independent director” as defined
in Nasdaq listing standards. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors
are present.
Item 14.
Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
The
firm of WithumSmith+Brown, PC, or Withum, acts as our independent registered public accounting firm. The following is a summary
of fees paid to Withum for services rendered.
Audit
Fees . For the period from July 10, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, fees for our independent registered public
accounting firm were $80,855 for the services Withum performed in connection with our Initial Public Offering, review of interim
financial statements and the audit of our December 31, 2020 financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Audit-Related
Fees. For the period from July 10, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, our independent registered public accounting
firm did not render any audit related services.
Tax
Fees . For the period from July 10, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, our independent registered public accounting
firm did not render services to us for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.
All
Other Fees . For the period from July 10, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, there were no fees billed for products
and services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm other than those set forth above.
Pre-Approval
Policy
Our
audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our Initial Public Offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve
all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our
board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will
pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees
and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved
by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
51
PART
IV.
Item 15.
Exhibit and Financial Statement Schedules.
(a) The
following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:
(1) Financial
Statements:
Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
F-2
Balance Sheet
F-3
Statement of Operations
F-4
Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity
F-5
Statement of Cash Flows
F-6
Notes to Financial Statements
F-7
(2) Financial
Statement Schedules:
None
(3) Exhibits:
The
exhibits listed in the accompanying index to exhibits are filed or incorporated by reference as part of this Annual Report on
Form 10-K.
52
Exhibit
Index
No.
Description
of Exhibit
2.1
Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 9, 2021, by and among, CM Life Sciences, Inc., S-IV Sub, Inc., and Mount Sinai Genomics, Inc. d/b/a Sema4 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 11, 2021).
3.1
Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 4, 2020).
3.2
Bylaws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-246251) filed with the SEC on August 24, 2020).
4.1
Warrant
Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant
agent (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on
September 4, 2020).
4.2
Specimen Unit Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-246251) filed with the SEC on August 24, 2020).
4.3
Specimen Class A Common Stock Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-246251) filed with the SEC on August 24, 2020).
4.4
Specimen Warrant Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.3 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-246251) filed with the SEC on August 24, 2020).
4.5*
Description of the Company’s securities.
10.1
Promissory Note issued to CMLS Holdings LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-246251) filed with the SEC on August 24, 2020).
10.2
Securities Subscription Agreement by and between the Registrant and CMLS Holdings LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-246251) filed with the SEC on August 24, 2020).
10.3
Letter Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and among the Company, its officers and directors and CMLS Holdings, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 4, 2020).
10.4
Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 4, 2020).
10.5
Registration Rights Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and among the Company, CMLS Holdings, LLC and the other parties thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 4, 2020).
10.6
Forward Purchase Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Casdin Capital, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 4, 2020).
10.7
Forward Purchase Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Corvex Management LP (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on September 4, 2020).
53
10.8*
Indemnity Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Eli Casdin.
10.9*
Indemnity Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Keith Meister.
10.10*
Indemnity Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Brian Emes.
10.11*
Indemnity Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Shaun Rodriguez.
10.12*
Indemnity Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Sean George.
10.13*
Indemnity Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Munib Islam.
10.14*
Indemnity Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Emily Leproust.
10.15*
Indemnity Agreement, dated September 1, 2020, by and between the Company and Nat Turner.
10.16
Form of Subscription Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 11, 2021).
10.17
Sponsor Support Agreement, dated as of February 9, 2021, by and between CMLS Holdings, LLC, and Mount Sinai Genomics, Inc. d/b/a Sema4 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 11, 2021).
10.18
Forfeiture Agreement, dated as of February 9, 2021, by and among, CM Life Sciences, Inc., CMLS Holdings, LLC, and Mount Sinai Genomics, Inc. d/b/a Sema4 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 11, 2021).
14
Code of Ethics (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 14 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-246251) filed with the SEC on August 24, 2020).
31.1*
Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to Securities Exchange Act Rules 13a-14(a) and 15(d)-14(a), as adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2*
Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Securities Exchange Act Rules 13a-14(a) and 15(d)-14(a), as adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.1**
Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2**
Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
* Filed
herewith.
** Furnished
herewith.
Item 16.
Form 10-K Summary.
None.
54
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report
to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
CM
LIFE SCIENCES, INC.
