Coliseum Acquisition Corp. - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)
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, 2022
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from ______________to ______________
Commission File Number 001-40514
Coliseum Acquisition Corp. |
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) |
Cayman Islands |
| 98-1583230 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
| (IRS Employer Identification No.) |
80 Pine Street, Suite 3202 New York, New York 10005 |
(Address of principal executive offices and zip code) |
(212) 600-5763 |
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code) |
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 Class A ordinary share, par value $0.001 per share, and one-third of one redeemable warrant |
| MITAU |
| The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.001 per share |
| MITA |
| The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Redeemable warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share |
| MITAW |
| 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 Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (Section 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or 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. ☐
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
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 April 14, 2023, there were 15,000,000 of the registrant’s Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.001 per share, and 3,750,000 of the registrant’s Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.001 per share, issued and outstanding.
COLISEUM ACQUISITION CORP.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTAIN TERMS
References to the “Company,” “Coliseum,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to Coliseum Acquisition Corp., a blank check company incorporated in the Cayman Islands on February 5, 2021 and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”) as our “initial business combination.” References to our “sponsor” refer to Coliseum Acquisition Sponsor LLC, a Cayman Islands exempted company. References to the “SEC” are to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. References to our “initial public offering” refer to our initial public offering, which closed on June 25, 2021. References to “public shares” are to shares of our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in our initial public offering. References to “public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares.
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this Report may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and the statements under “Part I, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding our financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “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. Forward-looking statements in this Report may include, for example, statements about:
● | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
● | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
● | our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses; |
● | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
● | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
● | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
● | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities; |
● | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
● | the lack of a market for our securities; |
● | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account described below or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
● | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; |
● | our financial performance; or |
● | the other risk and uncertainties discussed in “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors,” elsewhere in this Report and in our other filings with the SEC. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this Report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. 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. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
Item 1. Business.
Company Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated in the Cayman Islands on February 5, 2021 and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not generated operating revenues to date, and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial business combination.
Although we may pursue acquisitions in any sector or industry, we will focus our search for opportunities to create value in the sectors where we can capitalize on the expertise of our management team and advisors, specifically consumer product, service and media companies at the intersection of sports, entertainment, digital media and/or technology (our “Core Sectors”).
Our objective is to generate attractive returns and create value for our shareholders by applying our strategy of capitalizing on the ability of our management team to identify opportunities, conduct thorough due diligence, and acquire and manage a business that can benefit from our significant experience operating and investing in consumer, media and sports-related businesses. Our approach is focused on industries or sectors in which our management team has a strong track record of performance, and emphasizes the preservation of capital by opportunistically pursuing transactions where we believe we have the ability to make an economic impact that drives revenue growth and profitability.
Business Strategy
Our management team seeks to merge with a market-leading and growth-oriented consumer product, service or media company benefiting from the convergence of consumer brands with our Core Sectors, specifically from the following trends:
● | Confluence and impact of sports, digital media and entertainment on high-growth enthusiast brands; |
● | Passionate audiences and communities driven by brand authenticity, celebrity and social media influencers; |
● | Scalable e-commerce models and digitally native brands that increasingly resonate with consumers; |
● | Growth in the sports market, including eSports, and the digital media, content creation and interaction platforms that heighten the fan experience; |
● | Digital media platforms that transform interactive gaming and multimedia streaming while pioneering new advertising models; |
● | Emphasis on health, wellness, fitness and nutrition as consumers shift towards holistic and healthy lifestyles; |
● | Importance of brand identities and mission principles promoting social consciousness and empowerment; and |
● | Subscription models and technology-enabled services offering unique and flexible ways to engage with brands. |
We believe that many innovative consumer product, service and media companies within our Core Sectors are well-positioned to capitalize on societal and technology trends that will drive sustainable market share growth. Growth companies in our Core Sectors are expanding their capabilities and offering increasingly compelling products and services that better align themselves with the changing consumer preferences. These changes are driven largely by continued digital and social media evolution and changing consumer interests, engagement and purchasing patterns. Additionally, leading companies are utilizing digital engagement platforms, celebrity and influencer marketing, and innovative service models to rapidly expand their total addressable market, customer base and revenue growth opportunities. We seek to partner with a company within our Core Sectors that leverages these key trends, as well as one or more of the following: direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) and e-commerce models; streaming and digital media services; sports and eSports experiences; health and wellness lifestyles; societal impact; and innovative consumer technology.
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Market Opportunity
Consumer brands that leverage digital technology, DTC distribution and e-commerce models are experiencing tremendous growth while rapidly displacing legacy business models. The COVID-19 pandemic created shockwaves throughout our Core Sectors and has generated a clear divide between innovative and traditional companies. Those with a strong digital presence or that utilize DTC channels, with flexible supply chains and distribution models, have experienced significant growth and market share capture, while traditional companies have struggled to adapt to the changing environment. According to the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce, the e-commerce industry accounted for approximately 15% of all retail sales in the United States during the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase from approximately 11% during the fourth quarter of 2019. E-commerce businesses can also leverage powerful tools such as digital subscriptions, celebrity and influencer marketing, and content creation to enable them to outperform traditional business models. We think that digitally savvy branded consumer companies with substantial brand equity are best positioned for growth and investment.
According to PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook (2022 – 2026), the global entertainment and media market represented $2.3 million in 2021 and is projected to reach more than $2.9 trillion by 2026. This growth is driven in part by the ongoing shift towards digital content and media, and the evolution of advertising and consumer engagement, as illustrated by the “cord-cutting” trend, significantly disrupting traditional content subscription models. According to IBISWorld, video streaming revenue achieved $55 billion in revenue in 2022 and is expected to grow at a 7.1% compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) through 2029. According to Deltatre’s 2019 Future of Sports Entertainment report, the increase in over-the-top sports streaming minutes indicates that consumer preferences are shifting away from traditional TV viewership, and the report notes that consumers are seeking enhanced viewing experiences by leveraging multiple devices. Similarly, Statista noted that the U.S. music streaming industry achieved $11.0 billion in revenue in 2022 and is expected to grow to $15.4 billion by 2027. This overall market is large and growing rapidly, and our investment thesis aligns with the rapid evolution of entertainment and media consumption patterns.
The global sports market reached a value of $487 billion in 2022, with North America comprising the largest region in the market. Through 2027, this market is expected to grow at a 5.0% CAGR, according to the Business Research Company. In addition to traditional sports, the eSports industry is experiencing widespread growth across regions, game platforms and modalities. The popularity of eSports has led to heightened brand awareness and increased demand for enthusiast products and services that serve the eSports industry or that are advocated by gaming influencers. It is our belief that sports leagues, teams and athletes will continue to enhance fan experience and interaction via innovative streaming and digital media, content creation, monetization of digital assets, and technology-driven products and services. Our team views this intersection between sports, entertainment and influencers as a powerful underlying force for the growth of innovative consumer brands in our Core Sectors.
We believe that the health and wellness trend is a strong and persistent source of growth for companies in our Core Sectors. The health and wellness industry has experienced significant growth over the last several years. According to the Global Wellness Institute, global wellness expenditures were $4.4 trillion in 2020. Consumers continue to seek branded products and services that promote healthy living and cultivate digitally connected enthusiast communities in health, wellness and fitness. Notable consumer shifts towards accessibility, transparency and personalization have stimulated meaningful growth and driven innovation, providing attractive market dynamics for the foreseeable future. Increased health awareness empowers consumers to take a more proactive and holistic approach to wellness, including mental health, and fosters increased enthusiasm in vitamins, minerals and supplements (“VMS”). The COVID-19 pandemic has driven considerable expansion in DTC and virtual health communities, including online fitness platforms, telehealth, and digitally native consumer brands. An increased consumer focus on daily preventative health has created new demand for VMS products and wearable technology, many of which are endorsed by professional athletes and celebrities. According to a consumer survey from The Manifest, more than half of Americans own at least one wearable device. We expect the increasing focus on the holistic definition of health and wellness, along with the increasingly personalized and social elements of the modern industry, to be highly attractive for investment.
Consumer preferences towards brands with authentic, strong identities that promote social consciousness, sustainability, diversity and empowerment are important for consumer brands in our Core Sectors. Prioritization of these value and culture-driven attributes has seen accelerating growth in recent years. An increasing number of consumers prioritize social and environmental themes when making purchase decisions. According to an IBM survey, approximately 7 in 10 consumers say it is at least moderately important that brands offer “clean” products, are sustainable and environmentally responsible, or use natural ingredients. We believe consumer brands that can authentically speak to these themes are highly valued by consumers of companies in our Core Sectors, and we are seeking investment opportunities that align with these trends.
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Strong technology platforms, e-commerce capabilities and digital media presence are key growth drivers and points of differentiation for consumer brands in our Core Sectors. Technological innovation will continue to be a critical driver for consumer product, service and media businesses, and we expect consumers to increasingly evaluate companies based on their digital prowess. Innovative consumer-facing services and media such as interactive gaming, streaming technologies and experiential e-commerce retailers provide a platform that enables consumer brands to achieve scale. Ancillary services such as content providers, digital media platforms and tech-enabled advertising services also offer compelling customer value propositions. Many of these businesses also cultivate strong communities of modern consumers, which create valuable brand equity and provides clear growth opportunities within the consumer ecosystem. Additionally, data analytics, software and digital marketing technologies have become integral to creating competitive advantages for companies in our Core Sectors, a trend we have utilized in our investing experience. We believe businesses within our Core Sectors that develop, improve or uniquely utilize these technologies will continue to revolutionize the way consumers interact with brands and are attractively positioned for growth.
Acquisition Criteria
Consistent with this strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet any of these criteria and guidelines. We intend to acquire companies, brands and/or teams that we believe meet certain of the following criteria:
● | Enterprise values between $500 million and $2.5 billion; |
● | Have strong and differentiated brands, industry leadership and market share, exceptional management teams, and significant growth prospects; |
● | Have a distinct competitive advantage through the utilization of technology and a defensible business model; |
● | Exhibit significant potential for global expansion through accelerated organic and external growth; |
● | Primed to benefit from the expertise, experience and network of our management team and board of directors; |
● | Objective to accelerate growth in public market and benefit from financial flexibility and an acquisition currency; |
● | Support an appropriate valuation, and offer an attractive risk-adjusted return for our shareholders; and |
● | Demonstrate clear potential for continued innovation, technology utilization and free cash flow generation. |
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 deemed relevant by our management in effecting our initial business combination consistent with our business objectives. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Sourcing of Potential Initial Business Combination Targets
Our management team and advisors have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships. We believe that the network of contacts and relationships of our management team and our sponsor provides us with an important source of business combination opportunities. Historically, the management team has primarily sourced proprietary deals that have come through personal network relationships as the management team and advisors have strong contacts within top global family offices, corporate executives, and celebrities across business, sports, and entertainment. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, management consulting practices, accounting firms, and large business enterprises.
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We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent accounting firm, or independent investment banking firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. If any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us.
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review, which may encompass, as applicable and among other things, meetings with members of the target’s management and other employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspections of facilities, and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry.
