Eucrates Biomedical 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
OR
☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number 001-39650
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
British Virgin Islands (State or other jurisdiction of | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
250 West 55th Street, Suite 13D (Address of principal executive offices and zip code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 710-5220
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class |
| Trading |
| Name of each exchange on which registered |
Units, each consisting of one ordinary share, no par value, and one-third of one Warrant |
| EUCRU |
| Nasdaq Capital Market |
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Ordinary shares, no par value |
| EUCR |
| Nasdaq Capital Market |
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Warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share |
| EUCRW |
| Nasdaq Capital Market |
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 ☐ ☒
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. YES ☐ ☒
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. ☒ NO ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). ☒ 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 definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.:
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ |
Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Small reporting company | ☒ |
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| Emerging growth company | ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by the 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 ☐
The aggregate market value of the Registrant’s Class A ordinary shares outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing price for the Class A ordinary shares as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market, was approximately $106,766,297.
As of April 13, 2023, there were 4,206,059 ordinary shares, no par value per share, issued and outstanding.
Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”), references to:
● | “we,” “us” or “our company” are to Eucrates Biomedical Acquisition Corp., a BVI business company with limited liability; |
● | the “BVI” are to the British Virgin Islands; |
● | the “Companies Act” and the “Insolvency Act” are to the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 and the Insolvency Act, 2003 of the British Virgin Islands, respectively and in each case as amended; |
● | “founder shares” are to ordinary shares initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to our initial public offering; |
● | “initial shareholders” are to our sponsor and any of our officers or directors that hold founder shares; |
● | “insider units” are to the units sold to our sponsor and/or its designees upon consummation of our initial public offering; |
● | our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors; |
● | “private units” refer to the insider units; |
● | “ordinary shares” refer to the ordinary shares of no par value in the company; |
● | “private shares” and “private warrants” refer to the ordinary shares and warrants, respectively, included within the private units; |
● | “public shares” are to ordinary shares which were sold as part of the units in our initial public offering and references to “public shareholders” refer to the holders of our public shares, including our initial shareholders to the extent our initial shareholders purchase public shares, provided that their status as “public shareholders” shall exist only with respect to such public shares; |
● | our “sponsor” are to Eucrates LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, the managing members of which are Parag Saxena, our Chief Executive Officer, and Stelios Papadopoulos, our Chairman; and |
● | our “warrants” or “public warrants” are to the warrants which were sold as part of the units in our initial public offering. |
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
This annual report includes, and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may include, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Such statements include, but are not limited to, possible business combinations and the financing thereof, and related matters, as well as all other statements other than statements of historical fact included in this annual report. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those described in our other Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings. Forward-looking statements in this annual 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 a 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, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements; |
● | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
● | our pool of prospective target businesses, including their industry and geographic location; |
● | our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; |
● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential investment opportunities; |
● | delisting of our securities from Nasdaq or an inability to have our securities listed on Nasdaq following a business combination; |
● | 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 or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
● | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
● | our financial performance. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this annual 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 the heading “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.
Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described under the heading “Item 1A. Risk Factors”, alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
● | A significant number of our public shares were redeemed and the funds we have in the trust account are limited. |
● | We may not be able to complete an initial business combination within the required time period. |
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● | Because we are not limited to any particular business or specific geographic location or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’ operations. |
● | We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent accounting firm in connection with our initial business combination. |
● | Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not consummated, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. |
● | Because of our structure, other companies may have a competitive advantage and we may not be able to consummate an attractive business combination. |
● | We may seek investment opportunities with a financially unstable business or in its early stages of development. |
● | If we are deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we may be forced to abandon our efforts to complete an initial business combination and instead be required to liquidate. |
● | Although we identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines. |
● | Our management team and our shareholders may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. |
● | Our management concluded that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.” |
● | Our sponsor controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support. |
● | Past performance by our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in our company or our ability to successfully consummate an initial business combination. |
● | Since our sponsor will lose its entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not consummated and our officers and directors have significant financial interests in us, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular acquisition target is appropriate for our initial business combination. |
● | Our securities may not continue to be listed on Nasdaq in the future, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions. |
● | We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of consummating an initial business combination. |
● | Investors may have difficulty enforcing judgments against our management or our target business. |
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PART I
Item 1. Business.
Introduction
We are a blank check company incorporated on August 21, 2020 as a British Virgin Islands exempted company 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 Report as our initial business combination. We have generated no operating revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial business combination.
We completed our initial public offering on October 27, 2020, and the proceeds of our initial public offering are held in a trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders (in the amount of $12,353,160 as of December 31, 2022). We may use such amounts to help fund our initial business combination, subject to the right of our public shareholders to have their ordinary shares of our company redeemed in connection with our initial business combination.
While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we are focusing on industries that complement our management team’s background, and capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business, focusing on the biomedical or healthcare-related industries. In particular, we are targeting North American and European healthcare companies with the potential to drive transformational change through the convergence of biomedicine and data science, areas in which our management team and Board of Directors have extensive operating, investing and transactional experience.
Company History
On October 27, 2020, we completed our initial public offering of 10,000,000 units. Each unit consists of one ordinary share and one-third of one warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one ordinary share for $11.50 per share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $100,000,000. We granted Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated and H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC, the underwriters of our initial public offering, (the “Representatives”) a 45-day option to purchase up to 1,500,000 additional units to cover over-allotments.
Concurrent with the closing of our initial public offering, pursuant to the Unit Subscription Agreement, dated October 23, 2020, by and between us and our sponsor, we completed the private sale of an aggregate of 350,000 private units, at a purchase price of $10.00 per private unit, generating gross proceeds of $3,500,000. The private units are identical to the units sold in our initial public offering, except that the warrants that are part of the private units are, so long as our sponsor or its permitted transferees hold such warrants, subject to certain transfer restrictions and the holders thereof are entitled to certain registration rights, and: (1) will not be redeemable by us (except as described in the prospectus for our initial public offering); and (2) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis. No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales. The issuance of the private units was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
A total of $100,000,000, comprised of the proceeds from our initial public offering, was placed in a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds in the trust account that may be released to the Company to pay its taxes, the funds held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earlier of: (1) the completion of the Company’s initial business combination within the required time period; (2) the Company’s redemption of 100% of the outstanding public shares if the Company has not completed an initial business combination in the required time period; and (3) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its public shares if the Company does not complete its initial business combination within the required time period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity.
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On November 20, 2020, the Representatives partially exercised the over-allotment option and on November 24, 2020, purchased an additional 479,626 over-allotment units, generating gross proceeds of $4,796,260. In connection with the Representatives’ partial exercise of their over-allotment option, our sponsor purchased an additional 9,592 private units, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $95,925. In connection with the closing and sale of the over-allotment units and 9,592 additional private units (together, the “Over-Allotment Closing”), a total of $4,796,260 comprised of $4,700,335 of the proceeds from the closing and sale of the over-allotment units (which amount included $167,869 of the Representatives’ deferred discount) and $95,925 of the proceeds of the sale of the additional 9,592 private units, was placed in a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.
On December 14, 2020, we announced that holders of the public units may elect to separately trade the ordinary shares and redeemable warrants included in the units. Those units not separated will continue to trade on The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “EUCRU,” and the ordinary shares and redeemable warrants that are separated will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbols “EUCR” and “EUCRW,” respectively.
On October 24, 2022, we held a special meeting (the “Special Meeting”) of shareholders in lieu of the 2022 annual general meeting of shareholders. At the Special Meeting, our shareholders approved a proposal amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which we must consummate an initial business combination from October 27, 2022 to April 27, 2023 (the “Extension Proposal”). In connection with the Extension Proposal, shareholders elected to redeem 9,253,065 ordinary shares, which represented approximately 88% of the shares that were part of the units that were sold in our initial public offering. Following such redemptions, $12,353,117 remained in the trust account and 4,206,059 ordinary shares remained issued and outstanding.