Date:
March 30, 2021
/s/
Brian Emes
By:
Brian
Emes
Chief
Financial Officer and Secretary
POWER
OF ATTORNEY
KNOW
ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Brian Emes, Pat Dooley
and Kevin O’Brien and each or any one of them, his true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution
and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this
Annual Report on Form 10-K, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with
the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full
power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith,
as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact
and agents, or any of them, or their or his substitutes or substitute, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this Annual Report on Form 10-K has been signed below
by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Name
Title
Date
/s/ Eli Casdin
Chief Executive Officer and Director
March 30, 2021
Eli Casdin
(Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ Brian Emes
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary
March 30, 2021
Brian Emes
(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)
/s/ Keith Meister
Chairman of the Board
March 30, 2021
Keith Meister
/s/ Sean George
Director
March 30, 2021
Sean George
/s/ Munib Islam
Director
March 30, 2021
Munib Islam
/s/ Emily Leproust
Director
March 30, 2021
Emily Leproust
55
CM
LIFE SCIENCES, INC.
INDEX
TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Report
of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
F-2
Financial Statements:
Balance
Sheet
F-3
Statement
of Operations
F-4
Statement
of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity
F-5
Statement
of Cash Flows
F-6
Notes
to Financial Statements
F-7 to F-19
F- 1
REPORT
OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To
the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of
CM
Life Sciences, Inc.
Opinion
on the Financial Statements
We
have audited the accompanying balance sheet of CM Life Sciences, Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020, the
related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the period from July 10, 2020 (inception)
through December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our
opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December
31, 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from July 10, 2020 (inception) through December
31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis
for Opinion
These
financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on
the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company
in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission
and the PCAOB.
We
conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error
or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial
reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not
for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our
audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to
error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence
regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles
used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.
We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/
WithumSmith+Brown, PC
We
have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.
New
York, New York
March
30, 2021
F- 2
CM
LIFE SCIENCES, INC.
BALANCE
SHEET
DECEMBER
31, 2020
ASSETS
Current assets
Cash
$ 1,094,681
Prepaid expenses
277,031
Total Current Assets
1,371,712
Cash and marketable securities held in trust account
442,763,951
Total Assets
$ 444,135,663
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued expenses
$ 97,120
Total Current Liabilities
97,120
Deferred underwriting fee payable
15,496,250
Total Liabilities
15,593,370
Commitments and contingencies
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, 42,354,229 shares at $10.00 per share
423,542,290
Stockholders’ Equity
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding
—
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 380,000,000 shares authorized; 1,920,771 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 42,354,229 shares subject to possible redemption)
192
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 11,068,750 shares issued and outstanding
1,107
Additional paid-in capital
5,190,948
Accumulated deficit
(192,244 )
Total Stockholders’ Equity
5,000,003
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
$ 444,135,663
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements .
F- 3
CM
LIFE SCIENCES, INC.
STATEMENT
OF OPERATIONS
FOR
THE PERIOD FROM JULY 10, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020
General and administrative expenses
$ 206,195
Loss from operations
(206,195 )
Other income:
Interest earned on investments held in Trust Account
13,951
Loss before provision for income taxes
(192,244 )
Provision for income taxes
—
Net loss
$ (192,244 )
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A redeemable common stock
44,275,000
Basic and diluted income per share, Class A redeemable common stock
$ 0.00
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B non-redeemable common stock
10,633,062
Basic and diluted net loss per share, Class B non-redeemable common stock
$ (0.02 )
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F- 4
CM
LIFE SCIENCES, INC.
STATEMENT
OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
FOR
THE PERIOD FROM JULY 10, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020
Class A
Common Stock
Class B
Common Stock
Additional
Paid-in
Accumulated
Total
Stockholders’
Shares
Amount
Shares
Amount
Capital
Deficit
Equity
Balance – July 10, 2020 (Inception)
—
$ —
—
$ —
$ —
$ —
$ —
Issuance of Class B common stock to initial stockholders
—
—
11,068,750
1,107
23,893
—
25,000
Sale of 44,275,000 Units, net of underwriting discounts
44,275,000
4,427
—
—
417,850,110
—
417,854,537
Sale of 7,236,667 Private Placement Warrants
—
—
—
—
10,855,000
—
10,855,000
Common stock subject to possible redemption
(42,354,229 )
(4,235 )
—
—
(423,538,055 )
—
(423,542,290 )
Net loss
—
—
—
—
—
(192,244 )
(192,244 )
Balance – December 31, 2020
1,920,771
$ 192
11,068,750
$ 1,107
$ 5,190,948
$ (192,244 )
$ 5,000,003
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F- 5
CM
LIFE SCIENCES, INC.