Each of our directors and officers, directly or indirectly, own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following our 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. In particular, because the founder shares were purchased at a purchase price of approximately $0.006 per share, the holders of our founder shares (including certain of our directors and officers that indirectly own founder shares) could make a substantial profit after our initial business combination even if our public shareholders lose money on their investment as a result of a decrease in the post-business combination value of their Class A ordinary shares (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination). Further, such 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 is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Certain of our officers and directors presently have, 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 subject to his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations. As a result, 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, then, subject to such officer’s and director’s fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. Additionally, certain of our directors and officers are now, and our sponsor, directors and officers may in the future become affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. Each of our officers has agreed, pursuant to a written agreement, not to become an officer or a director of any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination; provided, however, that Mr. Haimovic may become a director of another special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act, even before we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination, so long as such entity maintains its executive office in Europe and is not expected to compete for the types of businesses in our Core Sectors.
4
Initial Business Combination
Nasdaq listing rules require that 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 assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting fees and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) and that a majority of our independent directors approve such initial business combination. We refer to this as the 80% fair market value test. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and 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 of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial 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 issued and outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target business or issue a substantial number of new shares to third-parties in connection with financing our initial business combination. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% fair market value test. If our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not then listed on Nasdaq for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% fair market value test.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure makes us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer target businesses an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their capital stock, shares or other equity securities in the target business for our shares or for a combination of our shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost-effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriter’s ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
5
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in 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 ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.
Financial Position
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had $233,036 in cash held outside the trust account available for a business combination. As of April 14, 2023, the Company has $148,737,033 held in the trust account available for a business combination (assuming no redemptions and after payment of $5,625,000 of deferred underwriting fees, and before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination). As such, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third-party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations until we consummate our initial business combination. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our shares, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or the redemptions of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination or to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
6
We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account.
In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law or we decide to do so for business or other reasons, we would seek shareholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.
Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination
Nasdaq listing rules require that 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 assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding any deferred underwriting fees and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) and that a majority of our independent directors approve such initial business combination. We refer to this as the 80% fair market value test. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able independently to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm, or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case. Subject to this requirement, our management has virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we are not permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and 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. 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 valued for purposes of the 80% fair market value test.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspections of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information, which will be made available to us.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Lack of business diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
● | subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination; and |
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● | cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services. |
Limited ability to evaluate the target’s management team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following our initial business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Shareholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
Under Nasdaq listing rules, shareholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
● | we issue Class A ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of Class A ordinary shares then outstanding; |
● | any of our directors, officers or substantial shareholders (as defined by Nasdaq rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in outstanding common shares or voting power of 5% or more; or |
● | the issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
The Companies Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands, as the same may be amended from time to time, and Cayman Islands law do not currently require, and we are not aware of any other applicable law that will require, shareholder approval of our initial business combination.
Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants or a combination thereof, 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 securities such persons may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights.
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We have adopted an insider trading policy which requires insiders to (1) refrain from purchasing securities during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (2) clear certain trades prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.
In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors, or any of their respective affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination. It is intended that, if Rule 10b-18 would apply to purchases by our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates, then such purchases will comply with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act, to the extent it applies, which provides a safe harbor for purchases made under certain conditions, including with respect to timing, pricing and volume of purchases.
The purpose of such transaction could be to (1) increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of our initial business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our securities and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or any of their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately-negotiated purchases by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests tendered by shareholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination. Such persons would select the shareholders from whom to acquire shares based on the number of shares available, the negotiated price per share and such other factors as any such person may deem relevant at the time of purchase. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their respective affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their respective affiliates will not make purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. Additionally, in the event our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates were to purchase public shares or warrants from public shareholders, such purchases would be structured in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act including, in pertinent part, through adherence to the following:
● | our registration statement/proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction would disclose the possibility that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases; |
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● | if our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates were to purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders, they would do so at a price no higher than the price offered through our redemption process; |
● | our registration statement/proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction would include a representation that any of our securities purchased by our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates would not be voted in favor of approving the business combination transaction; |
● | our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates would not possess any redemption rights with respect to our securities or, if they do acquire and possess redemption rights, they would waive such rights; and |
● | we would disclose in a Form 8-K, before our security holder meeting to approve the business combination transaction, the following material items: |
o | the amount of our securities purchased outside of the redemption offer by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates, along with the purchase price; |
o | the purpose of the purchases by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates; |
o | the impact, if any, of the purchases by our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved; |
o | the identities of our security holders who sold to our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates (if not purchased on the open market) or the nature of our security holders (e.g., 5% security holders) who sold to our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates; and |
o | the number of our securities for which we have received redemption requests pursuant to our redemption offer. |
Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. At the completion of our initial business combination, we will be required to purchase any ordinary shares properly delivered for redemption and not withdrawn. The amount in the trust account, as of April 14, 2023, was $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 underwriter. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our initial shareholders, directors and officers 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 held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (1) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (2) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless shareholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
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If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
● | 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. |
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than 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 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.
If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
● | conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
● | file proxy materials with the SEC. |
We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any shareholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our Nasdaq listing or Exchange Act registration.
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. In such case, pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, our initial shareholders have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers also have agreed to vote in favor of our initial business combination with respect to public shares acquired by them, if any. We expect that at the time of any shareholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote thereon. Each public shareholder 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. In addition, our initial shareholders, directors and officers 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 held by them in connection with the completion of a business combination.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide 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 following such redemptions. Redemptions of our public
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shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all public shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
Limitation on redemption upon completion of our initial business combination if we seek shareholder approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares, without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association do not restrict our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering share certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights
We may require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC System, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a shareholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or two business days prior to the scheduled date of the general meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable (unless we elect to allow additional withdrawal rights). Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply
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request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until June 25, 2023.
Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination
Our sponsor, directors and officers have agreed that we have until June 25, 2023 to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination by June 25, 2023, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination by June 25, 2023.
Our initial shareholders have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination by June 25, 2023. However, if our initial shareholders acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination by June 25, 2023.
Our sponsor, directors and officers have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by June 25, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions.
We expect to use the amounts held outside the trust account ($233,036 as of December 31, 2022) to pay for all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, if we do not complete an initial business combination prior to June 25, 2023, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
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Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver only if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where we are 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 have not completed 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. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our other officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.00 per share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of our underwriter of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We may have access to use the amounts held outside the trust account ($233,036 as of December 31, 2022) to pay any such potential claims but these amounts may be spent on expenses incurred as a result of being a public company or due diligence expenses on prospective business combination candidates (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors.
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If we file a winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable insolvency law, and may be included in our insolvency estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any insolvency claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or insolvency laws as a voidable performance. As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to certain limitations; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by June 25, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination by June 25, 2023, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants.
Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to our initial public offering that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain a provision which provides that, if we seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with any such amendment. Specifically, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that: prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall either (1) seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which public shareholders may seek to redeem their public shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the completion of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), or (2) provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to tender their public shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a shareholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the completion of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), in each case subject to the limitations described herein;
● | 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 following such redemptions; |
● | if we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company; |
● | if our initial business combination is not consummated within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering, then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account; and |
● | prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional ordinary shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote as a class with our public shares on any initial business combination. |
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These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote in a general meeting. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we may consummate our initial business combination only if approved by a majority of the ordinary shares voted by our shareholders at a duly held shareholders meeting.
Additionally, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors and that holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in a general meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.
Competition
We expect to 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. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of our 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, in the event we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we are obligated to pay cash for our Class A ordinary shares, it will potentially 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.
Conflicts of Interest
Our management team, in their capacities as directors, officers or employees of our sponsor or its affiliates or in their other endeavors, may choose to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future entities affiliated with or managed by our sponsor, or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law and any other applicable fiduciary duties. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. For more information, see the section entitled “Management — Conflicts of Interest.”
Our directors and officers presently have, 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. Accordingly, if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. See “Risk Factors — Certain of our directors and officers are now, and our sponsor, directors and officers may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
Each of our officers has agreed, pursuant to a written agreement, not to become an officer or a director of any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act, until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination; provided, however, that Mr. Haimovic may become a director of another special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act, even before we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination, so long as such entity maintains its executive office in Europe and is not expected to compete for the types of businesses in our Core Sectors.
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We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Indemnity
Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy their indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations.
Employees
We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any such person will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We have registered our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants under the Exchange Act and we have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accounting firm.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to shareholders to assist them in assessing the target business. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, U.S. GAAP or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with PCAOB standards. 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 financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to include risk factors in this Report. However, below is a partial list of material risks, uncertainties and other factors that could have a material effect on the Company and its operations:
● | We are a newly incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective; |
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● | Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination; |
● | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote; |
● | Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek shareholder approval of such business combination; |
● | The ability of our public shareholders 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 shareholders 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 ability of our public shareholders 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; |
● | The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame 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 shareholders; |
● | 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 ongoing coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets; |
● | As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination; |
● | We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public shareholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless; |
● | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors, or any of their respective affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our securities; |
● | 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; |
● | If a shareholder 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; |
● | You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares and/or warrants, potentially at a loss; |
● | You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies; |
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● | 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 have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless; |
● | If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account, together with the loans provided by our sponsor for working capital, are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we may depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination; |
● | Past performance by our management team or its affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us or in the future performance of any business that we may acquire; |
● | 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 seek shareholder 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 shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares; and |
● | We are not currently in compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements and, if we are unable to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, 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. |
For the list of complete risks relating to our operations, see the section titled “Risk Factors” contained in our prospectus dated June 22, 2021.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 2. Properties.
Our executive offices are located at 80 Pine Street, Suite 3202 New York, New York 10005 and our telephone number is (212) 600-5763. Our executive offices are provided to us by an affiliate of the sponsor and we have agreed to an affiliate of the sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for administrative, financial and support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
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Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
Our units, ordinary shares, and warrants are each traded on The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols “MITAU,” “MITA,” and “MITAW,” respectively.
Holders
As of April 14, 2023, we had 1 holder of record of our ordinary shares, 1 holder of record of our units, and 2 holders of record of our warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares 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 share 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.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
Unregistered Sales
On February 17, 2021, the sponsor acquired 4,312,500 shares of Class B ordinary shares (the “founder shares”) for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.006 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our founder we had no assets, tangible or intangible. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after our initial public offering. The founder shares included an aggregate of up to 562,500 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture by the sponsor to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part, so that the sponsor will own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the initial public offering (assuming the sponsor does not purchase any public shares in the initial public offering). Upon expiration of the over-allotment option on August 6, 2021, 562,500 Class B ordinary shares were forfeited by the sponsor.
Simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we consummated the sale of 3,225,000 warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant in a private placement (the “private placement warrants”) to our sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $4,837,500. Each private placement warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants were added to the net proceeds from our initial public offering held in a trust account.
Use of Proceeds from the Initial Public Offering
On June 25, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of 15,000,000 units (the “units” and, with respect to the shares of Class A ordinary shares included in the units sold, the “public shares”), at $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $150,000,000.
We had granted the underwriter in our initial public offering a 45-day option to purchase up to 2,250,000 additional units to cover over-allotments, if any. In August 2021, the underwriter’s over-allotment option expired.
Simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we consummated the sale of 3,225,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant, generating gross proceeds of $4,837,500.
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On February 17, 2021, we issued an unsecured promissory note to our sponsor (the “promissory note”), pursuant to which we received proceeds of $400,000 to cover expenses related to our initial public offering. The outstanding balance under the promissory note of $187,401 was repaid at the closing of our initial public offering on June 25, 2021. No additional borrowings have been made under this arrangement.
