E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp. - Quarter Report: 2021 September (Form 10-Q)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large, accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, anon-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 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in of the Exchange Act): Yes  ☒    No  

		Class A Common Stock								Class B Common Stock								Additional Paid-in Capital				Accumulated Deficit				Total Stockholders’ Deficit
		Shares				Amount				Shares				Amount
Balance – January 1, 2021			1,200,000			$	120				15,000,000			$	1,500			$	—			$	(52,311,947	)		$	(52,310,327	)
Net income			—				—				—				—				—				11,291,244				11,291,244
Balance – March 31, 2021 (unaudited)			1,200,000			$	120				15,000,000			$	1,500			$	—			$	(41,020,703	)		$	(41,019,083	)
Net (loss)			—				—				—				—				—				(620,504	)			(620,504	)
Balance – June 30, 2021 (unaudited)			1,200,000			$	120				15,000,000			$	1,500			$	—			$	(41,641,207	)		$	(41,639,587	)
Net income			—				—				—				—				—				5,141,392				5,141,392
Balance – September 30, 2021 (unaudited)			1,200,000			$	120				15,000,000			$	1,500			$	—			$	(36,499,815	)		$	(36,498,195	)

As of September 30, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity through September 30, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation, the initial public offering (“Initial Public Offering”), which is described below, and, subsequent to the Initial Public Offering, searching and identifying a target company for a Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company generates income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering.

Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on August 4, 2020 and the underwriters partial exercise of its over-allotment option on September 4, 2020, an aggregate amount of $600,000,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Placement Units was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) located in the United States and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account, as described below.

The Company will provide its holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “public stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share, plus 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). The amount to be distributed to public stockholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 7). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants.

The Sponsor has agreed (a) to waive its redemption rights with respect to its Founder Shares, Placement Shares and Public Shares, if any, held by it in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (i) that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with a Business Combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or combination activity, unless the Company provides the public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.

The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and in accordance with the instructions to and Regulation of the SEC. Certain information or footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC for interim financial reporting. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes necessary for a complete presentation of financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements include all adjustments, consisting of a normal recurring nature, which are necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, operating results and cash flows for the periods presented.

The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Annual Report on Form for the year ended December 31, 2020 as filed with the SEC on July 2, 2021, which contains the audited financial statements and notes thereto. The financial information as of December 31, 2020 is derived from the audited financial statements presented in the Company’s Annual Report on Form for the year ended December 31, 2020. The interim results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2021 or for any future interim periods.

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 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.

The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable common stock to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Immediately upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount value. The change in the carrying value of redeemable Class A common stock resulted in charges against additional capital and accumulated deficit.

The Company’s taxable income primarily consists of interest income on the Trust Account. The Company’s general and administrative costs are generally considered costs and are not currently deductible. The Company recorded an income tax provision of $0 during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021. The Company’s effective tax rate of 0% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 differs from the expected income tax rate primarily due to the costs (discussed above), which are not currently deductible, and to permanent differences mainly attributable to the change in the fair value of the warrant liabilities.

Note: As of September 30, 2021, basic and diluted shares are the same as there are no securities that are dilutive to the stockholders.

Pursuant to the Initial Public Offering, the Company sold 60,000,000 Units, inclusive of 7,800,000 Units sold to the underwriters on September 4, 2020 upon the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their option to purchase additional Units, at a purchase price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 8).

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 1,200,000 Placement Units at a price of $10.00 per Placement Unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $12,000,000. Each Placement Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock (“Placement Share”) and of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Placement Warrant”). Each whole Placement Warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. The proceeds from the Placement Units were added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Placement Units will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law), and the Placement Units and all underlying securities will expire worthless.

On June 8, 2020, the Sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 to cover certain offering costs of the Company in consideration for 10,062,500 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”). In July 2020, the Company effected a 0.428571 for 1 stock dividend for each share of Class B common stock outstanding, and in July 2020, it further effected a 0.044 for 1 stock dividend for each share of Class B common stock outstanding, resulting in the Sponsor holding an aggregate of 15,007,500 Founder Shares. The Founder Shares include an aggregate of up to 1,957,500 Class B shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor will own, on an 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 and excluding the Placement Units). On September 4, 2020, as a result of the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their option to purchase additional Units, 7,500 Founder Shares were forfeited and 1,950,000 Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture, resulting in an aggregate of 15,000,000 Founder Shares issued and outstanding.

The Sponsor has agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of its Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination or (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any day period commencing at least 150 days after a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Management continues to evaluate the impact of the 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 financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 — The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. At September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.

 — The Company is authorized to issue 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. At September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, there were 1,200,000 shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding, excluding 60,000,000 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption which are presented as temporary equity.

 — In June 2020, the Company amended its Certificate of Incorporation such that the Company is authorized to issue 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. At September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, there were 15,000,000 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding.

Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of stockholders except as required by law. The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of a Business Combination on a basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the Initial Public Offering and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an basis, % of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering (not including the shares of Class A common stock underlying the Placement Units) plus all shares of Class A common stock 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, any private placement-equivalent units and their underlying securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination, any private placement equivalent securities issued to the Sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans made to the Company).

Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the Public Warrants:

The Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Placement Warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or saleable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Placement Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.

Level 1:		Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. An active market for an asset or liability is a market in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.

Level 2:		Observable inputs other than Level 1 inputs. Examples of Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities and quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active.
Level 3:		Unobservable inputs based on an assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.

The Company classifies its U.S. Treasury and equivalent securities as in accordance with ASC 320 “Investments—Debt and Equity Securities.” securities are those securities which the Company has the ability and intent to hold until maturity. treasury securities are recorded at amortized cost on the accompanying condensed balance sheets and adjusted for the amortization or accretion of premiums or discounts.

The Warrants were accounted for as liabilities in accordance with and are presented within warrant liabilities on the accompanying condensed balance sheets. The warrant liabilities are measured at fair value at inception and on a recurring basis, with changes in fair value presented in the condensed statements of operations.

We do not currently believe we will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking due diligence and negotiating our initial Business Combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial Business Combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial Business Combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our Public Shares upon consummation of our initial Business Combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Business Combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the Trust Account. In addition, following our initial Business Combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.

We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered sheet arrangements as of September 30, 2021. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any assets.

We account for our warrants in accordance with the guidance contained in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) under which the warrants that do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, we classify our warrants as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the warrants to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our statement of operations. The fair value of our placement warrants was determined using a Black-Scholes option pricing model. The public warrants for periods where no observable traded price was available are valued using a Monte Carlo simulation model. For periods subsequent to the detachment of the public warrants from the Units, the public warrant quoted market price was used as the fair value as of each relevant date.

In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) 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 method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective January 1, 2022 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. We adopted ASU 2020-06 effective January 1, 2021. The adoption of ASU 2020-06 did not have an impact on our financial statements.

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2021 covered by this Quarterly Report on Form that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. The material weakness discussed below was remediated during the quarter ended September 30, 2021.

We recognize the importance of the control environment as it sets the overall tone for the Company and is the foundation for all other components of internal control. Consequently, we designed and implemented remediation measures to address the material weakness previously identified and enhance our internal control over financial reporting. In light of the material weakness, we 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, including 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. The foregoing actions, which we believe remediated the material weakness in internal control over financial reporting, were implemented during the quarter ended June 30, 2021.

On August 20, 2021, a purported stockholder of the Company filed a putative class action and derivative complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Complaint”) against the Company (as a nominal defendant), the Sponsor, the Company’s directors, executive officers and advisors (collectively, the “Defendants”), captioned Assad v. E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp., et al., No. 1:21-cv-07072 (S.D.N.Y.), alleging breach of certain provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Investment Company Act”) and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Investment Advisors Act”). The Complaint generally asserts that the Company is subject to the Investment Company Act because, among other allegations, the Company invested the proceeds of its initial public offering in securities of the United States government and shares of money market mutual funds. Stemming from this assertion, the Complaint alleges that the contracts pursuant to which certain Defendants purchased the Company’s securities and the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation that creates the rights of the Class B common stock violate the Investment Company Act, and that certain of the Defendants breached their fiduciary duties under the Investment Company Act by paying themselves disproportionate “compensation.” The Complaint also asserts that the Company’s advisors breached certain provisions of the Investment Advisors Act. The Complaint generally seeks, among other things, a declaratory judgment stating that the Company is an investment company under the Investment Company Act and that the Company’s advisors are investment advisers within the meaning of the Investment Advisors Act and the Investment Company Act, rescission of contracts whose formation and performance are alleged to violate the Investment Company Act or Investment Advisor Act, enjoining the conversion of any Class B common stock into Class A common stock, and voiding and requiring the return of all Class B common stock, awarding the Company damages for all compensation paid to the Defendants and awarding costs and expenses incurred in connection with the action. The Defendants believe the claims asserted in the Complaint are without merit and intend to vigorously defend this action.

Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in this Quarterly Report are any of the risks described in our final prospectus filed with the SEC on August 3, 2020 and Annual Report on Form for the year ended December 31, 2020 as filed with the SEC on July 2, 2021. Any of these factors could result in a significant or material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. Additional risk factors not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business or results of operations. As of the date of this Quarterly Report, except for the risk described below, there have been no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in our final prospectus filed with the SEC on August 3, 2020 and Annual Report on Form for the year ended December 31, 2020 as filed with the SEC on July 2, 2021.

In August 2020, we consummated our initial public offering of 52,200,000 Units. Each Unit consists of one public share and of one redeemable warrant (the “Public Warrant”), with each whole Public Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Public Share for $11.50 per share. The Units were sold at a price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds to us of $522,000,000.

A total of $600,000,000 of the proceeds from the initial public offering (which amount includes $21,000,000 of the underwriters’ deferred discount) and the sale of the Public Unit was placed in a U.S.-based trust account maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested by the trustee only in U.S. government securities with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. government treasury obligations and meeting certain conditions under Rule under the Investment Company Act.

The following exhibits are filed as part of, or incorporated by reference into, this Quarterly Report on