STATEMENT
OF CASH FLOWS
FOR
THE PERIOD JULY 10, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net loss
$ (192,244 )
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
Interest earned on investments held in Trust Account
(13,951 )
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Prepaid expenses
(277,031 )
Accrued expenses
97,120
Net cash used in operating activities
(386,106 )
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Investment of cash into Trust Account
(442,750,000 )
Net cash used in investing activities
(442,750,000 )
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from sale of Units, net of underwriting discounts paid
433,895,000
Proceeds from sale of Private Placement Warrants
10,855,000
Proceeds from promissory note – related party
112,837
Repayment of promissory note – related party
(165,081 )
Payment of offering costs
(466,969 )
Net cash provided by financing activities
444,230,787
Net Change in Cash
1,094,681
Cash – Beginning of period
—
Cash – End of period
$ 1,094,681
Non-Cash financing activities:
Initial classification of common stock subject to possible redemption
$ 423,677,610
Change in value of common stock subject to possible redemption
$ (135,320 )
Deferred underwriting fee payable
$ 15,496,250
Offering costs paid directly by Sponsor in consideration for the issuance of Class B common stock
$ 25,000
Payment of offering costs through promissory note — related party
$ 52,244
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F- 6
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
NOTE
1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS
CM
Life Sciences, Inc. (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on July 10, 2020. The Company was formed for the
purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination
with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector
for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the
Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As
of December 31, 2020, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from July 10, 2020 (inception)
through December 31, 2020 relates to the Company’s formation, the initial public offering (“Initial Public Offering”),
which is described below, and, subsequent to the Initial Public Offering, identifying a target company for a Business Combination.
The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest.
The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public
Offering.
The
registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on September 1, 2020. On September
4, 2020 the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 44,275,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to
the Class A common stock included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”), which includes the full exercise by the
underwriter of its over-allotment option in the amount of 5,775,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $442,750,000
which is described in Note 3.
Simultaneously
with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 7,236,667 warrants (the “Private Placement
Warrants”) at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to CMLS Holdings LLC (the “Sponsor”)
and certain of the Company’s independent directors, generating gross proceeds of $10,855,000, which is described in Note
4.
Transaction
costs charged to equity amounted to $24,895,463, consisting of $8,855,000 in cash underwriting fees, $15,496,250 of deferred underwriting
fees and $544,213 of other offering costs. In addition, as of December 31, 2020, cash of $1,094,681 was held outside of the Trust
Account (as defined below) and is available for the payment of offering costs and for working capital purposes.
Following
the closing of the Initial Public Offering on September 4, 2020, an amount of $442,750,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds
of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was placed in a trust account
(the “Trust Account”) located in the United States and will be invested only in U.S. government securities, within
the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company
Act”), with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money
market fund selected by the Company meeting certain conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined
by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the
funds held in the Trust Account, as described below.
The
Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public
Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied
generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business
Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations with one or more operating businesses
or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting
commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the Trust Account). The Company will only complete a Business Combination
if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires
a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under
the Investment Company Act.
F- 7
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
The
Company will provide the holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “Public Stockholders”) with the opportunity
to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection
with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as
to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the
Company. The Public Stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the
Trust Account (initially $10.00 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest then in the Trust Account, net of taxes payable).
There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants.
The
Company will only proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 following
any related redemptions and, if the Company seeks stockholder approval, a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the
Business Combination. If a stockholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company
does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Second Amended and
Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the
tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the
SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable
law or stock exchange listing requirements, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons,
the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant
to the tender offer rules. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Company’s
Sponsor and any other holders of the Company’s common stock prior to the Initial Public Offering (the “initial stockholders”)
have agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public
Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each Public Stockholder may elect to redeem their Public
Shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
Notwithstanding
the foregoing, if the Company seeks stockholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant
to the tender offer rules, the Certificate of Incorporation provides that a Public Stockholder, together with any affiliate of
such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under
Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from
redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 20% of the Public Shares, without the prior consent of the Company.