Transaction costs amounted to $9,176,463 consisting of $3,000,000 of underwriting fees, $5,625,000 of deferred underwriting fees, and $551,463 of other offering costs. We were reimbursed $750,000 by the underwriter for such transaction costs. In addition, cash of $2,003,361 was held outside of the trust account and is available for the payment of offering costs and for working capital purposes.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
Item 6. [Reserved]
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this report. References to the “Company,” “us” or “we” refer to Coliseum Acquisition Corp.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Report includes “forward-looking statements” that are not historical facts and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected and projected. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this Report including, without limitation, statements in this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding the Company’s financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Words such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “seek” and variations and similar words and expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance, but reflect management’s current beliefs, based on information currently available. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements. For information identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, please refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors”. The Company’s securities filings can be accessed on the EDGAR section of the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as expressly required by applicable securities law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on February 5, 2021, as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed for the purpose of effectuating a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination, involving one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Annual Report as our “initial business combination”. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the private placement of the Private Placement Warrants (as defined below), the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of the initial public offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing.
Recent Developments
On March 21, 2023, we received a written notice (the “Nasdaq Notice”) from Nasdaq’s Listing Qualifications Department indicating that we were not in compliance with Listing Rule 5550(a)(3), which requires us to have at least 300 public holders for continued listing on Nasdaq (the “Minimum Public Holders Rule”). The Nasdaq Notice is only a notification of deficiency, not of imminent delisting, and has no current effect on the listing or trading of our securities on Nasdaq.
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The Nasdaq Notice states that we have 45 calendar days to submit a plan to regain compliance with the Minimum Public Holders Rule. If we are unable to regain compliance by that date, we intend to submit a plan to regain compliance with the Minimum Public Holders Rule within the required timeframe. If Nasdaq accepts our plan, Nasdaq may grant us an extension of up to 180 calendar days from the date of the Nasdaq Notice to evidence compliance with the Minimum Public Holders Rule. If Nasdaq does not accept our plan, we will have the opportunity to appeal the decision in front of a Nasdaq Hearings Panel.
We are monitoring the number of holders of our Class A ordinary shares and will consider the options available to us to potentially achieve compliance.
Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any operating revenues to date. Our only activities for the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2022 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for the initial public offering described below and, after the initial public offering, identifying a target company for a business combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of investment income on cash and cash equivalents held after the initial public offering and will recognize other income and expense related to the change in fair value of warrant liabilities. We 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.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had net income of $7,596,243, which resulted from a gain on the change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $6,530,000 and a gain on investments held in the Trust Account in the amount of $2,317,796, partially offset by operating and formation costs of $1,251,553.
For the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, we had net income of $4,386,819, which resulted from a gain on the change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $5,296,250 and a gain on investments held in the Trust Account in the amount of $30,739, partially offset by operating and formation costs of $533,130 and expensed offering costs of $407,040.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
On June 25, 2021, we consummated an initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) of 15,000,000 Units (the “Units”) generating gross proceeds to the Company of $150,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we completed the private sale of 3,225,000 warrants to Coliseum Acquisition Sponsor LLC at a purchase price of $1.50 per warrant (the “Private Placement Warrants”), generating gross proceeds of $4,837,500.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash used in operating activities was $568,909, which was due to non-cash adjustments to net income related to the change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $6,530,000 and a gain on investments held in the Trust Account of $2,317,796, partially offset by net income of $7,596,243 and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $682,644.
For the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, net cash used in operating activities was $1,259,092, which was due to non-cash adjustments to net income related to the change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $5,296,250 and a gain on investments held in the Trust Account of $30,739, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $725,962, partially offset by net income of $4,386,819 and non-cash adjustments to net income related to expensed offering costs of $407,040.
There were no cash flows from investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022.
For the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, net cash used in investing activities was $150,000,000, which was the result of the amount of net proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and the private placement sale of warrants being deposited to the Trust Account.
There were no cash flows from financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022.
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Net cash provided by financing activities for the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021 of $152,061,037 was comprised of $147,750,000 from the issuance of Units in the Initial Public Offering net of underwriter’s discount paid, $4,837,500 in proceeds from the issuance of warrants in a private placement to our Sponsor and proceeds from the issuance of a promissory note to our Sponsor of $187,401, partially offset by the payment of $526,463 for other offering costs associated with the Initial Public Offering and repayment of the outstanding balance on the promissory note to our Sponsor of $187,401.
As of December 31, 2022, we had $233,036 in cash held outside of the Trust Account, working capital surplus of $276,354 and accumulated deficit of $5,681,396. We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. For the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, we had loss from operations of $1,251,553 and $533,130 respectively and net cash used in operating activities was $568,909 and $1,259,092, respectively. We anticipate that the cash held outside of the Trust Account as of December 31, 2022, will not be sufficient to allow the Company to operate until June 25, 2023, the date at which we must complete our initial business combination. While we expect to have sufficient access to additional sources of capital under Working Capital Loans (as defined in Note 5 of the financial statements provided herewith), there is no current commitment on the part of any financing source to provide additional capital and no assurances can be provided that such additional capital will ultimately be available if necessary. Further, if our initial business combination is not consummated by June 25, 2023, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the Company. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of time within one year after the date that the accompanying financial statements are issued.
We plan to address this uncertainty through our initial business combination. There is no assurance that our plans to consummate our initial business combination will be successful or successful by June 25, 2023. The accompanying financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Contractual Obligations
Registration Rights
The holders of the Class B ordinary shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (as defined in Note 5 of the financial statements provided herewith) (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants) will have registration rights to require the Company to register a sale of any of its securities held by them 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 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 Company granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to 2,250,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions, which the underwriter did not exercise and expired on August 6, 2021.
The underwriter was paid a cash underwriting fee of $0.20 per Unit, or $3,000,000 in the aggregate. In addition, $0.375 per Unit, or $5,625,000 in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriter for deferred underwriting commissions. 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.
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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:
Warrant Liabilities
We account for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to our ordinary shares, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding.
For issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional paid-in capital at the time of issuance. For issued or modified warrants that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and at each balance sheet date thereafter. Changes in the estimated fair value of the warrants are recognized as a non-cash gain or loss on the statements of operations. The initial estimated fair value of the Public Warrants was measured using a Monte Carlo simulation approach. The initial and subsequent fair value estimates of the Private Placement Warrants is measured using a Modified Black-Scholes option pricing model (see Note 9).
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
All of the 15,000,000 shares of Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the Units in the Initial Public Offering contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such Public Shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation, if there is a shareholder vote or tender offer in connection with the Business Combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s second amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In accordance with SEC and its staff’s guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of the Company require ordinary shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Therefore, all Class A ordinary shares has been classified outside of permanent equity.
The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable ordinary shares to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable ordinary shares are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
Net Income Per Ordinary Share
We comply with accounting and disclosure requirements of ASC 260, Earnings Per Share. Net income per ordinary share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. Remeasurement associated with the redeemable Class A ordinary shares is excluded from net income per share as the redemption value approximates fair value. Therefore, the net income per share calculation allocates income shared pro rata between Class A and Class B ordinary shares. As a result, the calculated net income per ordinary share is the same for Class A and Class B ordinary shares. We have not considered the effect of the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 8,225,000 shares in the calculation of diluted net income per share, since the exercise of the warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events. As a result, diluted income per share is the same as basic income per share for the periods presented.
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Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-06, Debt — Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) (“ASU 2020-06”) to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-converted method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective January 1, 2024 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 effective February 5, 2021 (inception) using the modified retrospective method of transition. The adoption of ASU 2020-06 did not have a material impact on the accompanying financial statements.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statements.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
This item is not applicable as we are a smaller reporting company.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
This information appears following Item 16 of this Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Principal Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2022. Based on this evaluation, our Principal Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2022. In connection with the preparation of our financial statements as of September 30, 2021, we reevaluated our prior position on accounting for redeemable common shares and, initially, pursuant to our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021, which was filed with the SEC on November 23, 2021, revised our previously issued financial statements to classify all of our public shares in temporary equity. Subsequent to this, and based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that this error was quantitatively material to the Company’s previously issued financial statements and that, accordingly, it was appropriate to restate the Company’s previously issued financial statements. We determined the resulting deficiency in internal control over financial reporting to be a material weakness. This material weakness resulted in the restatement of the Company’s audited financial statement as of June 25, 2021 and unaudited financial statements as of and for the period ended June 30, 2021. In response to this material weakness, we implemented new procedures and controls, as described below in “Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting”. As a result, we believe this material weakness has been remediated at December 31, 2022.
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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 Control Over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15- d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
1. | pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of our company, |
2. | provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and |
3. | provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. |
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree or compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2022. In making these assessments, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria, management determined that our internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2022 is effective, and has concluded that our audited financial statements included in this Report are fairly stated in all material respects in accordance with GAAP for each of the periods presented therein.
This Report does not include an attestation report of internal controls from our independent registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Other than the implementation of the material weakness remediation activities described below, during the most recently completed fiscal year, there has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. Management has enhanced our processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements to better evaluate and understand the nuances of the complex accounting standards that apply to our financial statements to address the material weakness. Our updated processes include providing enhanced access to accounting literature, research materials and documents and increased communication among our personnel and third-party professionals with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications. During 2021, our internal control over financial reporting did not result in the proper accounting treatment for complex financial instruments. After discussion and evaluation, we concluded, that our redeemable Public Shares should be presented as temporary equity at redemption value with subsequent fair value remeasurement. In response to this material weakness, we implemented new procedures and controls, including the engagement of accounting advisors to assist management in its review of the accounting for complex financial instruments. As a result, we believe this material weakness has been remediated.
Item 9B. Other Information.
None.
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Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdiction that Prevents Inspections.
Not applicable.
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
As of the date of this Report, our directors and officers are as set forth in the table below:
Name |
| Age |
| Position |
Jason Stein | 37 | Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director | ||
Daniel Haimovic | 38 | Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director | ||
Jason Beren | 38 | Chief Financial Officer | ||
Andrew Fishkoff | 42 | Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel | ||
Romitha Mally | 52 | Board Chairman | ||
Rich Paul | 41 | Director | ||
Jim Lanzone | 51 | Director | ||
Andrew Heyer | 64 | Director | ||
Ezra Kucharz | 54 | Director |
Management Team
Officers
Jason Stein, our co-Chief Executive Officer and a Director, is a co-founder and general partner at SC Holdings, a private equity and strategic advisory firm with global experience building businesses and executing transactions. He is on the board of directors of Hyperice, a late-stage recovery technology company; serves as Special Advisor at the SpringHill Company, LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s entertainment platform; is Chairman of Front Office Sports, the first mass-market daily sports email newsletter ecosystem; and a Board Director at Transmit Live, a high-growth live streaming technology business. Since founding SC Holdings in 2018, Mr. Stein has led investments into 10 companies within our Core Sectors. Previously, Mr. Stein was founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cycle Media, an award-winning media and advertising holding company, which he built to six offices in the U.S. and Europe and sold to Wasserman, a global sports agency. Mr. Stein holds an MA from the University of Miami School of Communication and a BS in Sports Management from NYU. We believe Mr. Stein is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive operating and investment experience, particularly in our Core Sectors.