Our Sponsor and Founders
As described in detail in the next section, we have a management team of seasoned executives with a unique blend of complementary skills. Our founders, Stelios Papadopoulos, Parag Saxena, Evangelos Vergetis and Daphne Karydas, have extensive experience in the healthcare and technology sectors and an affiliate of our sponsor, Vedanta Management, is a leading healthcare and technology focused investment firm. Vedanta Management, a private investment management firm with approximately $429 million of regulatory assets under management as of December 31, 2022, Vedanta Management was founded in 2006 by Parag Saxena. At Vedanta Management, Mr. Saxena was joined by other professionals who had worked together with Mr. Saxena at INVESCO Private Capital and its predecessor firms, starting in 1984. Vedanta Management is headquartered in New York City and, along with affiliates, has presence in Silicon Valley and Mumbai. Vedanta’s investment activities are focused on the following:
(i) | Direct private funds that typically invest in venture and/or growth private equity related investments, generally in private companies in expansion to later-stage venture and special situations (the “Direct Funds”). The members of the team at Vedanta (including their time at Invesco and its predecessor firms) have been early backers (first institutional check/early investor) of transformative companies in key sectors: healthcare (Celgene, Amgen, Masimo, Genomic Health, Parexel, ICOS Pharmaceuticals), technology (Metro PCS, ARM, Polycom), and consumer (Starbucks, Costco); and |
(ii) | Private equity funds of funds that invest primarily in direct private funds, which have been typically managed by other top-tier fund groups (the “Funds of Funds”) such as Accel, Kleiner Perkins, Bond Capital, and Union Square Ventures. The Direct Funds platform and Fund of Funds platform complement each other to offer unique access to top tier venture funds for enhanced deal flow and market intelligence. Vedanta Management and its affiliates currently employ eleven professionals in its three locations. Mr. Saxena, our Chief Executive Officer, is the Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta Management, Gonzalo Cordova, our Chief Financial Officer is a Partner at Vedanta Management and Shrikant Sathe, our Senior Vice President, is a General Partner at Vedanta Management. Atanuu Agarrwal, our Vice President, is a former Vice President at New Silk Route Advisors L.P., an affiliate firm of Vedanta Management. We believe that our management team’s operating, investing and transaction experience across the healthcare value chain combined with Vedanta Management’s dedicated in-house resources for corporate finance functions will allow us to form a beneficial partnership with a potential business combination target. |
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Our Board of Directors and Management
We have a management team of seasoned executives with a unique blend of complementary skills. The members of our management team and Board of Directors have successful track records of investing in the healthcare and technology sectors, have extensive operational experience as founders, board members and senior executives of numerous development-stage and commercial-stage companies, and have a deep understanding of data science and its applications within healthcare. Additionally, our team brings unique expertise and perspective in mergers and acquisitions, financings, collaborations and strategic transactions.
We believe that the extensive sector expertise, operational experience and broad network of relationships of our management team and Board of Directors will enable us to add significant value following the consummation of the initial business combination, if appropriate, from one or more of the following perspectives, including: (i) assisting in developing strategic direction and identifying operational priorities; (ii) applying our deep understanding of data science and its potential applications within healthcare to specific operational objectives; (iii) facilitating relationships with key industry executives and potential strategic partners; (iv) bringing unique expertise and perspective in financings, mergers and acquisitions, collaborations and strategic transactions; (v) contributing market information; and (vi) applying significant public company strategic, governance and capital markets experience. Furthermore, our management team believes that our track record of operational execution as founders, board members and senior executives will enable us to implement value creation initiatives that drive growth following the initial business combination.
Experience with Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicles
Our management team has previous experience in the execution of public acquisition vehicles. Mr. Saxena was the Chairman of Tenzing Acquisition Corp., Mr. Cordova was the Chief Financial Officer of Tenzing Acquisition Corp. and Mr. Agarrwal was the Vice President of Tenzing Acquisition Corp. Tenzing Acquisition Corp. was a special purpose acquisition company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. In December 2020, Tenzing Acquisition Corp. consummated a business combination with Reviva Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing therapies that address unmet medical needs in the areas of central nervous system, cardiovascular, metabolic and inflammatory diseases. The ordinary shares and warrants of the combined company, Reviva Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc., are listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “RVPH” and “RVPHW”, respectively. Mr. Saxena currently serves as the Chairman of the board of directors of Reviva Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. and Ms. Karydas serves as an advisor to Reviva Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. Our founders and our directors and officers, Vedanta Management, or its affiliates, expect in the future to become affiliated with other public special public acquisition companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours. See “Risk Factors-Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them 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 allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
The past performance of the members of our management team or their affiliates, including Tenzing Acquisition Corp. and Vedanta Management, is not a guarantee that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record or the performance of our management team, Vedanta Management or any of their affiliates’ or managed fund’s performance as indicative of our future performance.
Industry Opportunity
While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, our focus is on healthcare-related companies in North America and Europe with the potential to drive transformational change, particularly through the convergence of biomedicine and data science, areas in which our management team and Board of Directors have extensive operational, investing and transactional experience.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated that National Health Expenditures (NHE) in the United States exceeded $4.3 trillion in 2021, or $12,914 per person, and accounted for 18.3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021. This organization projects that the share of NHE in GDP will reach 19.6% in 2030, such that the U.S. will retain the highest level by far among high income countries. Despite this substantial level of spending, the United States does not achieve commensurate outcomes. There are several reasons contributing to this imbalance. We believe the main reason is that decisions on spending for healthcare are not necessarily informed by an alignment of cost and expected outcomes.
As a result of these industry-wide dynamics, the healthcare industry is primed for new technologies and business models to address the prevailing challenges associated with poor outcomes, reduced access to care and escalating costs. We believe that
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successful companies in this environment will be data-driven, operationally efficient, focused on preventative care and will be able to transfer best-in-class practices and standards across the entirety of the healthcare value chain. We see opportunities for companies that can provide disruptive innovation by benefiting from scientific and technological advances in areas including biopharmaceutical development, digital health, wellness, healthcare services and medical technology.
Critical to addressing these challenges will be the interface and convergence of data science and technology with biomedicine. Companies that leverage advances in data science have the potential to re-shape the existing healthcare landscape. Biomedicine in particular has been able to meaningfully profit from a number of the key benefits data science provides. The latest technological developments in data generation, collection and analysis have raised expectations for the entire research community and have improved meaningfully the speed, cost and accuracy of product development. These outcomes have shown a direct ability to reduce research and development costs and ultimately provide better outcomes for the patient and healthcare system at large. This convergence will transform every aspect of healthcare by enabling solutions aimed at preventing rather than treating disease, ensuring better outcomes, increased access and lower costs.
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic presented a health, social and economic crisis. Solutions offered by the healthcare industry through innovations in vaccines, pharmaceuticals and treatment protocols were incorporated into medical practice, saving lives and allowing the economy to resume functioning in a normal manner. At the same time the crisis represented a catalytic event served to redefine human interaction and communication in both, the personal and professional settings. In the healthcare space, virtual contacts among professionals as well as patients with providers have been adopted at a pace far greater than what would have happened under normal circumstances.
The COVID-19 pandemic also caused a re-alignment in asset allocation across the institutional investment community. Global portfolio managers seeking higher rates of return are deploying capital to sectors driven by growth and innovation. Healthcare and technology, direct beneficiaries of this thematic shift in portfolio construction, have outperformed the broader markets during the pandemic environment and may continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Recent robust levels of fund inflows into healthcare fund management is evidence of this phenomenon. Innovation is driving out-sized investment returns.