The
Sponsor has agreed (a) to waive its redemption rights with respect to the Founder Shares and Public Shares held by it in
connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation
(i) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company
does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period (as defined below) or (ii) with respect to any other
material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless the Company provides the
Public Stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
If
the Company has not completed a Business Combination by September 4, 2022 (the “Combination Period”), the Company
will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not
more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate
amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously
released to pay taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding
Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right
to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption,
subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and
liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the
requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the Company’s
warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period.
F- 8
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
The
Sponsor has agreed to waive its liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business
Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsor acquires Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering,
such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business
Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriter has agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting commission
(see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination
Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available
to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the
assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Initial Public Offering price per Unit ($10.00).
In
order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent
any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which
the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below 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,
less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business
who executed a waiver of any and all rights to monies held in the Trust Account nor will it apply to any claims under the Company’s
indemnity of the underwriter of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable
against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company
will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring
to have all vendors, service providers (except for the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective
target businesses and other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right,
title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
NOTE
2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis
of Presentation
The
accompanying financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Emerging
Growth Company
The
Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the
Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from
various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including,
but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements
of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its
periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive
compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further,
Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial
accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared
effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised
financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and
comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The
Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and
it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the
new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s
financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which
has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting
standards used.
F- 9
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
Use
of Estimates
The
preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect
the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial
statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.
Making
estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect
of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered
in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future events. Accordingly, the actual results could
differ significantly from those estimates.
Class
A common stock subject to possible redemption
The
Company accounts for its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards
Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A Common stock subject
to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common
stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption
upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all
other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. The Company’s common stock features certain redemption
rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events.
Accordingly, at December 31, 2020, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside
of the stockholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.
Offering
Costs
Offering
costs consist of underwriting, legal, accounting and other expenses incurred through the Initial Public Offering that are directly
related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs amounting to $24,895,463 were charged to stockholders’ equity upon
the completion of the Initial Public Offering.
Income
Taxes
The
Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred
tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial
statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities
are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are
expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized
in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred
tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
ASC
740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of
tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more
likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties
related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for
interest and penalties as of December 31, 2020. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result
in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by
major taxing authorities since inception.
Net
Income (Loss) per Common Share
Net
income (loss) per common share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding
for the period. The Company has not considered the effect of warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and private placement
to purchase 21,995,000 shares of Class A common stock in the calculation of diluted income per share, since the exercise
of the warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events and the inclusion of such warrants would be anti-dilutive.
F- 10
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
The
Company’s statement of operations includes a presentation of income (loss) per share for common shares subject to possible
redemption in a manner similar to the two-class method of income (loss) per share. Net income per common share, basic and diluted,
for Class A redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the interest income earned on the Trust Account less income and
franchise taxes, by the weighted average number of Class A redeemable common stock outstanding since original issuance. Net loss
per share, basic and diluted, for Class B non-redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the net loss, adjusted for income
attributable to Class A redeemable common stock, net of applicable franchise and income taxes, by the weighted average number
of Class B non-redeemable common stock outstanding for the period. Class B non-redeemable common stock includes the Founder Shares
as these shares do not have any redemption features and do not participate in the income earned on the Trust Account.
The
following table reflects the calculation of basic and diluted net income (loss) per common share (in dollars, except per share
amounts):
For the Period From
July 10, 2020 (inception) Through
December 31,
2020
Redeemable Class A Common Stock
Numerator: Earnings allocable to Redeemable Class A Common Stock
Interest Income
$ 13,951
Income and Franchise Tax
(13,951 )
Net Earnings
$ —
Denominator: Weighted Average Redeemable Class A Common Stock
Redeemable Class A Common Stock, Basic and Diluted
44,275,000
Earnings/Basic and Diluted Redeemable Class A Common Stock
$ 0.00
Non-Redeemable Class A and B Common Stock
Numerator: Net Income (Loss) minus Redeemable Net Earnings
Net Income (Loss)
$ (192,244 )
Redeemable Net Earnings
—
Non-Redeemable Net Loss
$ (192,244 )
Denominator: Weighted Average Non-Redeemable Class A and B Common Stock
Non-Redeemable Class A and B Common Stock, Basic and Diluted
10,633,062
Loss/Basic and Diluted Non-Redeemable Class A and B Common Stock
$ (0.02 )
Note:
As of December 31, 2020, basic and diluted shares are the same as there are no non-redeemable securities that are dilutive to
the Company’s stockholders.