Daniel Haimovic, our co-Chief Executive Officer and a Director, is a co-founder and general partner at SC Holdings and the Chief Executive Officer of Eastbridge Group, a family holding company with $1.5 billion in assets under management. At Eastbridge, Mr. Haimovic oversees Eastbridge’s operations as well as the divestitures of certain of its assets, which previously included: the Smyk Group to Bridgepoint Partners for approximately $300 million; Empik, Empik Schools and Empik.com (the leading consumer media retailer in Poland) to Penta Investments; and Optimum Distribution (a leading distributor of clothing and consumer products to Eastern Europe) to the Orbico Group. In 2016, he led the sale of 63 & 67 Wall Street to Rockpoint Group for approximately $435 million. He led the refinancing of 20 Exchange Place for approximately $268 million by Freddie Mac, the refinancing of 70 Pine Street by Brookfield Partners in 2017 for approximately $375 million and by Goldman Sachs in 2019 for approximately $386 million. Since becoming Chief Executive Officer of Eastbridge in 2015, Mr. Haimovic has led investments in more than 20 companies in a variety of sectors, including real estate and technology. Mr. Haimovic sits on the board of directors of Realview Imaging, an Israeli medical imaging company; as well as the Downtown Alliance, which manages the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Business Improvement District (BID). Mr. Haimovic was previously on the board of directors of Smyk Group, Empik Group and Optimum Distribution. Previously, he worked for Alexandria Real Estate Equities. Mr. Haimovic holds an MBA from the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania and an AB in Biology from Harvard College. We believe Mr. Haimovic is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive investment and corporate finance experience.
Jason Beren, our Chief Financial Officer, joined Eastbridge Group in 2014 as Group Treasurer and has been Chief Financial Officer since 2015. At Eastbridge, Mr. Beren has supported the refinancings of Empik Media Fashion, 20 Exchange Place and 70 Pine Street. He has worked closely on more than 20 Eastbridge investments in a variety of sectors including multi-unit retail and technology. Before joining Eastbridge, Mr. Beren worked at Deutsche Bank for nine years, serving as Director in the Capital Markets and Treasury Solutions
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division. At Deutsche Bank, he was responsible for advising multinational corporations on mitigating the market risk of financing strategies and implementing structured financial solutions. Mr. Beren holds an AB with honors in Economics from Harvard College.
Andrew Fishkoff, our Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, joined Eastbridge Group in 2017 as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. At Eastbridge, Mr. Fishkoff oversees all U.S. and international legal matters, working on all acquisitions, financings, joint ventures and investments. Mr. Fishkoff has represented both SC and Eastbridge in their sports and media investments in Hyperice, Front Office Sports and Transmit Live, as well as their investment in eegee’s, an Arizona-based quick service restaurant chain with over two dozen locations. Before joining Eastbridge, Mr. Fishkoff served as the General Counsel for Macklowe Properties and Rockrose Development Corp., both New York-based real estate developers and owners, where he helped lead financings and joint ventures. Mr. Fishkoff previously worked in the finance group at Latham & Watkins. Mr. Fishkoff holds a JD from Harvard Law School and BA from Brown University.
Board of Directors
Romitha Mally, our board chairman, has more than 25 years of investment banking and mergers and acquisition experience. During her career, she has provided strategic and financial advisory to many public and private companies in the consumer and retail industry around the globe. Ms. Mally has helped orchestrate mergers between independent brands and conglomerates including Unilever’s acquisition of the Dollar Shave Club, Sundial Brands and The Laundress. Ms. Mally has also helped take companies public, including Blue Buffalo, for whom she also negotiated a sale to General Mills in a deal that was valued at $8 billion in 2018. Ms. Mally founded the Mally Collective, a boutique strategic advisory firm focused on the consumer sector. She was a Vice Chairman in Investment Banking at UBS from February 2019 to March 2021, a Managing Director and Head of Consumer Corporate Advisory for North America at Greenhill & Co., Inc. from April 2018 to January 2019, a Managing Director at JP Morgan from August 2013 to March 2018, and an equity research analyst at Goldman Sachs covering the packaged food sector from 1995 to 2005. Ms. Mally holds a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago. We believe Ms. Mally is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her extensive investment banking and mergers acquisition experience.
Rich Paul is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Klutch Sports Group, the powerhouse sports agency representing some of the biggest athletes across the NBA and NFL. Mr. Paul founded Klutch in 2012 in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio where he forged a unique and personal approach to representing some of the top NBA talent — putting athletes first and empowering them to build careers and brands on and off the court. In 2019, Klutch partnered with United Talent Agency, an evolution that led to the expansion into NFL. Mr. Paul continues to be a leading agent in the space and in 2019 was named GQ’s “Power Broker of the Year” and “The King Maker” on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Variety recently named Mr. Paul to their “Variety500” list of the most influential business leaders shaping the global media industry. He is also credited with driving the reversal of the so-called “Rich Paul Rule,” which would have banned agents without a college degree from representing NCAA student athletes. We believe Mr. Paul is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive experience in our Core Sectors.
Jim Lanzone is the Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo, where he oversees a global media and tech company that reaches nearly 900 million people around the world and is the third largest property on the Internet. He is focused on delivering trusted products, content and tech across finance, sports, news, entertainment, search and communications. Yahoo also provides a full-stack platform for businesses to amplify growth and drive more meaningful connections across advertising, search and media. Mr. Lanzone draws from over 20 years of leadership and entrepreneurial experience in the technology and media space, driving growth and innovation. Mr. Lanzone is the former CEO of Tinder, the world’s most popular app for meeting new people. Tinder has been downloaded by more than 400 million people and is available in 190 countries and 40+ languages. Prior to Tinder, Mr. Lanzone spent a decade as President and CEO of CBS Interactive, a top 10 global Internet company with brands ranging from CBS All Access to CNET. He joined CBS Interactive in 2011 when CBS Corporation purchased Clicker Media, an Internet video search and programming guide, where he was founder and CEO. Before founding Clicker, Mr. Lanzone served as CEO of Ask.com (formerly Ask Jeeves), a top 10 consumer Internet property and leading search engine owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp. Mr. Lanzone holds a BA from UCLA and a JD and MBA from Emory University.
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Andrew Heyer is a finance professional with over 40 years of experience investing in the consumer and consumer-related products and services industries as well as a senior banker in leveraged finance during which time his clients included many large private equity firms. Over that time frame, he has guided several public and private companies as a member of their boards of directors. Currently, Mr. Heyer is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Mistral Equity Partners, a private equity fund that invests in the consumer industry. Prior to founding Mistral, Mr. Heyer served as a Founding Managing Partner of Trimaran Capital Partners, a $1.3 billion private equity fund. Mr. Heyer was formerly a vice chairman of CIBC World Markets Corp. and a co-head of the CIBC Argosy Merchant Banking Funds. Prior to joining CIBC World Markets Corp., Mr. Heyer was a founder and Managing Director of The Argosy Group L.P. Before Argosy, Mr. Heyer was a Managing Director at Drexel Burnham Lambert Incorporated and, previous to that, he worked at Shearson/American Express. Mr. Heyer currently serves as President and on the board of directors of Haymaker Acquisition Corp. III, a special purpose acquisition company seeking to acquire and operate a business in the consumer and consumer-related products and services industries. Mr. Heyer currently serves on the board of directors of ARKO Corp. and previously served as Haymaker Acquisition Corp. II’s President until consummation of its business combination with ARKO. Mr. Heyer currently serves on the board of directors of OneSpaWorld Holdings Ltd. and previously served as Haymaker Acquisition Corp. I’s President until consummation of its business combination with OneSpaWorld. He also serves on the board of directors of Tastemaker Acquisition Corp., a blank check company which completed its $276 million initial public offering on January 12, 2021 and is searching for a target business in the restaurant, hospitality and related technology and service sectors, AF Acquisition Corp., a blank check company which completed its $200 million initial public offering on March 23, 2021 and is searching for a target business in the food and beverage, health and wellness, beauty, pet and personal care sectors in the United States, The Lovesac Company, Inc. (where he serves as Chairman), as well as on the board of a private pet products company owned in part by Mistral, Worldwise, Inc. He also serves on the investment committee of AF Ventures, an investor in high-growth consumer product companies. Mr. Heyer holds an MBA and a BSc in Accounting from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. We believe Mr. Heyer is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive finance, investment and operations experience.
Ezra Kucharz has more than 20 years of experience with leading internet, sports, media and entertainment properties. He joined DraftKings as Chief Business Officer in October 2017. In this role, Mr. Kucharz is responsible for expanding DraftKings’ business strategy, advertising sales, international expansion and digital media, further solidifying the company’s position at the intersection of sports, technology and media, while advancing its footprint in the content space. Mr. Kucharz is also responsible for bolstering the business and corporate development functions by identifying opportunities for strategic ventures and acquisitions. Additionally, Mr. Kucharz is a faculty member in Duke University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative teaching Sports Entrepreneurship. Prior to joining DraftKings, Mr. Kucharz served as president of CBS Local Digital Media and special advisor to the CBS Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Mr. Kucharz oversaw online and mobile business across CBS’ Radio and Television stations. During his tenure, Mr. Kucharz’s leadership elevated CBS Local to one of the leading digital organizations in local broadcast TV and radio. Mr. Kucharz has also held several senior-level positions at NBC Universal, founded one of the first online digital sports media companies, Total Sports, and worked for NASA in their Space Shuttle and Space Station Medical Operations divisions after serving as an Army Officer assigned to the Armor Branch. Mr. Kucharz holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University, a master’s degree in Engineering Management from the University of Houston and a master’s degree in Medical Informatics from Duke University. We believe Mr. Kucharz is well qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive experience with Internet, sports, media and entertainment properties.
Number, Terms of Office and Appointment of Directors and Officers
Our board of directors consists of seven members. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of shareholders) serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Jason Stein, Daniel Haimovic and Romitha Mally, will expire at our first annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Jim Lanzone and Rich Paul, will expire at our second annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Andy Heyer and Ezra Kucharz, will expire at our third annual meeting of shareholders.
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Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares will have the right to appoint all of our directors and remove members of the board of directors for any reason, and holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in a general meeting. Each of our directors will hold office for a three-year term. Subject to any other special rights applicable to the shareholders, any vacancies on our board of directors may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present and voting at the meeting of our board of directors or by a majority of the holders of our ordinary shares (or, prior to our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares).
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that our officers may consist of a Chairman, a Chief Executive Officer, a President, a Chief Operating Officer, a Chief Financial Officer, Vice Presidents, a Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, a Treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
Nasdaq listing rules require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. We have five “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our board has determined that each of Romitha Mally, Rich Paul, Jim Lanzone, Andrew Heyer and Ezra Kucharz is an independent director under applicable SEC and Nasdaq rules.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules we have established three standing committees — an audit committee in compliance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act, a compensation committee and a nominating committee, each comprised of independent directors. Under Nasdaq listing rule 5615(b)(1), a company listing in connection with its initial public offering is permitted to phase in its compliance with the independent committee requirements. We do not intend to rely on the phase-in schedules set forth in Nasdaq listing rule 5615(b)(1).
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. The members of our audit committee are Andrew Heyer, Ezra Kucharz and Romitha Mally. Andrew Heyer serves as chair of the audit committee.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate, and our board of directors has determined that qualifies as an Andrew Heyer “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 purpose and 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 auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; |
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● | setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
● | 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 registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of the board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Andrew Heyer and Jim Lanzone. Jim Lanzone serves as chair of the compensation committee. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibility 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, 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. |
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.
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Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
We have established a nominating and corporate governance committee of the board of directors. The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Rich Paul, Jim Lanzone, Romitha Mally. Romitha Mally serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
● | identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board of directors, and recommending to the board of directors’ candidates for nomination for appointment at the annual general meeting 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; |
● | 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 will be 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 shareholders. 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.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, and in the past year none of our officers served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics and business conduct applicable to our directors, officers and employees. The Code of Ethics will be available on our website. We will also post any amendments to or waivers of our Code of Ethics on our website.