We believe that current market dynamics support our differentiated ability to identify and nurture private companies that embody the convergence of data science and biomedicine. We believe that our investment vehicle will be an attractive alternative for such companies given the depth and breadth of our team’s experience. Partnering with our vehicle can be an efficient means to unlocking innovation value through the public markets.
Acquisition Strategy
We believe our management team is well-positioned to identify unique opportunities in the healthcare sector, particularly in areas in which biomedicine and data science converge. Our selection leverages our extensive network of relationships with senior executives in private and public companies, unique access to deal flow from top-tier venture capital and private equity funds, leading investment banking firms and the Vedanta Management Fund of Funds platform. We believe that our management team’s reputation, depth of operating and investing experience, history of structuring and executing mergers and acquisitions and other transactions, as well as Vedanta Management’s track record of making investments in the healthcare and technology sectors, will make us a preferred partner for these potential targets.
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following criteria to evaluate prospective target businesses. We are seeking to acquire companies that we believe are characterized by one or more of the themes below:
● | Biomedicine: Data-driven approaches to accelerate the drug discovery and development process; the collection and analysis of real-world evidence to inform expanded or novel uses of existing drugs; novel biologies in pursuit of solutions for diseases that have been largely intractable to date; |
● | Medical technology & diagnostics: Medical devices demonstrating improved outcomes and cost savings; rapid and easy to manufacture diagnostics for the purpose of improving decision-making as well as access; “smart” medical devices and technologies that leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to create efficiencies to alleviate overburdened hospitals and clinics; real-time monitoring devices including wearables to enable better timing for desired intervention; data-driven approaches to accurately diagnose disease and assist in selection of treatment modalities; |
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● | Healthcare services: Improved clinical decision support systems; platforms for better treatment strategies; outpatient facilities with lower cost structures and focus on outcomes-based delivery; specialized care centers with agile workforce; optimization of emergency services and rapid deployment of first responders. |
Any company that we select as a merger candidate, in addition to being characterized by one or more of the areas of focus described above, should be ready to be a publicly traded company, with strong management and reporting policies in place. Lastly, we would expect the company to have unrecognized value or growth characteristics that we believe are likely to be appreciated by the market in the short term, thus enabling above-average risk-adjusted returns.
Initial Business Combination
We have until April 27, 2023 to consummate our initial business combination. If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within the applicable time period, we will, as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than five business days thereafter, redeem the public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account and as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under BVI law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such event, the warrants will be worthless.
Nasdaq rules provide that our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of signing the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses or we are considering an initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), or an independent valuation or accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. While we consider it unlikely that our board will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of a target business or businesses, it may be unable to do so if the board is less familiar or experienced with the target company’s business, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the company’s assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the target business meets the 80% of net assets threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our shareholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to shareholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed transaction will include such opinion.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-business combination company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to the completion of 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-business combination company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking shareholder approval, as applicable. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
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Other Considerations
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with Vedanta Management or our sponsor, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with Vedanta Management, our sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent valuation or accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Affiliates of Vedanta Management and members of our board of directors directly and indirectly own founder shares and private units of our company and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers or directors were to be included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Vedanta Management is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with our company. We will not consider a business combination with any company that has already been identified to Vedanta Management as a suitable acquisition candidate for it, unless Vedanta Management, in its sole discretion, declines such potential business combination or makes available to our company a co-investment opportunity in accordance with Vedanta Management’s applicable existing and future policies and procedures. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.
Vedanta Management may manage multiple investment vehicles and raise additional funds and/or successor funds in the future, which may be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. These Vedanta Management investment entities may be seeking acquisition opportunities and related financing at any time. We may compete with any one or more of them on any given acquisition opportunity.
Our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, certain of our founders, officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities, including without limitation, any future special purpose acquisition companies we expect they may be involved in, investment funds, accounts, co-investment vehicles and other entities managed by affiliates of Vedanta Management and certain companies in which Vedanta Management or such entities have invested. As a result, if any of our founders, officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he, she or it has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations (including, without limitation, any future special purpose acquisition companies we expect they may be involved in, any Vedanta Management funds or other investment vehicles), then, subject to their fiduciary duties under British Virgin 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 funds or investment entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. In addition, investment ideas generated within or presented to Vedanta Management or our founders may be suitable for both us and a current or future Vedanta Management fund, portfolio company or other investment entity and, subject to applicable fiduciary duties, will first be directed to such fund, portfolio company or other entity before being directed, if at all, to us. None of Vedanta Management, our founders or any members of our board of directors who are also employed by Vedanta Management or its affiliates have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware solely in their capacities as officers or executives of Vedanta Management.
However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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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 a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock in the target business for our ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. 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 (i.e., October 27, 2025), (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 are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.
Financial Position
We have funds available for a business combination in the amount of approximately $12,353,160 as of December 31, 2022, assuming no redemptions and after payment of up to $3,667,869 of deferred underwriting fees, before estimated offering expenses. We intend to complete our initial business combination using a combination of our cash, debt or equity securities. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
General
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering, the sale of the private units, our equity, 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.
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If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our ordinary shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-business combination company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. We are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.
Sources of Target Business
Our process of identifying acquisition targets leverages Vedanta Management’s and our management team’s unique industry experiences, proven deal sourcing capabilities and broad and deep network of relationships in numerous industries, including executives and management teams, private equity groups and other institutional investors, large business enterprises, lenders, investment bankers and other investment market participants, restructuring advisers, consultants, attorneys and accountants, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. We expect that the collective experience, capability and network of Vedanta Management, our founders, directors and officers, combined with their individual and collective reputations in the investment community, will help to create prospective business combination opportunities.
In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and private investment funds. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this Report and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions.
While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of a finder’s fee is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation by the company prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). None of our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be allowed to receive any compensation, finder’s fees or consulting fees from a prospective business combination target in connection with a contemplated acquisition of such target by us. We have agreed to reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-business combination company following our initial business combination.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with Vedanta Management or our sponsor, founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with Vedanta Management, our sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent valuation or accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
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Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including any future special purpose acquisition companies we expect they may be involved in and entities that are affiliates of our sponsor, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under British Virgin Islands law.
Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of a Business Combination
Subject to the requirement that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses or assets having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned and less any interest earned thereon that is released to us for taxes) at the time of the agreement to enter into such initial business combination, 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 with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations. In any case, we will only consummate an initial business combination in which we become the majority shareholder of the target (or control the target through contractual arrangements in limited circumstances for regulatory compliance purposes as discussed below) or are otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. 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 may not properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we have conducted and will continue to conduct an extensive due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and inspection of facilities, as well as review of financial and other information which is made available to us. This due diligence review will be conducted either by our management or by unaffiliated third parties we may engage, although we have no current intention to engage any such third parties.
The time and costs required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete the business combination cannot presently be ascertained with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which business combination is not ultimately completed will result in a loss to us and reduce the amount of capital available to otherwise complete a business combination.