Concentration
of Credit Risk
Financial
instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution,
which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000. The Company has not experienced losses on this
account and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such account.
F- 11
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
Fair
Value of Financial Instruments
The
fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC Topic 820, “Fair
Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their
short-term nature.
Recently
Issued Accounting Standards
Management
does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material
effect on the Company’s financial statements.
NOTE
3. INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING
Pursuant
to the Initial Public Offering, the Company sold 44,275,000 Units, which includes the full exercise by the underwriter of its
over-allotment option in the amount of 5,775,000 Units, at a purchase price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one share
of Class A common stock and one-third of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant
entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see
Note 7).
NOTE
4. PRIVATE PLACEMENT
Simultaneously
with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor and certain of the Company’s independent directors purchased
an aggregate of 7,236,667 Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, for an aggregate purchase
price of $10,855,000. The Sponsor purchased 6,903,335 Private Placement Warrants, and each of Mr. Islam and Dr. Leproust (and/or
one or more entities controlled by them) purchased 166,666 Private Placement Warrants. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable
to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7). Proceeds
from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants were added to the net proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust
Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of
the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to
the requirements of applicable law) and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.
NOTE
5. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Founder
Shares
In
July 2020, the Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain offering costs of the Company in consideration for 10,062,500 shares of the
Company’s Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”). In August 2020, the Sponsor transferred 25,000 Founder
Shares to each of Munib Islam, Emily Leproust and Nat Turner, certain of the Company’s independent directors, at their original
per-share purchase price, for an aggregate of 75,000 Founder Shares transferred. On September 1, 2020, the Company effected a
1:1.1 stock split of its Class B common stock, resulting in the Sponsor holding an aggregate of 10,993,750 Founder Shares and
there being an aggregate of 11,068,750 Founder Shares outstanding. All share and per-share amounts have been retroactively restated
to reflect the stock split, The Founder Shares included an aggregate of up to 1,443,750 shares subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor
to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment was not exercised in full or in part, so that the number of Founder
Shares would equal, on an as-converted basis, approximately 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of common
stock after the Initial Public Offering. As a result of the underwriter’s election to fully exercise its over-allotment
option, 1,443,750 Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.
F- 12
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
The
Sponsor has agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earlier
to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination and (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if
the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits,
stock capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period
commencing at least 150 days after a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation,
merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Public Stockholders having the right to
exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Promissory
Note – Related Party
On
July 16, 2020, the Sponsor issued an unsecured promissory note to the Company (the “Promissory Note”), pursuant to
which the Company could borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000. The Promissory Note was non-interest bearing and
payable on the earlier of (i) December 31, 2020 or (ii) the consummation of the Initial Public Offering. The outstanding
balance under the Promissory Note of $165,081 was repaid at the closing of the Initial Public Offering on September 4, 2020.
Related
Party Loans
In
order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain
of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working
Capital Loans”). Such Working Capital Loans would be evidenced by promissory notes. The notes may be repaid upon completion
of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of the notes may be converted
upon completion of a Business Combination into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant. Such warrants would be identical to the
Private Placement Warrants. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds
held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay
the Working Capital Loans. As of December 31, 2020, there were no amounts outstanding under the Working Capital Loans.