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
● | duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole; |
● | duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
● | duty to not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
● | duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
● | duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and |
● | duty to exercise independent judgment. |
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In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care, which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge, skill and experience which that director has.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders; provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
Our management team, in their capacities as directors, officers or employees of our sponsor or its affiliates or in their other endeavors, may choose to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future entities affiliated with or managed by our sponsor, or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law and any other applicable fiduciary duties.
Our directors and officers presently have, 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. Accordingly, if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. Our directors and officers are also not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. See “Risk Factors — Certain of our directors and officers are now, and our sponsor, directors and officers may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers will materially affect our ability to identify and pursue business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination.
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
● | None of our directors or officers is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities. |
● | In the course of their other business activities, our directors and officers may become aware of investment and business opportunities that may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. For a complete description of our management’s other affiliations, see “— Directors and Officers.” |
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● | Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of our initial public offering. However, if our initial shareholders (or any of our directors, officers or affiliates) acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial shareholders until the earlier of: (1) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (2) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) if the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds (i) $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, 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 (ii) $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 75 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the ordinary shares underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and directors and officers may directly or indirectly own ordinary shares and warrants following our initial public offering, our directors and officers 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 directors and officers may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. 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 to proceed with a particular business combination. |
● | Our directors and officers may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such directors and officers was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.
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Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our directors and officers have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our directors and officers currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:
Individual(1) | Entity | Entity’s Business | Affiliation | |||
Jason Stein | SC Holdings | Investment | Founder and General Partner | |||
Hyperice | Technology | Director | ||||
Front Office Sports | Media | Director | ||||
Transmit Live | Media | Director | ||||
SpringHill Company | Media | Special Advisor | ||||
Mashwork, Inc. (a/k/a Canvs) | Technology | Director | ||||
Athletic Greens International, Inc. | Health & Wellness | Director | ||||
Daniel Haimovic | DTH Capital | Real Estate | Managing Partner | |||
Cirkul | Investment | Director | ||||
SC Holdings | Investment | Co-Founder and General Partner | ||||
eegee’s | Restaurants | Controlling Shareholder | ||||
Real View Imaging | Technology | Director | ||||
Jason Beren | Eastbridge Group | Investment | Chief Executive Officer | |||
DTH Capital | Real Estate | Chief Financial Officer | ||||
Andrew Fishkoff | Eastbridge Group | Investment | Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel | |||
DTH Capital | Real Estate | General Counsel | ||||
Romitha Mally | Mally Collective | Advisory | Founder | |||
Rich Paul | Klutch Sports Group | Sports | Chief Executive Officer | |||
United Talent Agency | Sports/Media | Director | ||||
Jim Lanzone | Yahoo | Technology/Media | Chief Executive Officer | |||
Supernova Partners | Investment | Director | ||||
Supernova Partners Acquisition Company II | Investment | Director | ||||
GoPro | Technology | Director | ||||
Andrew Heyer | Mistral Equity Partners (2) | Private Equity | Chief Executive Officer | |||
ARKO Corp. | Convenience Stores | Director | ||||
Worldwise, Inc. | Pet Accessories | Director | ||||
Haymaker Acquisition Corp. III | Special purpose acquisition company | President and Director | ||||
The Lovesac Company | Furniture | Director | ||||
AF Ventures | Investments | Director | ||||
AF Acquisition Corp. | Special purpose acquisition company | Director | ||||
OneSpaWorld Holdings | Leisure | Director | ||||
Tastemaker Acquisition Corp. | Special purpose acquisition company | Director | ||||
Ezra Kucharz | DraftKings Inc | Sports/Gaming | Chief Business Officer | |||
Drive by DraftKings | Investment | Board Member |
(1) | Each of the entities listed in this table may have competitive interests with our company with respect to the performance by each individual listed in this table of his or her obligations. Each individual listed has a fiduciary duty with respect to each of the listed entities. |
(2) | Mistral is not actively investing, and as a result our management believes that activities involving the Mistral portfolio do not and will not conflict with our investment goals. In addition, although we have not identified a business combination, our management believes that the companies in the Mistral portfolio would not be appropriate acquisition targets for a business combination primarily because their revenue and profitability is too small. |
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Accordingly, if any of the above directors or officers become aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the above entities 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, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. We do not believe, however, that any of the foregoing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations will materially affect our ability to identify and pursue business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, directors or officers. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with such a company, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
In addition, our sponsor or any of its affiliates may make additional investments in the company in connection with the initial business combination, although our sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation or current intention to do so. If our sponsor or any of its affiliates elects to make additional investments, such proposed investments could influence our sponsor’s motivation to complete an initial business combination.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed, pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote any founder shares (and their permitted transferees will agree) and public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Directors, Officers and Advisors
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of directors and officers, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide for indemnification of our directors and officers to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect.
We have entered into agreements with our directors, officers and advisors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. We may purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our directors, officers and advisors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our directors, officers and advisors.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced directors and officers.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
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Item 11. Executive Compensation.
None of our officers or directors has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. However, these individuals 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. Additionally, in connection with the successful completion of our initial business combination, we may determine to provide a payment to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or our or their affiliates; however any such payment would not be made from the proceeds of our initial public offering held in the trust account and we currently do not have any agreement or arrangement with any such party to do so. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were or are to be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates.
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 shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our shareholders 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 officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the Board for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of independent directors on our Board.
Following a business combination, to the extent we deem it necessary, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management team of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Grants of Plan-Based Awards and Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End
We do not have any equity incentive plans under which to grant awards.
Employment Agreements
We do not currently have any written employment agreements with any of our directors and officers.
Retirement/Resignation Plans
We do not currently have any plans or arrangements in place regarding the payment to any of our executive officers following such person’s retirement or resignation.
Director Compensation
We have not paid our directors fees in the past for attending board meetings. In the future, we may adopt a policy of paying independent directors a fee for their attendance at board and committee meetings. We reimburse each director for reasonable travel expenses related to such director’s attendance at board of directors and committee meetings.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of ordinary shares as of April 14, 2023 by:
● | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding ordinary shares; |
● | each of our officers, directors and director nominees; and |
● | all of our officers, directors and director nominees as a group. |
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Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all ordinary shares beneficially owned by them.
The beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares is based on 18,750,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding as of April 14, 2023, consisting of 15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares and 3,750,000 Class B ordinary shares.
Approximate | |||||
Number of Shares | Percentage of | ||||
Beneficially | Outstanding | ||||
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1) | Owned (2) | Ordinary Shares |
| ||
Coliseum Acquisition Sponsor LLC (our sponsor) (3) |
| 3,750,000 |
| 20.0 | % |
Jason Stein (3) |
| 3,750,000 |
| 20.0 | % |
Daniel Haimovic (3) |
| 3,750,000 |
| 20.0 | % |
Jason Beren |
| — |
| — | |
Andrew Fishkoff |
| — |
| — | |
Romitha Mally |
| — |
| — | |
Rich Paul |
| — |
| — | |
Jim Lanzone |
| — |
| — | |
Andrew Heyer |
| — |
| — | |
Ezra Kucharz |
| — |
| — | |
All executive officers and directors as a group (nine individuals) |
| 3,750,000 |
| 20.0 | % |
(1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following is 80 Pine Street, Suite 3202., New York, New York 10005. |
(2) | Interests shown consist solely of Class B ordinary shares. Such ordinary shares will convert into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. |
(3) | Coliseum Acquisition Sponsor LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of the Class B ordinary shares reported herein. Our officers and directors are members of our sponsor. Each of Jason Stein and Daniel Haimovic may be deemed to beneficially own shares held by our sponsor by virtue of his control over our sponsor. Other than Jason Stein and Daniel Haimovic, no member of our sponsor exercises voting or dispositive control over any of the shares held by our sponsor. Accordingly, none of them will be deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of such shares. |
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
Founder Shares
On February 17, 2021, our sponsor acquired 4,312,500 Class B ordinary shares (the “founder shares”) for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.006 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our Sponsor we had no assets, tangible or intangible. The founder shares included an aggregate of up to 562,500 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture by the sponsor to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the sponsor would own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after our initial public offering (assuming the sponsor did not purchase any public shares in the initial public offering). Upon the expiration of the over-allotment option on August 6, 2021, 562,500 Class B ordinary shares were forfeited by the sponsor.
A total of five anchor investors purchased 7,440,000 units in the initial public offering at the offering price of $10.00 per unit; one anchor investor purchased 2,235,000 units; three anchor investors each purchased 1,485,000 units; and one anchor investor purchased 750,000 units. The anchor investors have not been granted any shareholder or other rights in addition to those afforded to the Company’s other public shareholders, other than a right of first refusal with respect to any private placement in connection with a business combination. Further, the anchor investors are not required to (i) hold any units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants they purchased in the initial public offering, or thereafter, for any amount of time, (ii) vote any Class A ordinary shares they may own at the applicable time in favor of the business combination or (iii) refrain from exercising their right to redeem their public shares at the time of the business combination. The anchor investors will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust account with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the units they purchased in the initial public offering as the rights afforded to the Company’s other public shareholders.
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Each anchor investor entered into separate anchor commitment letters with the Company and the Sponsor pursuant to which each anchor investor purchased a specified amount of membership interests from the Sponsor at the closing of the initial public offering, subject to such anchor investor’s acquisition of 100% of the units allocated to it by the underwriters in the initial public offering.
The Sponsor will retain voting and dispositive power over the anchor investors’ founder shares until the consummation of the initial business combination, following which time the Sponsor will distribute such founder shares to the anchor investors (subject to applicable lock-up restrictions). The estimated fair value of the founder shares as of the execution of the anchor commitment letters was $5.38 per share (or $2,994,491 in the aggregate), which was $2,159,708 in excess of the amount paid by anchor investors for this interest.
Our initial shareholders 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 last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds (i) $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, 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 (ii) $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 75 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Private Placement
Simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we consummated the sale of 3,225,000 warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant in a private placement (the “private placement warrants”) to our Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $4,837,500). Each private placement warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants were added to the net proceeds from our initial public offering held in the trust account. If we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants 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.
Promissory Note - Related Party
On February 17, 2021, we issued an unsecured promissory note to our sponsor (the “promissory note”), pursuant to which the Company received proceeds of $400,000 to cover expenses related to the initial public offering. The promissory note was non-interest bearing and was payable on the earlier of June 30, 2021 or the completion of our initial public offering. The outstanding balance under the promissory note of $187,401 was repaid on June 25, 2021. No additional borrowings have been made under this arrangement.
Administrative Support Agreement
We entered into an agreement, commencing on June 25, 2021, to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for administrative, financial and support services. Upon completion of an initial business combination or liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Director Independence
See “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance – Director Independence” for the information required by Item 407(a) of Regulation S-K regarding director independence.
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PART III
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services.
On March 17, 2023, we terminated our engagement with Marcum LLP (“Marcum”), our previous independent registered public accountant, effective as of March 17, 2023. On March 13, 2023, the Company engaged RBSM LLP (“RBSM”) as its new independent registered public accountant for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022.
RBSM LLP
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to RBSM for services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by RBSM in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by RBSM for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements, review of the financial information included in this Report and other required filings with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2022 totaled approximately $40,000. The above amount includes interim procedures, audit fees, and consent issued for registration statements and comfort letters.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related services consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay RBSM for consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Tax Fees. We did not pay RBSM for tax compliance, tax planning, or tax advice for the year ended December 31, 2022.