Fair Market Value of Target Business or Businesses
The target business or businesses or assets with which we effect our initial business combination must have a collective fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned and less any interest earned thereon that is released to us for taxes) at the time of the agreement to enter into such initial business combination. If we acquire less than 100% of one or more target businesses in our initial business combination, the aggregate fair market value of the portion or portions we acquire must equal at least 80% of the value of the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned and less any interest earned thereon that is released to us for taxes) at the time of the agreement to enter into such initial business combination. However, we will always acquire at least a controlling interest in a target business. The fair market value of a portion of a target business or assets will likely be calculated by multiplying the fair market value of the entire business by the percentage of the target we acquire. We may seek to consummate our initial business combination with an initial target business or businesses with a collective fair market value in excess of the balance in the trust account. In order to consummate such an initial business combination, we may issue a significant amount of debt, equity or other securities to the sellers of such business and/or seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt, equity or other securities. If we issue securities in order to consummate such an initial business combination, our shareholders could end up owning a minority of the combined company’s voting securities as there is no requirement that our shareholders own a certain percentage of our company (or, depending on the structure of the initial business combination, an ultimate parent company that may be formed) after our business combination. Since we have no specific business combination under consideration, we have not entered into any such arrangement to issue our debt or equity securities and have no current intention of doing so.
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We anticipate structuring our initial business combination to acquire 100% of the equity interest or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination to acquire less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business, but we will only consummate such business combination if we will become the majority shareholder of the target (or control the target through contractual arrangements in limited circumstances for regulatory compliance purposes) or are otherwise not required to register as an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even though we will own a majority interest in the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination.
The fair market value of a target business or businesses or assets will be determined by our board of directors based upon standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as actual and potential gross margins, the values of comparable businesses, earnings and cash flow, book value and, where appropriate, upon the advice of appraisers or other professional consultants. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine that the target business or assets has a sufficient fair market value to meet the threshold criterion, we will obtain an opinion from an unaffiliated, independent investment banking firm or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criterion. Notwithstanding the foregoing, unless we consummate a business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
● | subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination; and |
● | cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services. |
Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
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Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve our Initial Business Combination
For so long as we are deemed to be a foreign private issuer, we will conduct redemptions in accordance with the SEC’s tender offer rules. Although we may seek shareholder approval before we effect our initial business combination so long as we are not deemed to be a foreign private issuer at such time, we may not do so for business or legal reasons (so long as such transaction does not require shareholder approval under the Companies Act or the rules of Nasdaq). Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether we expect shareholder approval would be required under the Companies Act for each such transactions.
Type of Transaction |
| Whether |
|
Purchase of assets | No | ||
Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company | No | ||
Merger of target with a subsidiary of the company | No | ||
Merger of the company with a target | Yes | ||
Entering into contractual agreements with a target to obtain control | No |
Additionally, under Nasdaq’s listing rules, shareholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
● | we issue (other than in a public offering for cash) ordinary shares that will either (a) be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of ordinary shares then issued and outstanding (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private units) or (b) have voting power equal to or in excess of 20% of the voting power then issued and outstanding (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private units); |
● | 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 ordinary 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. |
We also may be required to obtain shareholder approval if we wish to take certain actions in connection with our initial business combination such as adopting an incentive stock plan or amending our charter.
The Companies Law and British Virgin 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.
The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and legal reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
● | the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company; |
● | the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote; |
● | the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination; |
● | other time and budget constraints of the company; and |
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● | additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders. |
Redemption rights for public shareholders upon consummation of our initial business combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion their shares upon the consummation 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, including interest (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account as of December 31, 2022 is approximately $10.07 per share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their right to receive liquidating distributions if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the requisite time period. However, if our initial shareholders or any of our officers, directors or affiliates acquires public shares, they will be entitled to receive liquidating distributions with respect to such public shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the required time period.
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 (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer.
We intend to hold a shareholder vote in connection with our business combination (unless we are deemed to be a foreign private issuer at such time). In such case, we will:
● | conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and |
● | file proxy materials with the SEC. |
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 consummation of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval (assuming we are not deemed to be a foreign private issuer at such time), we will consummate our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding ordinary shares voted are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, private shares and any public shares purchased in favor of our initial business combination and our officers and directors have also agreed to vote any public shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial business combination. Our initial shareholders, officers and directors currently hold 62.3% of our outstanding ordinary shares. As a result we will not need any of the public shares currently outstanding to be voted in favor of a transaction in order to have our initial business combination approved. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination.
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 upon the consummation of our initial business combination. Furthermore, the redemption threshold may be further limited by the terms and conditions of our initial business combination. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares and the related business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote in conjunction with their initial business combination for business or other legal reasons (so long as shareholder approval is not required by the Companies Act or the rules of Nasdaq), or if we are deemed to be a foreign private issuer at such time, we will conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. In such case, we will:
● | offer to redeem our public shares 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 consummating our initial business combination which will 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, and we will not be permitted to consummate our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. |
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem shall remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act.
In connection with the successful consummation of our business combination, we may redeem pursuant to a tender offer up to that number of ordinary shares that would permit us to maintain net tangible assets of $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination. However, the redemption threshold may be further limited by the terms and conditions of our proposed initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or members of its management team, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the allocation of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares that are validly tendered 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 consummate the business combination, we will not purchase any shares pursuant to the tender offer and all shares will be returned to the holders thereof following the expiration of the tender offer. Additionally, since we are required to maintain net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon the consummation of our initial business combination (which may be substantially higher depending on the terms of our initial business combination), the chance that the holders of our ordinary shares electing to redeem in connection with a redemption conducted pursuant to the proxy rules will cause us to fall below such minimum requirement is increased.
When we conduct a tender offer to redeem our public shares upon consummation of our initial business combination, in order to comply with the tender offer rules, the offer will be made to all of our shareholders, not just our public shareholders. Our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares, private shares and public shares in connection with any such tender offer.
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Limitation on redemption rights upon consummation of our initial business combination if we seek shareholder approval (assuming we are not deemed to be a foreign private issuer at such time)
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules (assuming we are not deemed to be a foreign private issuer at such time), our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, individually or 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 seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering. 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 as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our 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 consummate our initial business combination, particularly in connection with our initial business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those shareholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering) for or against our initial business combination. We will resolve any disputes relating to whether a public shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” either by requiring certifications under the penalty of perjury to such effect by public shareholders or via adjudication in court.
Permitted purchases of our securities by our affiliates
If we seek shareholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules (assuming we are not deemed to be foreign private issuer at such time), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the consummation of our initial business combination. Such a purchase would 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. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. Although very unlikely, our initial shareholders, officers, directors and their affiliates could purchase sufficient shares so that the initial business combination may be approved without the majority vote of public shares held by non-affiliates. It is intended that purchases will comply with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act, 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 purchases would be to (1) increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or (2) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of the business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the consummation of an initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
As a consequence of any such purchases, the public “float” of our ordinary shares may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain the listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange following consummation of a business combination.
Tendering share certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights
We will 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 expiration date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or in the event we distribute proxy materials, up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. 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 days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
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There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders’ vote on our initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him to deliver his certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an “option window” after the consummation of the business combination during which he could monitor the price of the company’s shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he could sell his shares in the open market before actually delivering his shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the shareholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the consummation of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery at or prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or the date of the shareholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If the 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 consummated, we may continue to try to consummate our initial business combination with a different target by April 27, 2023.
Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination by April 27, 2023. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate our initial business combination within such time period. If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by April 27, 2023, we will, as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than five business days thereafter, distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (net of taxes payable), pro rata to our public shareholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up of our affairs. This redemption of public shareholders from the trust account shall be effected as required by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and prior to any voluntary winding up, although at all times subject to the Companies Act.