NOTE
6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Risks
and Uncertainties
Management
continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible
that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and/or search
for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The financial
statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Registration
Rights
Pursuant
to a registration rights agreement entered into on September 1, 2020, the holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants
and securities that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans and forward purchase shares are entitled to registration
rights. The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that
the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with
respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination. The Company will bear the expenses
incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting
Agreement
The
underwriter is entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $15,496,250 in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable
to the underwriter from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination,
subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
F- 13
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
Forward
Purchase Agreement
The
Company entered into separate forward purchase agreements with affiliates of the Sponsor, Casdin Capital, LLC (“Casdin”)
and Corvex Management LP (“Corvex”), in their capacities as investment advisors on behalf of one or more investment
funds, clients or accounts managed by each of Casdin and Corvex, respectively (collectively, their “Clients”), pursuant
to which, subject to the conditions described below, they will cause the Clients to purchase from the Company up to an aggregate
amount of 15,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, or the forward purchase shares, for $10.00 per forward purchase share, or
an aggregate amount of up to $150,000,000, in a private placement that will close concurrently with the closing of a Business
Combination. The amount of forward purchase shares sold pursuant to the forward purchase agreements will be determined in the
Company’s discretion based on the Company’s need for additional capital to consummate a Business Combination. Under
each forward purchase agreement, the Company is required to approach Casdin and Corvex if it proposes to raise additional capital
by issuing any equity, or securities convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for equity securities in connection with a
Business Combination. The respective obligations of Casdin and Corvex to purchase forward purchase shares will, among other things,
be conditioned on the Company completing a Business Combination with a company engaged in a business that is within the investment
objectives of the Clients purchasing forward purchase shares and on the Business Combination (including the target assets or business,
and the terms of the Business Combination) being reasonably acceptable to such Clients as determined by Casdin or Corvex, as relevant,
as investment advisors on behalf of such Clients. Each of Casdin and Corvex will have the right to transfer a portion of its purchase
obligation under the forward purchase agreement to third parties, subject to compliance with applicable securities laws. To the
extent that the Company obtains alternative financing to fund the initial Business Combination and the Clients participate in
such financing, the aggregate commitment under the forward purchase agreement will be reduced by the amount of such alternative
financing.
NOTE
7. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Preferred
Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001
per share with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s
board of directors. At December 31, 2020, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.
Class A
Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 380,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par
value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. At December 31, 2020,
there were 1,920,771 shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding, excluding 42,354,229 shares of Class A common
stock subject to possible redemption.
Class B
Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par
value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. At December 31, 2020,
there were 11,068,750 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding.
The
shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately
following the consummation of the Business Combination, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional
shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination,
the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all Founder Shares will equal, in the aggregate,
on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding after such conversion (after
giving effect to any redemptions of shares of Class A common stock by public stockholders), including the total number of
shares of Class A common stock issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities
or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of a Business Combination
(including the forward purchase shares), excluding any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities or rights
exercisable for or convertible into shares of Class A common stock issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination
and any Private Placement Warrants issued to the Sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, provided
that such conversion of Founder Shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.
F- 14
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
Warrants —
Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the
Units and only whole warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the
completion of a Business Combination and (b) 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering. The Public Warrants will
expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
The
Company will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will
have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the
Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the
Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and the Company will not be obligated
to issue shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless the share of Class A common stock issuable
upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence
of the registered holder of the warrants.
The
Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of a Business Combination,
it will use its best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of
the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Company will use its best efforts to cause the
same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto,
until the expiration of the Public Warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If a registration statement
covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the sixtieth (60th)
business day after the closing of a Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration
statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants
on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding
the above, if the Class A common stock are, at the time of any exercise of a Public Warrant, not listed on a national securities
exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities
Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless
basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, the Company
will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event the Company does not so elect, it
will use its best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption
of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $18.00 — Once the warrants
become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding Public Warrants:
●
in whole
and not in part;
●
at a price of $0.01
per warrant;
●
upon
not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, or the 30-day redemption period, to each warrant holder;
and
●
if, and only if,
the reported last sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for
stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading
day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant
holders.
If
and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if it is unable to
register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
F- 15
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
Redemption
of Warrants When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00 — Once the warrants
become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
●
in whole
and not in part;
●
at
a price of $0.10 per warrant provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption and receive that
number of shares of Class A common stock determined based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of the
Company’s Class A common stock;
●
upon a minimum of
30 days’ prior written notice of redemption;
●
if,
and only if, the last reported sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share
(as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) on the trading day prior
to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders;
●
if, and only if,
there is an effective registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon
exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating thereto is available throughout the 30-day period after the written
notice of redemption is given.