All Other Fees. We did not pay RBSM for other services for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Marcum LLP
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Marcum for services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by Marcum in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Marcum for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements, review of the financial information included in this Report and other required filings with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the year ended December 31, 2021 totaled approximately $125,180 and $64,000, respectively. The above amount includes interim procedures, audit fees, and consent issued for registration statements and comfort letters.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related services consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay Marcum for consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards for the years ended December 31, 2022 or December 31, 2021.
Tax Fees. The aggregate fees billed by Marcum for tax compliance, tax planning, and tax advice for the year ended December 31, 2022 totaled approximately $12,669. We did not pay Marcum for tax compliance, tax planning, or tax advice for the year ended December 31, 2021.
All Other Fees. We did not pay Marcum for other services for the years ended December 31, 2022 or December 31, 2021.
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Pre-Approval Policy
Since the formation of our audit committee upon the consummation of our initial public offering, 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). The audit committee pre-approved all auditing services provided by each of Marcum and RBSM set forth above for 2022, including the dismissal of Marcum and the engagement of RBSM.
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.
1. | Financial Statements: |
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firms – RBSM LLP (PCAOB ID Number 587) | F-2 | |
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firms – Marcum LLP (PCAOB ID Number 688) | F–3 | |
F-4 | ||
F-5 | ||
F-6 | ||
F-7 | ||
F-8 |
2. | Financial Statements Schedule |
All financial statement schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the amounts are immaterial and not required, or the required information is presented in the financial statements and notes beginning on Page F-1 of this Report.
3. | Exhibits |
We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference are available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary.
Not applicable.
41
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit No. |
| Description | |
3.1 | |||
3.2 | |||
4.1 | |||
4.2 | |||
4.3 | |||
4.4 | |||
4.5 | |||
10.1 | |||
10.2 | |||
10.3 | |||
10.4 | |||
10.5 | |||
10.6 | |||
10.7 | |||
10.8 | |||
14 | |||
16.1 | |||
31.1* | |||
31.2* | |||
32.1** | |||
32.2** | |||
99.1 | |||
101.INS* | XBRL Instance Document | ||
101.CAL* | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | ||
101.SCH* | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | ||
101.DEF* | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | ||
101.LAB* | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Linkbase Document | ||
101.PRE* | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document | ||
104* | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101) |
* Filed herewith.
** Furnished herewith.
42
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 on April 17, 2023.
Coliseum Acquisition Corp. | ||
By: | /s/ Jason Stein | |
Name: Jason Stein | ||
Title: Co-Chief Executive Officer |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Name | Position | Date | ||
/s/ Jason Stein | Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
Jason Stein | (Principal Executive Officer) | |||
/s/ Daniel Haimovic | Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
Daniel Haimovic | (Principal Executive Officer) | |||
/s/ Jason Beren | Chief Financial Officer | April 17, 2023 | ||
Jason Beren | (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer) | |||
/s/ Romitha Mally | Board Chairman | April 17, 2023 | ||
Romitha Mally | ||||
/s/ Rich Paul | Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
Rich Paul | ||||
/s/ Jim Lanzone | Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
Jim Lanzone | ||||
/s/ Andrew Heyer | Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
Andrew Heyer | ||||
/s/ Ezra Kucharz | Director | April 17, 2023 | ||
Ezra Kucharz |
43
COLISEUM ACQUISITION CORP.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firms – RBSM LLP (PCAOB ID Number 587) |
| F-2 |
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firms – Marcum LLP (PCAOB ID Number 688) | F-3 | |
F-4 | ||
F-5 | ||
F-6 | ||
F-7 | ||
F-8 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of
Coliseum Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Coliseum Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and the related statements operations, shareholders’ deficit and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2022, 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, 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, if the Company is unable to raise additional funds to alleviate liquidity needs and complete a business combination by June 25, 2023, then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The liquidity condition and date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
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/ RBSM LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2023.
New York, NY
April 14, 2023
PCAOB ID Number 587
F-2
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
Coliseum Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Coliseum Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ deficit and cash flows for the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, 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, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, 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/ Marcum LLP
Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.
Tampa, FL
April 15, 2022
F-3
COLISEUM ACQUISITION CORP.
BALANCE SHEETS
| December 31, 2022 |
| December 31, 2021 | |||
ASSETS | ||||||
Current assets: | ||||||
Cash | $ | 233,036 | $ | 801,945 | ||
Due from sponsor | 2,058 | — | ||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 236,760 | 519,808 | ||||
Total current assets | 471,854 | 1,321,753 | ||||
Investments held in Trust Account | 152,348,535 | 150,030,739 | ||||
Other non-current assets | — | 233,150 | ||||
Total assets | $ | 152,820,389 | $ | 151,585,642 | ||
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT |
|
|
|
| ||
Current liabilities: | ||||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | 185,500 | $ | 26,996 | ||
Accrued Expense - Related Party | 10,000 | — | ||||
Total current liabilities | 195,500 | 26,996 | ||||
Warrant liabilities |
| 329,000 |
| 6,859,000 | ||
Deferred underwriting fee payable | 5,625,000 | 5,625,000 | ||||
Total liabilities |
| 6,149,500 |
| 12,510,996 | ||
|
|
|
| |||
Commitments |
|
|
|
| ||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, 15,000,000 shares at redemption value of $10.16 and $10.00 per share at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively | 152,348,535 | 150,030,739 | ||||
Shareholders’ Deficit |
|
|
|
| ||
Preferred shares, $0.001 par value; 5,000,000 authorized; none issued and outstanding |
|
| ||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; 15,000,000 shares issued and no shares outstanding (excluding 15,000,000 shares subject to possible redemption) |
| — |
| — | ||
Class B ordinary shares, $0.001 par value; 50,000,000 shares authorized; 3,750,000 issued and outstanding |
| 3,750 |
| 3,750 | ||
Additional paid-in capital |
| — |
| — | ||
Accumulated deficit | (5,681,396) | (10,959,843) | ||||
Total shareholders’ deficit |
| (5,677,646) |
| (10,956,093) | ||
Total liabilities and shareholders’ deficit | $ | 152,820,389 | $ | 151,585,642 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
COLISEUM ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the | ||||||
Period from | ||||||
|
| February 5, | ||||
2021 | ||||||
For the Year | (inception) | |||||
Ended | Through | |||||
| December 31, 2022 |
| December 31, 2021 | |||
Operating and formation costs | $ | 1,251,553 | $ | 533,130 | ||
Loss from operations | (1,251,553) | (533,130) | ||||
Other income (expense) | ||||||
Expensed offering costs | — | (407,040) | ||||
Gain on investments held in Trust Account | 2,317,796 | 30,739 | ||||
Gain on change in fair value of warrant liabilities | 6,530,000 | 5,296,250 | ||||
Total other income (expense) | 8,847,796 | 4,919,949 | ||||
Net income | $ | 7,596,243 | $ | 4,386,819 | ||
| ||||||
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class A ordinary shares | 15,000,000 | 8,617,021 | ||||
Basic and diluted net income per share, Class A ordinary shares | $ | 0.41 | $ | 0.36 | ||
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class B ordinary shares | 3,750,000 | 3,613,222 | ||||
Basic and diluted net income per share, Class B ordinary shares | $ | 0.41 | $ | 0.36 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
COLISEUM ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
For the Year Ended December 31, 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||
Ordinary Shares | Additional | Total | |||||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Paid-in | Accumulated | Shareholders’ | |||||||||||||||
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Capital |
| Deficit |
| Deficit | ||||||
Balance at January 1, 2022 | — | $ | — | 3,750,000 | $ | 3,750 | $ | — | $ | (10,959,843) | $ | (10,956,093) | |||||||
Remeasurement of Class A ordinary shares to redemption amount | — | — | — | — | — | (2,317,796) | (2,317,796) | ||||||||||||
Net income |
| — |
| — | — | — |
| — |
| 7,596,243 |
| 7,596,243 | |||||||
Balance at December 31, 2022 |
| — | $ | — | 3,750,000 | $ | 3,750 | $ | — | $ | (5,681,396) | $ | (5,677,646) |
For the Period from February 5, 2021 (inception) Through December 31, 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||
Ordinary Shares | Additional | Total | |||||||||||||||||
Class A | Class B | Paid-in | Accumulated | Shareholders’ | |||||||||||||||
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Capital |
| Deficit |
| Deficit | ||||||
Balance at February 5, 2021 (inception) | — | $ | — | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | |||||||
Issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor | — | — | 4,312,500 | 4,313 | 20,687 | — | 25,000 | ||||||||||||
Excess of cash received over fair value of Private Placement Warrants | — | — | — | — | 32,250 | — | 32,250 | ||||||||||||
Remeasurement of Class A ordinary shares to initial redemption amount | — | — | — | — | (52,937) | (15,316,486) | (15,369,423) | ||||||||||||
Remeasurement of Class A ordinary shares to redemption amount | — | — | — | — | — | (30,739) | (30,739) | ||||||||||||
Forfeiture of Class B ordinary shares | — | — | (562,500) | (563) | — | 563 | — | ||||||||||||
Net income | — | — | — | — | — | 4,386,819 | 4,386,819 | ||||||||||||
Balance at December 31, 2021 | — | $ | — | 3,750,000 | $ | 3,750 | $ | — | $ | (10,959,843) | $ | (10,956,093) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
COLISEUM ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
For the Period | ||||||
from February 5, | ||||||
For the Year | 2021 (inception) | |||||
Ended | Through | |||||
| December 31, 2022 |
| December 31, 2021 | |||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: |
| |||||
Net income | $ | 7,596,243 | $ | 4,386,819 | ||
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities: |
|
|
|
| ||
Expensed offering costs | — | 407,040 | ||||
Gain on investments held in Trust Account |
| (2,317,796) |
| (30,739) | ||
Gain on change in fair value of warrant liabilities | (6,530,000) | (5,296,250) | ||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 516,198 | (752,958) | ||||
Due from sponsor | (2,058) | — | ||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | 158,504 | 26,996 | ||||
Accrued Expense - Related Party | 10,000 | — | ||||
Net cash used in operating activities |
| (568,909) | (1,259,092) | |||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||||
Cash deposited in Trust Account | — | (150,000,000) | ||||
Net cash used in investing activities | — | (150,000,000) | ||||
|
|
|
| |||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: |
|
|
|
| ||
Proceeds from promissory note - related party |
| — |
| 187,401 | ||
Repayment of promissory note - related party |
| — |
| (187,401) | ||
Proceeds from initial public offering, net of underwriter’s discount paid | — | 147,750,000 | ||||
Proceeds from sale of Private Placement Warrants | — | 4,837,500 | ||||
Payment of offering costs |
| — |
| (526,463) | ||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
| — |
| 152,061,037 | ||
|
|
|
| |||
Net Change in Cash |
| (568,909) |
| 801,945 | ||
Cash - Beginning of Period |
| 801,945 |
| — | ||
Cash - End of Period | $ | 233,036 | $ | 801,945 | ||
|
|
|
|
| ||
Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities: |
|
|
|
| ||
Remeasurement of Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption amount | $ | 2,317,796 | $ | (15,400,162) | ||
Deferred underwriting fee payable | $ | — | $ | 5,625,000 | ||
Forfeiture of Class B ordinary shares | $ | — | $ | 563 | ||
Deferred offering costs paid by sponsor in exchange for Class B ordinary shares | $ | — | $ | 25,000 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-7
COLISEUM ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2022
NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Coliseum Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in the Cayman Islands on February 5, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses (a “Business Combination”). The Company is not limited to a particular industry or geographic region 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, 2022, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) as described below, and since the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the search for a prospective initial Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of investment income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering and will recognize other income and expense related to the change in fair value of warrant liabilities.