Following the redemption of public shares, we intend to enter “voluntary liquidation” which is the statutory process for formally closing and dissolving a company under the laws of the British Virgin Islands. Given that we intend to enter voluntary liquidation following the redemption of public shareholders from the trust account, we do not expect that the voluntary liquidation process will cause any delay to the payment of redemption proceeds from our trust account. In connection with such a voluntary liquidation, the liquidator would give notice to creditors inviting them to submit their claims for payment, by notifying known creditors (if any) who have not submitted claims and by placing a public advertisement in at least one newspaper published in the British Virgin Islands newspaper and in at least one newspaper circulating in the location where the company has its principal place of business, and taking any other steps he considers appropriate to identify the company’s creditors, after which our remaining assets would be distributed. As soon as the affairs of the company are fully wound-up, the liquidator must complete his statement of account and make a notification filing with the Registrar of Corporate Affairs in the British Virgin Islands (the “Registrar”). We would be dissolved once the Registrar issues a Certificate of Dissolution.
Our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and private shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the applicable period from the closing of our initial public offering.
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However, if our initial shareholders, or any of our officers, directors or affiliates acquires public shares, they will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to such public shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the required time period. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless in the event we do not consummate our initial business combination by April 27, 2023. We will pay the costs of our liquidation from our remaining assets outside of the trust account or interest earned on the funds held in the trust account. However, the liquidator may determine that he or she requires additional time to evaluate creditors’ claims (particularly if there is uncertainty over the validity or extent of the claims of any creditors). Also, a creditor or shareholder may file a petition with the BVI court which, if successful, may result in our liquidation being subject to the supervision of that court. Such events might delay distribution of some or all of our remaining assets.
Additionally, in any liquidation proceedings of the company under British Virgin Islands law, the funds held in our trust account may be included in our estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any such claims deplete the trust account we may not be able to return to our public shareholders the liquidation amounts payable to them.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private units, 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. The actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00, plus interest (net of any taxes payable).
Although we have sought and will continue to seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor agreed that it will be liable to us, if and to the extent any claims by a vendor 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 amounts in the trust account to below $10.00 per share, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of 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, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. However, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. Other than as described above, none of our other officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy his indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We believe the likelihood of our sponsor having to indemnify the trust account is limited because we will endeavor to have all vendors and prospective target businesses as well as other entities execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account.
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In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below $10.00 per share and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy any applicable 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. Even if they do take such action, our sponsor may not have the resources to indemnify us. Accordingly, due to claims of creditors, the actual value of the per-share redemption price may be less than $10.00 per share.
We seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor has to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We have access to up to approximately $18,865 as of December 31, 2022, not placed in the trust account, and the interest income earned on the balance of the trust account (net of taxes payable) with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors.
If we are deemed insolvent for the purposes of the Insolvency Act (i.e. (i) we fail to comply with the requirements of a statutory demand that has not been set aside under section 157 of the Insolvency Act; (ii) execution or other process issued on a judgment, decree or order of a British Virgin Islands Court in favor of a creditor of the company is returned wholly or partly unsatisfied; or (iii) either the value of the company’s liabilities exceeds its assets, or the company is unable to pay its debts as they fall due), then there are very limited circumstances where prior payments made to shareholders or other parties may be deemed to be a “voidable transaction” for the purposes of the Insolvency Act. A voidable transaction would include, for these purposes, payments made as “unfair preferences” or “transactions at an undervalue”. A liquidator appointed over an insolvent company who considers that a particular transaction or payment is a voidable transaction under the Insolvency Act could apply to the British Virgin Islands Courts for an order setting aside that payment or transaction in whole or in part.
Additionally, if we enter insolvent liquidation under the Insolvency Act, the funds held in our trust account will likely be included in our 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 you may not be able to return to our public shareholders the liquidation amounts due them.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of a redemption of the public shares prior to any winding up in the event we do not consummate our initial business combination by April 27, 2023, (ii) if they redeem their shares in connection with an initial business combination that we consummate or (iii) if they redeem their shares 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 redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by April 27, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity. In no other circumstances shall a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above.
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Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we have encountered and may continue to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups, venture capital funds leveraged buyout funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have significant experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses is limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, the requirement that we acquire a target business or businesses having a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned and less any interest earned thereon that is released to us for taxes) at the time of the agreement to enter into the business combination, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating our initial business combination.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at 250 West 55th Street, Suite 13D, New York, New York 10019. Such space, utilities and secretarial and administrative services will be provided to us free of charge. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have four officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs and intend to continue doing so until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
Our units, ordinary shares and warrants are registered under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, this Report contains financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
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 must be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or IFRS and the historical financial statements must be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and consummate our initial business combination within our 24 month time frame.
We are required to have our internal control procedures evaluated for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes Oxley Act”). A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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.
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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 (i.e., October 27, 2025), (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 are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. In connection with any actual or proposed investment in our securities, you should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Report. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition or results may be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. The risk factors described below are not necessarily exhaustive and you are encouraged to perform your own investigation with respect to us and our business.
Risks Relating to our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
A significant number of public shares were redeemed in connection with the Extension Proposal.
As a result of the significant number of redemptions of public shares in connection with the Extension Proposal, there was, at December 31, 2022, $12,353,160 held in the trust account. We do not know how many public shareholders will ultimately exercise their redemption rights in connection with our initial business combination. If we consummate a business combination, we may require additional financing to consummate the acquisition and to subsequently fund the operations and growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on our ability to consummate an initial business combination, as well as on the continued development and growth of the target business. None of our sponsor, initial shareholders, officers, directors or their affiliates is required to provide any financing to us after any initial business combination.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination by April 27, 2023 may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating our initial business combination and may limit the amount of time we have to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to consummate our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning our initial business combination will be aware that we must consummate our initial business combination by April 27, 2023. Consequently, such target businesses may obtain leverage over us in negotiating our initial business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
We may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within the required time period, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination by April 27, 2023. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate our initial business combination within such time period. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused market disruptions both in the U.S. and globally during the time since our inception and, while the full extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
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If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within the require time period, we will, as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than five business days thereafter, distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (net of taxes payable), pro rata to our public shareholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up of our affairs, as further described herein. This redemption of public shareholders from the trust account shall be effected as required by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and prior to any voluntary winding up.
If the net proceeds of our initial public offering not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least until April 27, 2023, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
The funds available to us outside of the trust account, plus the interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be available to us, may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least until April 27, 2023, assuming that our initial business combination is not consummated during that time. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed initial business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we are unable to fund such down payments or “no shop” provisions, our ability to close a contemplated transaction could be impaired. Furthermore, if we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share or potentially less than $10.00 per share on our redemption, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by April 27, 2023, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond April 27, 2023 before redemption from our trust account.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by April 27, 2023, we will, as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than five business days thereafter, distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (net of taxes payable), pro rata to our public shareholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up of our affairs by way of a voluntary liquidation, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account shall be effected as required by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to our commencing any voluntary liquidation. If we are required to liquidate prior to distributing the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (net of taxes payable ) pro rata to our public shareholders, then such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond April 27, 2023 before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. Except as otherwise described herein, we have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of any redemption required as a result of our failure to consummate our initial business combination within the period described above or our liquidation, unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their ordinary shares. Only upon any such redemption of public shares as we are required to effect or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination.
Because we are not limited to any particular business or specific geographic location or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’ operations.
Although we intend to focus on businesses focusing on the biomedical or healthcare-related industries, we may pursue acquisition opportunities in any geographic region and in any business industry or sector. Except for the limitations that a target business have a fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned and less any interest earned thereon that is released to us for taxes) and that we are not permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations, we will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective acquisition candidate. Because we have not yet identified or approached any specific target business with respect to our initial business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we consummate our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially
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unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. An investment in our units may not ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in an acquisition target.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent accounting firm, and consequently, an independent source may not confirm that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we consummate our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Our board of directors will have significant discretion in choosing the standard used to establish the fair market value of the target acquisition. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not consummated, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting, and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents, and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to consummate our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share or potentially less than $10.00 per share on our redemption, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may only be able to complete one initial business combination with the proceeds of our initial public offering, and the sale of the private units, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business, which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately $12,353,160 in the trust account that we may use to complete our initial business combination.