In
addition, if (x) the Company issues additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital
raising purposes in connection with the closing of a Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than
$9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by
the Company’s board of directors, and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking
into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or its affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly
Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds,
and interest thereon, available for the funding of a Business Combination on the date of the completion of a Business Combination
(net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Company’s Class A common stock
during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day after the day on which the Company completes a Business Combination
(such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to
the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, the $18.00 per share redemption
trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued
Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the
Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
The
Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except
that (1) the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement
Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or saleable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject
to certain limited exceptions, (2) the Private Placement Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis, (3) the Private
Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable (except as described above in “Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Share
of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00”) so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted
transferees, and (4) the holders of the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise
of the Private Placement Warrants will have certain registration rights. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone
other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company
and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
F- 16
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
NOTE
8. INCOME TAX
The
Company’s net deferred tax assets are as follows:
December 31,
2020
Deferred tax asset
Net operating loss carryforward
$ 16,902
Organizational costs/Startup expenses
23,469
Total deferred tax asset
40,371
Valuation allowance
(40,371 )
Deferred tax asset, net of allowance
$ —
The
income tax provision consists of the following:
December 31,
2020
Federal
Current
$ —
Deferred
(40,371 )
State
Current
$ —
Deferred
—
Change in valuation allowance
40,371
Income tax provision
$ —
As
of December 31, 2020, the Company had a U.S. federal net operating loss carryover of approximately $80,000 available to offset
future taxable income.
In
assessing the realization of the deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion
of all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the
generation of future taxable income during the periods in which temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts
become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income and
tax planning strategies in making this assessment. After consideration of all of the information available, management believes
that significant uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of the deferred tax assets and has therefore established
a full valuation allowance. For the period from July 10, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, the change in the valuation
allowance was $40,371.
F- 17
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
A
reconciliation of the federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate at December 31, 2020 is as follows:
December 31,
2020
Statutory federal income tax rate
21.0 %
State taxes, net of federal tax benefit
0.0 %
Change in valuation allowance
-21.0 %
Income tax provision
0.0 %
The
Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction in various state and local jurisdictions and is subject to examination
by the various taxing authorities.
NOTE
9. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The
fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company
would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an
orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets
and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and
to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities).
The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable
inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
Level
1:
Quoted
prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. An active market for an asset or liability is a market in which
transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing
basis.
Level
2:
Observable
inputs other than Level 1 inputs. Examples of Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or
liabilities and quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active.
Level
3:
Unobservable
inputs based on our assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.
At
December 31, 2020, assets held in the Trust Account were comprised of $442,763,951 in money market funds which are invested primarily
in U.S. Treasury Securities. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company did not withdraw any interest income from
the Trust Account.
The
following table presents information about the Company’s assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at
December 31, 2020 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value:
Description
Level
December 31,
2020
Assets:
Investments held in Trust Account – U.S. Treasury Securities Money Market Fund
1
$ 442,763,951
F- 18
CM LIFE SCIENCES,
INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020
NOTE
10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The
Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial
statements were issued. Based upon this review, other than as described below, the Company did not identify any subsequent events
that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements
On February 10, 2021, the Company
announced that it executed an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Mount Sinai Genomics, Inc., a Delaware
corporation, d/b/a Sema4 (“Sema4”) and the other parties thereto (the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, including
the Merger (as defined below), the “Business Combination”). Specifically, the Company entered into the Merger Agreement with
Sema4 and S-IV Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation incorporated on February 1, 2021 and a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company
(“Merger Sub”). Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, the Company will acquire Sema4 through the merger of Merger
Sub with and into Sema4, with Sema4 surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Merger”)
The
Business Combination is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, following the receipt of the required approval by the Company’s
stockholders and the satisfaction of certain other customary closing conditions.
At
the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”), each share of Sema4 class B common stock, par value $0.00001
per share (“Sema4 Class B Common Stock”) issued and outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time will
be converted into 1/100th of a share of Sema4 class A common stock, par value $0.00001 per share (“Sema4 Class A Common
Stock”, together with Sema4 Class B Common Stock, “Sema4 Common Stock”) in accordance with Sema4’s organizational
documents.