The registration statement for the Initial Public Offering was declared effective on June 22, 2021. On June 25, 2021, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 15,000,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $150,000,000, which is discussed in Note 3. The Company granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to 2,250,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments at the Initial Public Offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) included an aggregate of up to 562,500 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor would own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering (assuming the Sponsor did not purchase any Public Shares in the Initial Public Offering). Upon the expiration of the over-allotment option on August 6, 2021, 562,500 Founder Shares were forfeited, resulting in an aggregate of 3,750,000 Class B Founder Shares outstanding.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 3,225,000 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to Coliseum Acquisition Sponsor LLC (the “Sponsor”), generating gross proceeds of $4,837,500, which is described in Note 4.
Transaction costs amounted to $9,176,463 consisting of $3,000,000 of underwriting fees, $5,625,000 of deferred underwriting fees, and $551,463 of other offering costs. The Company was reimbursed $750,000 by the underwriter for such transaction costs. In addition, cash of $2,003,361 was held outside of the Trust Account (as defined below) and is available for the payment of offering costs and for working capital purposes. The Company recorded $691,125 of the reimbursement as a reduction of offering costs recorded to equity and $58,875 of the reimbursement as a reduction to expense.
Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on June 25, 2021, an amount of $150,000,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) and will be invested only in U.S. government securities with maturities of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury bills, 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.
F-8
The Company will provide its public shareholders 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 general meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount held in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), calculated as of
business days prior to the completion of a Business Combination, including any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants. The Public Shares subject to redemption are recorded at redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”).The Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon consummation of such Business Combination and a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a shareholder vote is not required under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as then in effect (the “Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the initial shareholders have agreed to vote their Founder Shares and any Public Shares purchased in or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company seeks shareholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the Public Shares without the Company’s prior written consent.
The initial shareholders have agreed to waive (i) their redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them (ii) their redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to provide holders of Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with an initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity and (iii) their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Founder Shares they hold if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering. However, if the initial shareholders acquire 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 (as defined below).
F-9
The Company will have until 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering (the “Combination Period”) to complete a Business Combination. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 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 10 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the Company’s warrants, which will expire worthless 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 (other than the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm) 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 (1) $10.00 per Public Share or (2) such lesser amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay the Company’s tax obligations, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account and except as to any claims under 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 (other than the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Liquidity and Going Concern
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had $233,036 in cash held outside of the Trust Account, working capital surplus of $276,354 and accumulated deficit of $5,681,396. The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its acquisition plans. For the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, we had loss from operations of $1,251,553 and $533,130 respectively and net cash used in operating activities was $568,909 and $1,259,092 respectively. The Company anticipates that the cash held outside of the Trust Account as of December 31, 2022, will not be sufficient to allow the Company to operate until June 25, 2023, the date at which the Company must complete a Business Combination. While the Company expects to have sufficient access to additional sources of capital under Working Capital Loans (as defined in Note 5), there is no current commitment on the part of any financing source to provide additional capital and no assurances can be provided that such additional capital will ultimately be available if necessary. Further, if a Business Combination is not consummated by June 25, 2023, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the Company. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of time within one year after the date that these financial statements are issued.
Management plans to address this uncertainty through a Business Combination as discussed above. There is no assurance that the Company’s plans to consummate a Business Combination will be successful or successful within the Combination Period. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
F-10
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic 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 the accompanying financial statements and such financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
In February 2022, the Russian Federation and Belarus commenced a military action with the country of Ukraine. As a result of this action, various nations, including the United States, have instituted economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus. Further, the impact of this action and related sanctions on the world economy are not determinable as of the date of these financial statements and the specific impact on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows is also not determinable as of the date of these financial statements.
NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“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, 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 shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. The Company has elected to implement the aforementioned exemptions.
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.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ from those estimates. The initial valuation of the Public Warrants (as defined in Note 3) and the recurring valuation of the Private Placement Warrants required management to exercise significant judgment in its estimates.
F-11
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company did not have any cash equivalents as of December 31, 2022 and 2021.
Investments Held in Trust Account
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the assets held in the Trust Account are U.S. Treasury Securities, which are classified as trading securities with gains and losses recognized in the respective statements of operations. The portion of trading gains and losses for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 that relates to trading securities still held at the reporting dates were gains of $608,531 and $6,643, respectively.
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
All of the 15,000,000 shares of Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the Units in the Initial Public Offering contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such Public Shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation, if there is a shareholder vote or tender offer in connection with a Business Combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s second amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In accordance with SEC and its staff’s guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of the Company require ordinary shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Therefore, all Class A ordinary shares have been classified outside of permanent equity.
The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable ordinary shares to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable ordinary shares are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Class A ordinary shares reflected in the balance sheet are reconciled in the following table:
| December 31, 2022 | ||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption as of January 1, 2022 | $ | 150,030,739 | |
Plus: |
| ||
Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value |
| 2,317,796 | |
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption as of December 31, 2022 | $ | 152,348,535 |
| December 31, 2021 | ||
Gross proceeds | $ | 150,000,000 | |
Less: |
|
| |
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants |
| (7,350,000) | |
Issuance costs allocated to Class A ordinary shares |
| (8,019,423) | |
Plus: |
|
| |
Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value |
| 15,400,162 | |
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption as of December 31, 2021 | $ | 150,030,739 |
Warrant Liabilities
The Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in ASC 480 and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own ordinary shares, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding.
F-12
For issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional paid-in capital at the time of issuance. For issued or modified warrants that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and at each balance sheet date thereafter. Changes in the estimated fair value of the warrants are recognized as a non-cash gain or loss on the statements of operations. The initial estimated fair value of the Public Warrants was measured using a Monte Carlo simulation approach. The initial and subsequent fair value estimates of the Private Placement Warrants is measured using a Modified Black-Scholes option pricing model (see Note 9).
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
The Company complies with the requirements of ASC Topic 340, Other Assets and Deferred Costs (“ASC 340”) and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin Topic 5A - Expenses of Offering. Offering costs consist principally of professional and registration fees incurred that are related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs directly attributable to the issuance of an equity contract to be classified in equity are recorded as a reduction in equity. Offering costs for equity contracts that are classified as assets and liabilities are expensed immediately. The Company incurred offering costs amounting to $9,176,463 as a result of the Initial Public Offering (consisting of a $3,000,000 underwriting fee, $5,625,000 of deferred underwriting fees and $551,463 of other offering costs). The Company recorded $8,710,548 of offering costs as a reduction of the carrying value of the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units. The Company immediately expensed $465,915 of offering costs in connection with the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants that were classified as liabilities.
The Company was reimbursed $750,000 by the underwriter for offering costs associated with the Initial Public Offering. The Company recorded $691,125 of the reimbursement as a reduction of offering costs allocated to Class A ordinary shares and $58,875 of the reimbursement as a reduction to expense. As such, net offering costs recorded to Class A ordinary shares amounted to $8,019,423 and net expensed offering costs amounted to $407,040.
Income Taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes under ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes (“ASC 740”). ASC 740 requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for both the expected impact of differences between the financial statements and tax basis of assets and liabilities and for the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax loss and tax credit carry forwards. ASC 740 additionally requires a valuation allowance to be established when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of deferred tax assets will not be realized.
ASC 740 also clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an enterprise’s financial statements and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position 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. ASC 740 also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in an interim period, disclosure and transition. Based on the Company’s evaluation, it has been concluded that there are no significant uncertain tax positions requiring recognition in the Company’s financial statements.
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, 2022. 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 considered an exempted Cayman Islands Company and is presently not subject to income taxes or income tax filing requirements in the Cayman Islands or the United States. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Company’s financial statements.
F-13
Net Income Per Ordinary Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of ASC 260, Earnings Per Share. Net income per ordinary share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. Remeasurement associated with the redeemable Class A ordinary shares is excluded from net income per share as the redemption value approximates fair value. Therefore, the net income per share calculation allocates income shared pro rata between Class A and Class B ordinary shares. As a result, the calculated net income per ordinary share is the same for Class A and Class B ordinary shares. The Company has not considered the effect of the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 8,225,000 shares in the calculation of diluted net income per share, since the exercise of the warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events. As a result, diluted income per share is the same as basic income per share for the periods presented.
The following table reflects the calculation of basic and diluted net income per ordinary share (in dollars, except per share amounts):
For the Year Ended | For the Period from February 5, 2021 | |||||||||||
December 31, 2022 | (inception) Through December 31, 2021 | |||||||||||
| Class A |
| Class B |
| Class A |
| Class B | |||||
Basic and diluted net income per share: | ||||||||||||
Numerator: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||
Net income | $ | 6,076,994 | $ | 1,519,249 | $ | 3,090,806 | $ | 1,296,013 | ||||
Denominator: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding |
| 15,000,000 |
| 3,750,000 |
| 8,617,021 |
| 3,613,222 | ||||
Basic and diluted net income per share | $ | 0.41 | $ | 0.41 | $ | 0.36 | $ | 0.36 |
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.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company applies ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement (“ASC 820”), which establishes a framework for measuring fair value and clarifies the definition of fair value within that framework. ASC 820 defines fair value as an exit price, which is the price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability in the Company’s principal or most advantageous market in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The fair value hierarchy established in ASC 820 generally requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability and are developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity. Unobservable inputs reflect the entity’s own assumptions based on market data and the entity’s judgments about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability and are to be developed based on the best information available in the circumstances.
The carrying amounts reflected in the balance sheet for cash, prepaid expenses and other current assets, and accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate fair value due to their short-term nature.
Level 1 — Assets and liabilities with unadjusted, quoted prices listed on active market exchanges. Inputs to the fair value measurement are observable inputs, such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
Level 2 — Inputs to the fair value measurement are determined using prices for recently traded assets and liabilities with similar underlying terms, as well as direct or indirect observable inputs, such as interest rates and yield curves that are observable at commonly quoted intervals.
Level 3 — Inputs to the fair value measurement are unobservable inputs, such as estimates, assumptions, and valuation techniques when little or no market data exists for the assets or liabilities.
F-14
See Note 9 for additional information on assets and liabilities measured at fair value.
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 the Company’s financial statements.
NOTE 3. INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING
In the Initial Public Offering, the Company sold 15,000,000 Units at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $150,000,000. Each Unit consisted of one Class A ordinary share and
-third of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per whole share (see Note 7). The Company granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to 2,250,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments at the Initial Public Offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions, which the underwriter did not exercise and which expired on August 6, 2021.NOTE 4. PRIVATE PLACEMENT
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 3,225,000 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $4,837,500). Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The 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 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
On February 17, 2021, the Sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 to cover certain expenses on behalf of the Company in exchange for the issuance of 4,312,500 Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”). The Founder Shares included an aggregate of up to 562,500 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor would own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering (assuming the Sponsor did not purchase any Public Shares in the Initial Public Offering). Upon the expiration of the over-allotment option on August 6, 2021, 562,500 Class B ordinary shares were forfeited, resulting in an aggregate of 3,750,000 Founder Shares outstanding.