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By consummating our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities, which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
● | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or |
● | dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
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We may attempt to simultaneously consummate business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to consummate our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete the initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike most blank check companies, if (x) we issue additional shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our founders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our founders or their 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 our initial business combination on the date of the completion of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we complete our initial 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, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the newly issued price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
Holders of warrants will not participate in liquidating distributions if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time period.
If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time period and we liquidate the funds held in the trust account, the warrants will expire and holders will not receive any of such proceeds with respect to the warrants. In this case, holders of warrants are treated in the same manner as holders of warrants of blank check companies whose units are comprised of shares and warrants, as the warrants in those companies do not participate in liquidating distributions. Nevertheless, the foregoing may provide a financial incentive to public shareholders to vote in favor of any proposed initial business combination as their warrants would entitle the holder to purchase ordinary shares, resulting in an increase in their overall economic stake in our company. If an initial business combination is not approved, the warrants will expire and will be worthless.
We intend to offer each public shareholder the option to vote in favor of the proposed business combination and still seek redemption of such shareholders’ shares.
In connection with any meeting held to approve an initial business combination, we will offer each public shareholder (but not our initial shareholders, officers or directors) the right to have his, her or its ordinary shares redeemed for cash (subject to the limitations described elsewhere in this Report) regardless of whether such shareholder votes for or against such proposed business combination; provided that a shareholder must in fact vote for or against a proposed business combination in order to have his, her or its ordinary shares redeemed for cash. If a shareholder fails to vote for or against a proposed business combination, that shareholder would not be able to have his ordinary shares so redeemed. We will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation and a majority of the outstanding ordinary shares voted are voted in favor of the business combination. This is different than other similarly structured blank check companies where shareholders are offered the right to redeem their shares only when they vote against a proposed business combination. This threshold and the ability to seek redemption while voting in favor of a proposed business combination may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.
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Because of our structure, other companies may have a competitive advantage and we may not be able to consummate an attractive business combination.
We expect to encounter intense competition from entities other than blank check companies having a business objective similar to ours, including private equity groups, venture capital funds, leveraged buyout funds and operating businesses competing for acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. Therefore, our ability to compete in acquiring certain sizable target businesses may be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, seeking shareholder approval of our initial business combination may delay the consummation of a transaction. Any of the foregoing may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating our initial business combination.
The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association relating to the rights and obligations attaching to our ordinary shares may be amended prior to the consummation of our initial business combination with the approval of the holders of 65% (or 50% if for the purposes of approving, or in conjunction with, the consummation of our initial business combination) of our outstanding ordinary shares attending and voting on such amendment at the relevant meeting, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of many blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the consummation of our initial business combination that a significant number of our shareholders may not support.
Many blank check companies have a provision in their charter, which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those, which relate to a company’s pre-business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s shareholders. Typically, amendment of these provisions requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s public shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, its provisions related to pre-business combination activity and the rights and obligations attaching to the ordinary shares, may be amended if approved by holders of 65% (or 50% if approved in connection with our initial business combination) of our outstanding ordinary shares attending and voting on such amendment. Prior to our initial business combination, if we seek to amend any provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, we will provide dissenting public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with any such vote on any proposed amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Other provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may be amended prior to the consummation of our initial business combination if approved by a majority of the votes of shareholders attending and voting on such amendment or by resolution of the directors. Following the consummation of our initial business combination, the rights and obligations attaching to our ordinary shares and other provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may be amended if approved by a majority of the votes of shareholders attending and voting on such amendment or by resolution of the directors. Our initial shareholders, who beneficially own approximately 62.3% of our ordinary shares, will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination and the rights and obligations attaching to the ordinary shares behavior more easily that many blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to consummate our initial business combination with which you do not agree. However, we and our directors and officers have agreed not to propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance and timing of our obligation to redeem the public shares of any public shareholder without the consent of that holder, if we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by April 27, 2023.
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Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The United States federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements must be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or International Financial Reporting Standard as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, and the historical financial statements must be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and consummate our initial business combination within our 24 month time frame.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target company with which we seek to complete our business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
We may re-domicile or continue out of the British Virgin Islands into, another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business or re-domicile or continue out of from the British Virgin Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction would likely govern all of our material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital. Any such reincorporation and the international nature of our business will likely subject us to foreign regulation.
We may seek investment opportunities with a financially unstable business or in its early stages of development.
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. These risks include volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
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Subsequent to our consummation of our initial business combination, we may be required to subsequently take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our share price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct thorough due diligence on a target business with which we combine, this diligence may not surface all material issues that may be present inside a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 3,493,208 of our ordinary shares, as part of the units offered in our initial public offering, and warrants to purchase 119,864 of our ordinary shares, as part of a private placement, in each case, at a price of $11.50 per share. In addition, our initial shareholders, officers and directors or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, make certain loans to us, up to $1,500,000 of which may be converted upon consummation of our initial business combination into additional private units at a price of $10.00 per unit (which, for example, would result in the holders being issued 150,000 ordinary shares if $1,500,000 of notes were so converted as well as warrants to purchase 50,000 shares). To the extent we issue ordinary shares to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding ordinary shares and reduce the value of the ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
If we are deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we may be forced to abandon our efforts to complete an initial business combination and instead be required to liquidate the Company. To mitigate the risk of that result, we instructed Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company to liquidate the securities held in the trust account and instead hold all funds in the trust account in cash. As a result, we will likely receive minimal, if any, interest, on the funds held in the trust account, which would reduce the dollar amount that our public shareholders would receive upon any redemption or liquidation of the Company.
On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules (the “SPAC Rule Proposals”) relating to, among other matters, to the circumstances in which special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) such as us could potentially be subject to the Investment Company Act of 1940. The SPAC Rule Proposals would provide a safe harbor for such companies from the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, provided that a SPAC satisfies certain criteria. To comply with the duration limitation of the proposed safe harbor, a SPAC would have a limited time period to announce and complete an initial business combination. Specifically, to comply with the safe harbor, the SPAC Rule Proposals would require a SPAC to file a Current Report on Form 8-K announcing that it has entered into an agreement with a target company for an initial business combination no later than 18 months after the effective date of the registration statement for its initial public offering. The SPAC would then be required to complete its initial business combination no later than 24 months after the effective date of its IPO registration statement.
There is currently uncertainty concerning the applicability of the Investment Company Act to a SPAC, including a company like ours that does not complete its initial business combination within the proposed time frame set forth in the proposed safe harbor rule. As a result, it is possible that a claim could be made that we have been operating as an unregistered investment company. If we were deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we might be forced to abandon our efforts to complete an initial business combination and instead be required to liquidate the Company. If we are required to liquidate the Company, our investors would not be able to realize the benefits of owning shares in a successor operating business, including the potential appreciation in the value of our shares and warrants or rights following such a transaction, and our warrants or rights would expire and become worthless.
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The funds in the trust account had, since our initial public offering, been held only in U.S. “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. To mitigate the risk of us being deemed to have been operating as an unregistered investment company (including under the subjective test of Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended), in October 2022 we instructed Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the trustee with respect to the trust account, to liquidate the U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds held in the trust account and thereafter to hold all funds in the trust account in cash (i.e., in one or more bank accounts) until the earlier of the completion of an initial business combination or our liquidation. This means that the amount available for redemption will not increase in the future, and we will likely receive minimal, if any, interest, on the funds held in the trust account, which would reduce the dollar amount that our public shareholders would receive upon any redemption or liquidation of the Company.