Immediately
thereafter, each share of Sema4 Common Stock and Sema4’s series A-1 preferred stock, series A-2 preferred stock, series
B preferred stock and series C preferred stock (collectively, “Sema4 Capital Stock”) issued and outstanding immediately
prior to the Effective Time (other than Excluded Shares and Dissenting Shares (each as defined in the Merger Agreement)) will
be converted into the right to receive a portion of the total closing merger consideration, with each Sema4 stockholder being
entitled to receive the following:
(c) if
such stockholder has made a cash election as set forth and in accordance with the terms
of the Merger Agreement, a portion of the specified aggregate amount of cash consideration
payable under the terms of the Merger Agreement (such aggregate amount not to exceed
$343,000,000) and pursuant to the terms of such stockholder’s cash election; and
(d) a
number of shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (the “Common
Stock”) equal to the quotient of: (i) (A) the product of (x) such stockholder’s
total shares of Sema4 Capital Stock multiplied by (y) the per share amount calculated
in accordance with the Merger Agreement minus (B) the amount of cash
payable to such stockholder pursuant to its cash election, if any, divided by (ii) $10.
In
addition, at the Effective Time, each outstanding option to purchase Sema4 Capital Stock, each outstanding and unsettled restricted
stock unit in respect of shares of Sema4 Capital Stock and each outstanding stock appreciation right will be rolled over into
options to purchase Common Stock, restricted stock units in respect of Common Stock and stock appreciation rights in respect of
Common Stock, all as further set forth in and in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement.
In
addition to the payment of cash, issuance of Common Stock and rollover of other Sema4 equity awards described above as of the
Effective Time, in the event that the closing sale price of Common Stock exceeds certain price thresholds for 20 out of any 30
consecutive trading days during the period of time commencing upon the expiration of the lock-up period applicable to the Sponsor
under the Letter Agreement, dated as of August 27, 2021, by and among the Company, Sponsor and each of the executive officers
and directors of the Company and ending on the second anniversary of the closing of the Merger, an additional number of shares
equal to an amount up to an aggregate of 11% of the shares of Common Stock that would have been issuable upon closing of the Merger
to the stockholders of the Company if no cash elections were made and the closing cash payment amount under the Merger Agreement
was $0.00 (the “Earn-Out Shares”) shall become issuable, in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement following
the achievement of those certain price thresholds, to the stockholders of Sema4 as of immediately prior to the closing of the
Merger; provided that the board of directors of Sema4 (or a duly authorized committee thereof) may, prior to
the closing of the Merger, allocate a portion of such Earn-Out Shares to be issued to service providers of Sema4 in the form of
restricted stock units of the Company.
On
February 10, 2021, the Company entered into a Sponsor Support Agreement with the Sponsor and Sema4, whereby Sponsor has agreed
to, among other things, (a) vote at any meeting of the stockholders of the Company all of their shares of capital stock of the
Company held of record or thereafter acquired in favor of the Stockholder Approvals (as defined in the Merger Agreement), (b)
be bound by certain other covenants and agreements related to the Business Combination and (c) be bound by certain transfer restrictions
with respect to such securities, prior to the closing of the Business Combination, in each case, on the terms and subject to the
conditions set forth in the Sponsor Support Agreement.On February 10, 2021, concurrently with the execution of the Merger Agreement,
the Company entered into subscription agreements (collectively, the “Subscription Agreements”) with certain investors
(collectively, the “PIPE Investors” which include certain existing equityholders of Sema4), pursuant to, and on the
terms and subject to the conditions of which, the PIPE Investors have collectively subscribed for 35,000,000 shares of our common
stock for an aggregate purchase price equal to $350,000,000 (the “PIPE Investment”). The PIPE Investment will be consummated
immediately prior to the closing of the Sema4 Business Combination. The Subscription Agreements provide for certain customary
registration rights for the PIPE Investors. The Subscription Agreements will terminate with no further force and effect upon the
earliest to occur of: (a) such date and time as the Merger Agreement is terminated in accordance with its terms; (b) the mutual
written agreement of the parties to such Subscription Agreement; and (c) November 9, 2021.
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