A total of five anchor investors purchased 7,440,000 units in the Initial Public Offering at the offering price of $10.00 per unit; one anchor investor purchased 2,235,000 units; three anchor
purchased 1,485,000 units; and one anchor investor purchased 750,000 units. The anchor investors have not been granted any shareholder or other rights in addition to those afforded to the Company’s other public shareholders, other than a right of first refusal with respect to any private placement in connection with a Business Combination. Further, the anchor investors are not required to (i) hold any units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants they purchased in the Initial Public Offering, or thereafter, for any amount of time, (ii) vote any Class A ordinary shares they may own at the applicable time in favor of the Business Combination or (iii) refrain from exercising their right to redeem their public shares at the time of the Business Combination. The anchor investors will have the same rights to the funds held in the Trust Account with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the units they purchased in the Initial Public Offering as the rights afforded to the Company’s other public shareholders.Each anchor investor entered into separate anchor commitment letters with the Company and the Sponsor pursuant to which each anchor investor purchased a specified amount of membership interests from the Sponsor at the closing of the Initial Public Offering, subject to such anchor investor’s acquisition of 100% of the units allocated to it by the underwriters in the Initial Public Offering.
F-15
The Sponsor will retain voting and dispositive power over the anchor investors’ founder shares until the consummation of the initial business combination, following which time the Sponsor will distribute such founder shares to the anchor investors (subject to applicable lock-up restrictions). The estimated fair value of the founder shares as of the execution of the anchor commitment letters was $5.38 per share, or $2,994,491 in the aggregate, which was $2,159,708 in excess of the amount paid by anchor investors for this interest.
The initial shareholders have agreed that, subject to certain limited exceptions, the Founder Shares will not be transferred, assigned, or sold until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination or (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds (i) $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, 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 (ii) $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 75 days after a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Promissory Note — Related Party
On February 17, 2021, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note to the Sponsor (the “Promissory Note”), pursuant to which the Company could borrow up to an aggregate of $400,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering. The Promissory Note was non-interest bearing and was payable on the earlier of (i) June 30, 2021 or (ii) the consummation of the Initial Public Offering. The outstanding balance under the Promissory Note of $187,401 was repaid at the closing of the Initial Public Offering on June 25, 2021. No additional borrowings have been made under this arrangement.
Administrative Services Agreement
The Company entered into an agreement, commencing on June 22, 2021, to pay an affiliate of the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for administrative, financial and support services. Upon the completion of a Business Combination, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees. Under this agreement $120,000 and $60,000 of expenses were incurred for the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, $10,000 and $0 amounts related to this agreement were owed to the Sponsor.
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”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds held in the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination is not completed, the Company may use a portion of the proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital 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. The Company has not made any borrowings under the Working Capital Loans through the date of this filing.
F-16
NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS
Registration Rights Agreement
The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans) are entitled to registration rights requiring the Company to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion to Class A ordinary shares). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration 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 and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to 2,250,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments at the Initial Public Offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions, which the underwriter did not exercise and which expired on August 6, 2021.
The underwriter was paid a cash underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $3,000,000 in the aggregate, upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, $0.375 per Unit, or $5,625,000 in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriter for deferred underwriting commissions. 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. The underwriter paid $750,000 to the Company to reimburse certain of the Company’s expenses in connection with the Initial Public Offering.
NOTE 7. WARRANTS
Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination and (b) 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering. The Public Warrants will expire five years from the completion of a Business Combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares 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 covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available, including in connection with a cashless exercise permitted as a result of a notice of redemption. No warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and the Company will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption is available.
F-17
The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than fifteen (15) business days, after the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants. The Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within sixty (60) business days after the closing of a Business Combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares 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 (other than any such period as may be necessary in connection with the preparation and filing of a post-effective amendment to any registration statement following the filing of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for its first completed fiscal year following the consummation of a Business Combination), exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the above, if Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a 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 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, the Company will use its commercially reasonable 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 Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00 - Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except with respect to the Private Placement 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 to each warrant holder; and |
● | if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a -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 (the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). |
The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if the Company is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00 - Once warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
● | in whole and not in part; |
● | at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference based on the redemption date and the fair market value of the Class A ordinary shares, subject to certain exceptions; |
● | if, and only if, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and |
F-18
● | if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), the Private Placement Warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants, as described above. |
The fair market value of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. The Company will provide its warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional ordinary shares 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 ordinary share (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 such 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 Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates 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 described above under “— Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” and “— Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” 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 described above under “— Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” 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 being sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the Sponsor or its 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.
At December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were 5,000,000 Public Warrants and 3,225,000 Private Placement Warrants outstanding. The Company accounts for the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability.
The accounting treatment of derivative financial instruments required that the Company record the warrants as derivative liabilities at fair value upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. The Public Warrants were allocated a portion of the proceeds from the issuance of the Units equal to their fair value. The warrant liabilities are subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liabilities are adjusted to current fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Company’s statement of operations. The Company will reassess the classification at each balance sheet date. If the classification changes as a result of events during the period, the warrants will be reclassified as of the date of the event that causes the reclassification. Refer to Note 9 for additional information on the fair value measurements of these warrants.
NOTE 8. SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
Preferred shares — The Company is authorized to issue 5,000,000 preferred shares with a par value of $0.001 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, 2022 and 2021, there were no preferred shares issued or outstanding.
F-19
Class A ordinary shares — The Company is authorized to issue 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.001 per share. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were 15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares issued and no shares outstanding, excluding 15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption.
Class B ordinary shares — The Company is authorized to issue 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.001 per share. Upon the expiration of the over-allotment option on August 6, 2021, 562,500 Class B ordinary shares were forfeited, resulting in an aggregate of 3,750,000 Founder Shares outstanding. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were 3,750,000 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding.
Class A ordinary shareholders and Class B ordinary shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders and vote together as a single class, except as required by law; provided, that, prior to a Business Combination, holders of the Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint all of the Company’s directors and remove members of the board of directors for any reason, and holders of the Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of a Business Combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in the Initial Public Offering and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which the Class B ordinary shares will convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of all ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering plus all Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination, excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination.
NOTE 9. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENT
The following table presents information about the Company’s financial assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value:
Amount | ||||||||||||
Description |
| at Fair Value |
| Level 1 |
| Level 2 |
| Level 3 | ||||
December 31, 2022 |
|
|
|
| ||||||||
Assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||
Money Market Instruments - U.S. Treasury Securities | $ | 152,348,309 | $ | 152,348,309 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
Liabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||
Warrant liability - Public Warrants | $ | 200,000 | $ | 200,000 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
Warrant liability - Private Placement Warrants | $ | 129,000 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 129,000 |
| Amount |
|
|
| ||||||||
Description | at Fair Value | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | ||||||||
December 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||
Assets |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||
Money Market Instruments - U.S. Treasury Securities | $ | 150,029,994 | $ | 150,029,994 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
Liabilities |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||
Warrant liability - Public Warrants | $ | 4,150,000 | $ | 4,150,000 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
Warrant liability - Private Placement Warrants | $ | 2,709,000 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 2,709,000 |
F-20
The cost basis of the Money Market Instruments – U.S. Treasury Securities held in the Trust Account as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $151,739,777 and $150,023,351, respectively.
The Company utilized a Monte Carlo simulation model for the initial valuation of the Public Warrants. The subsequent measurement of the Public Warrants as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 is classified as Level 1 due to the use of an observable market quote in an active market under the ticker MITAW. The quoted price of the Public Warrants was $0.04 and $0.83 per warrant as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
The Company utilizes a Modified Black-Scholes method to value the Private Placement Warrants at each reporting period, with changes in fair value recognized in the statement of operations. The estimated fair value of the Private Placement Warrants are determined using Level 3 inputs. Inherent in a binomial options pricing model are assumptions related to expected share-price, volatility, expected life, risk-free interest rate and dividend yield. The Company estimates the volatility of its ordinary shares based on historical volatility that matches the expected remaining life of the warrants. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury zero-coupon yield curve on the date of valuation for a maturity similar to the expected remaining life of the warrants. The expected life of the warrants is assumed to be equivalent to their remaining contractual term. The dividend rate is based on the historical rate, which the Company anticipates to remain at zero.
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2, and 3 are recognized at the end of the reporting periods. The estimated fair value of the Public Warrants transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 1 fair value measurement after the Public Warrants were separately listed and traded.
The following table provides the significant inputs to the Modified Black-Scholes method for the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants:
| At December 31, 2022 |
| At December 31, 2021 |
| |||
Stock price | $ | 10.04 | $ | 9.72 | |||
Exercise price | $ | 11.50 | $ | 11.50 | |||
Probability of completing a Business Combination | * | * | |||||
Dividend yield |
| — | % |
| — | % | |
Expected term (in years) |
| 5.48 |
| 6.58 | |||
Volatility |
| 0.50 | % |
| 11.60 | % | |
Risk-free rate |
| 3.98 | % |
| 1.36 | % | |
Fair value of warrants** | $ | 0.04 | $ | 0.84 |
* | The probability of completing a Business Combination is considered within the volatility implied by the traded price of the Public Warrants which is used to value the Private Placement Warrants. |
** | Since the Black-Scholes model did not produce a meaningful volatility for the Private Placement Warrants as of December 31,2022, the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants were set equal to the fair value of the Public Warrants. The fair value of the Private Placement Warrants was $0.04 and $0.84 per warrant as of December 31,2022 and 2021, respectively. |
The following table provides the changes in the fair value of warrants liabilities:
|
|
| Warrant | ||||||
Private Placement | Public | Liabilities | |||||||
Fair value at February 5, 2021 (inception) | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | |||
Initial measurement at June 25, 2021 |
| 4,805,250 |
| 7,350,000 |
| 12,155,250 | |||
Change in fair value |
| (2,096,250) |
| (3,200,000) |
| (5,296,250) | |||
Fair value at December 31, 2021 | $ | 2,709,000 | $ | 4,150,000 | $ | 6,859,000 |
F-21
|
|
| Warrant | ||||||
Private Placement | Public | Liabilities | |||||||
Fair value at January 1, 2022 | $ | 2,709,000 | $ | 4,150,000 | $ | 6,859,000 | |||
Change in fair value |
| (2,580,000) |
| (3,950,000) |
| (6,530,000) | |||
Fair value at December 31, 2022 | $ | 129,000 | $ | 200,000 | $ | 329,000 |
The following table presents the changes in the fair value of the Company’s Level 3 financial instruments that are measured at fair value:
Fair value at February 5, 2021 (inception) |
| $ | — |
Initial measurement at June 25, 2021 |
| 12,155,250 | |
| (5,296,250) | ||
Transfer of Public Warrants to Level 1 measurement |
| (4,150,000) | |
Fair value as of December 31, 2021 | $ | 2,709,000 |
Fair value as of January 1, 2022 |
| $ | 2,709,000 |
Change in fair value |
| (2,580,000) | |
Fair value as of December 31, 2022 | $ | 129,000 |
The Company recognized gains in connection with changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities of $6,530,000 and $5,296,250 within change in fair value of warrant liabilities in the statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from February 5, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, respectively.
NOTE 10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
On March 21, 2023, the Company received a written notice from the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market indicating that the Company was not in compliance with Listing Rule 5550(a)(3), which requires the Company to have at least 300 public holders for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The Company is monitoring the number of holders of its Class A ordinary shares and will consider options available to it to potentially achieve compliance. Refer to the Form 8-K filed with the SEC by the Company on March 27, 2023.
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 the above, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
F-22