Risks Relating to the Post-Business Combination Company
Purchases of ordinary shares in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions by our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may make it difficult for us to maintain the listing of our ordinary shares on a national securities exchange following the consummation of an initial business combination.
If our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase ordinary shares in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, the public “float” of our ordinary shares and the number of beneficial holders of our securities would both be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain the listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange following consummation of the initial business combination.
Although we identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified specific criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we consummate our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law or the rules of Nasdaq, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons, and we are not deemed to be a foreign private issuer at such time, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share or potentially less than $10.00 per share on our redemption, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may attempt to consummate our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in our initial business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. By definition, very little public information exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in our initial business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
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After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and social conditions and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the British Virgin Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
Our management team and our shareholders may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination.
We may structure our initial business combination to acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only consummate such business combination if we will become the majority shareholder of the target (or control the target through contractual arrangements in limited circumstances for regulatory compliance purposes) or are otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even though we may own a majority interest in the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the 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 outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we 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 such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that we will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.
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If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
● | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations; |
● | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
● | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
● | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
● | exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
● | tariffs and trade barriers; |
● | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
● | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
● | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
● | longer payment cycles; |
● | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
● | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
● | rates of inflation; |
● | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
● | cultural and language differences; |
● | employment regulations; |
● | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
● | corruption; |
● | protection of intellectual property; |
● | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
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● | regime changes and political upheaval; |
● | terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; and |
● | deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon consummation of our initial business combination. The loss of an acquisition target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the consummation of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that some members of the management team of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Risks Relating to our Management Team
Our management concluded that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”, and we are completely dependent on our sponsor to loan us additional funds to continue operations or fund a business combination.
As of December 31, 2022, we had $18,865 in our operating bank accounts and $12,353,160 in cash held in the Trust Account to be used for an initial business combination or to repurchase or redeem our ordinary shares in connection therewith. Given the limited funds available to us outside of the trust account, we are currently completely dependent on our sponsor to lend us additional funds to continue our operations and fund an initial business combination. If we are unable to raise additional capital, we may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, suspending the pursuit of a business combination. We cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. Further, our plans to raise capital and to consummate our initial business combination may not be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern through our liquidation date. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this Annual Report do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate a business combination or our inability to continue as a going concern.
Our sponsor controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our initial shareholders (including our sponsor) own approximately 62.3% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Neither our sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, has any current intention to purchase additional securities. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. It is unlikely that there will be an annual meeting of shareholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the consummation of the initial business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only one-third of the board of directors will be considered for election and our sponsor, because of its ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our sponsor will continue to exert control at least until the consummation of our initial business combination.
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If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from shareholders, in which case they may influence a vote in favor of a initial business combination that you do not support.
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, (assuming we are not deemed to be a foreign private issuer at such time), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the consummation of our initial business combination. Such a purchase would 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. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares.
The purpose of such purchases would be to (1) increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or (2) 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 the business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the consummation of an initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
Our directors may decide not to enforce indemnification obligations against our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below $10.00 per share and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine on our behalf 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. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations on our behalf, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
Past performance by our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in our company or our ability to successfully consummate an initial business combination.
Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our management team and their affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team is not a guarantee either (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team’s performance as indicative of our future performance of an investment in the company or the returns the company will, or is likely to, generate going forward. None of our officers or directors has had experience with any blank check companies in the past.
We may seek investment opportunities outside of our management’s area of expertise and our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all significant risks associated with the target company.
There is no limitation on the industry or business sector we may consider when contemplating our initial business combination. We may therefore be presented with a business combination candidate in an industry unfamiliar to our management team, but determine that such candidate offers an attractive investment opportunity for our company. In the event we elect to pursue an investment outside of our management’s expertise, our management’s experience may not be directly applicable to the target business or their evaluation of its operations.
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Management’s flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective acquisition candidate, along with our management’s financial interest in consummating our initial business combination, may lead management to enter into an acquisition agreement that is not in the best interest of our shareholders.
Subject to the requirement that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses or assets having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned and less any interest earned thereon that is released to us for taxes) at the time of the agreement to enter into such initial business combination, we will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective acquisition candidate. Investors will be relying on management’s ability to identify business combinations, evaluate their merits, conduct or monitor diligence and conduct negotiations. Management’s flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective acquisition candidate, along with management’s financial interest in consummating our initial business combination, may lead management to enter into an acquisition agreement that is not in the best interest of our shareholders.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be largely dependent upon the efforts of our officers, directors and key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of our officers, directors, or key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our business.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have consummated our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us. Additionally, we do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
The role of such persons in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of such persons may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, our assessment of these individuals may not prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with the company after the consummation of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the consummation of the business combination. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination. Our key personnel may not remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
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We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’ management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted.
Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those we are conducting and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented to us.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we will continue to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our officers and directors are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business.
Our officers also may become aware of business opportunities, which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary duties or contractual obligations. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor or that a potential target business would not be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us.
The shares beneficially owned by our officers and directors may not participate in liquidation distributions and, therefore, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is appropriate for our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors have waived their right to redeem their founder shares, private shares or any other ordinary shares acquired in our initial public offering or thereafter, or to receive distributions with respect to their founder shares or private shares upon our liquidation if we are unable to consummate our initial business combination, until all of the claims of any redeeming shareholders and creditors are fully satisfied (and then only from funds held outside the trust account). Accordingly, these securities will be worthless if we do not consummate our initial business combination. Any warrants they hold, like those held by the public, will also be worthless if we do not consummate an initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest.
We may engage in our initial business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers and directors (such affiliates including New Silk Route Partners Ltd., a company affiliated with our Chief Executive Officer, Parag Saxena). Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent account firm regarding the fairness to our shareholders from a financial point of view of an initial business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the initial business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest. Our directors have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of our shareholders, whether or not a conflict of interest may exist.
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Members of our management team and affiliated companies have been, and may in the future be, involved in civil disputes or governmental investigations unrelated to our business.
Members of our management team have been involved in a wide variety of businesses. Such involvement has, and may lead to, media coverage and public awareness. As a result, members of our management team and affiliated companies have been, and may in the future be, involved in civil disputes or governmental investigations unrelated to our business. Any such claims or investigations may be detrimental to our reputation and could negatively affect our ability to identify and complete an initial business combination and may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.
Since our sponsor will lose its entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not consummated and our officers and directors have significant financial interests in us, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular acquisition target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
In August 2020, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in exchange 2,875,000 founder shares. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not consummate an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 359,592 insider units, each consisting of one ordinary share, and one-third of one warrant to purchase one ordinary share, for an aggregate purchase price of $3,595,920 that will also be worthless if we do not consummate our initial business combination.
The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources and divert management’s attention.
As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of Nasdaq and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet this standard, significant resources and management oversight may be required. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could adversely affect our business and operating results. We may need to hire more employees in the future or engage outside consultants to comply with these requirements, which will increase our costs and expenses.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
Risks Relating to Ownership of Our Securities
If we liquidate, distributions, or part of them, may be delayed while the liquidator determines the extent of potential creditor claims.
Pursuant to, among other documents, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if we do not complete our initial business combination by April 27, 2023, this will trigger the required redemption of our ordinary shares using the available funds in the trust account pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, resulting in our repayment of available funds in the trust account. Following which, we will proceed to commence a voluntary liquidation and thereby a formal dissolution of the company. In connection with such a voluntary liquidation, the liquidator would give notice to our creditors inviting them to submit their claims for payment, by notifying known creditors (if any) who have not submitted claims and by placing a public advertisement in at least one newspaper published in the British Virgin Islands newspaper and in at least one newspaper circulating in the location where the company has its principal place of business, and taking any other steps he considers appropriate, after which our remaining assets would be distributed.
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As soon as our affairs are fully wound-up, if we were to liquidate, the liquidator must complete his statement of account and will then notify the Registrar that the liquidation has been completed. However, the liquidator may determine that he or she requires additional time to evaluate creditors’ claims (particularly if there is uncertainty over the validity or extent of the claims of any creditors). Also, a creditor or shareholder may file a petition with the British Virgin Islands Court, which, if successful, may result in our liquidation being subject to the supervision of that court. Such events might delay distribution of some or all of our remaining assets.
In any liquidation proceedings of the company under British Virgin Islands law, the funds held in our trust account may be included in our estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any such claims deplete the trust account we may not be able to return to our public shareholders the redemption amounts payable to them.
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, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders shall be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of a redemption to public shareholders prior to any winding up in the event we do not consummate our initial business combination or our liquidation (ii) if they redeem their shares in connection with an initial business combination that we consummate or (iii) if they redeem their shares 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 redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by April 27, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to the funds in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your securities, potentially at a loss.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of our initial public offering are intended to be used to complete our initial business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, since we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors are not afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we may have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, offerings subject to Rule 419 would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our consummation of an 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 (assuming we are not deemed to be a foreign private issuer at such time), and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our ordinary shares.
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 (assuming we are not deemed to be a foreign private issuer at such time), our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, individually or 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 seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering. Your inability to redeem more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering will reduce your influence over our ability to consummate our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell such excess shares in open market transactions. As a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, you would be required to sell your shares in open market transaction, potentially at a loss.
If we are deemed to be insolvent, distributions, or part of them, may be delayed while the insolvency liquidator determines the extent of potential creditor claims. In these circumstances, prior payments made by the company may be deemed “voidable transactions.”
If we do not complete our initial business combination by April 27, 2023, we will be required to redeem our public shares from the trust account pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
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However, if at any time we are deemed insolvent for the purposes of the Insolvency Act (i.e. (i) we fail to comply with the requirements of a statutory demand that has not been set aside under section 157 of the Insolvency Act; (ii) execution or other process issued on a judgment, decree or order of a British Virgin Islands Court in favor of a creditor of the company is returned wholly or partly unsatisfied; or (iii) either the value of the company’s liabilities exceeds its assets, or the company is unable to pay its debts as they fall due), we are required to immediately enter insolvent liquidation. In these circumstances, a liquidator will be appointed who will give notice to our creditors inviting them to submit their claims for payment, by notifying known creditors (if any) who have not submitted claims and by placing a public advertisement in at least one newspaper published in the British Virgin Islands newspaper and in at least one newspaper circulating in the location where the company has its principal place of business, and taking any other steps he considers appropriate, after which our assets would be distributed. Following the process of insolvent liquidation, the liquidator will complete its final report and accounts and will then notify the Registrar. The liquidator may determine that he requires additional time to evaluate creditors’ claims (particularly if there is uncertainty over the validity or extent of the claims of any creditors). Also, a creditor or shareholder may file a petition with the British Virgin Islands Court which, if successful, may result in our liquidation being subject to the supervision of that court. Such events might delay distribution of some or all of our assets to our public shareholders. In such liquidation proceedings, the funds held in our trust account may be included in our estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any such claims deplete the trust account we cannot assure you we will be able to return to our public shareholders the amounts otherwise payable to them.
If we are deemed insolvent, then there are also limited circumstances where prior payments made to shareholders or other parties may be deemed to be a “voidable transaction” for the purposes of the Insolvency Act. A voidable transaction would be, for these purposes, payments made as “unfair preferences” or “transactions at an undervalue.” Where a payment was a risk of being a voidable transaction, a liquidator appointed over an insolvent company could apply to the British Virgin Islands Court for an order, inter alia, for the transaction to be set aside as a voidable transaction in whole or in part.
Our initial shareholders have waived their right to participate in any liquidation distribution with respect to the initial shares and private shares. We will pay the costs of our liquidation and distribution of the trust account from our remaining assets outside of the trust account. In addition, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us, for all claims of creditors to the extent that we fail to obtain executed waivers from such entities in order to protect the amounts held in trust, except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we cannot assure you that the liquidator will not determine that he or she requires additional time to evaluate creditors’ claims (particularly if there is uncertainty over the validity or extent of the claims of any creditors). We also cannot assure you that a creditor or shareholder will not file a petition with the British Virgin Islands Court which, if successful, may result in our liquidation being subject to the supervision of that court. Such events might delay distribution of some or all of our assets to our public shareholders.
If deemed to be insolvent, distributions made to public shareholders, or part of them, from our trust account may be subject to claw back in certain circumstances.
If we do not complete our initial business combination by April 27, 2023, and instead distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (net of taxes payable), pro rata to our public shareholders by way of redemption, it will be necessary for our directors to pass a board resolution approving the redemption of those ordinary shares and the payment of the proceeds to public shareholders. Such board resolutions are required to confirm that we satisfy the solvency test prescribed by the Companies Act (namely that our assets exceed our liabilities; and that we are able to pay our debts as they fall due). If, after the redemption proceeds are paid to public shareholders, it transpires that our financial position at the time was such that it did not satisfy the solvency test, the Companies Act provides a mechanism by which those proceeds could be recovered from public shareholders. However, the Companies Act also provides for circumstances where such proceeds could not be subject to claw back, namely where (a) the public shareholders received the proceeds in good faith and without knowledge of our failure to satisfy the solvency test; (b) a public shareholder altered its position in reliance of the validity of the payment of the proceeds; or (c) it would be unfair to require repayment of the proceeds in full or at all.
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The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our ordinary shares.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into on October 23, 2020, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register for resale an aggregate of 2,619,906 founder shares, 359,592 insider units and underlying securities and up to 150,000 units, and underlying securities, issuable upon conversion of working capital loans. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our ordinary shares that is expected when the securities owned by our sponsor, holders of our insider units or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
We may issue additional ordinary or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan upon or after consummation of our initial business combination, which would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize the issuance of an unlimited amount of both ordinary shares of no par value and preferred shares of no par value. We may issue a substantial number of additional ordinary or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan upon or after consummation of our initial business combination. Although no such issuance of ordinary or preferred shares will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the trust account, the issuance of additional ordinary or preferred shares:
● | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in our initial public offering, who will not have pre-emption rights in respect of such an issuance; |
● | may subordinate the rights of holders of ordinary shares if preferred shares are issued with rights created by amendment of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association by resolution of the directors senior to those afforded our ordinary shares; |
● | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and |
● | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, ordinary shares and/or warrants. |
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete our initial business combination, which may adversely affect our financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Report to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete initial business combination. Furthermore, we may issue a substantial number of additional ordinary or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan upon or after consummation of our initial business combination. We and our officers and directors have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
● | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after our initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
● | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
● | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; |
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● | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding; |
● | our inability to pay dividends on our ordinary shares; |
● | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
● | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
● | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
● | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
Because each unit offered in our initial public offering contains one-third of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit offered in our initial public offering contains one-third of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one whole warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
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We are not registering the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a “cashless basis” and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We are not registering the ordinary shares stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC, and within 90 days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement covering the issuance of the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, in which case, the number of ordinary shares that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum amount of shares equal to 0.361 ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment). However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we 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 from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our ordinary shares is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our 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 we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in our initial public offering. In such an instance, our sponsor, founders and their permitted transferees (which may include our directors and officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem warrants even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant if, among other things, the last reported sales price of our ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the public warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to: (1) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so; (2) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants; or (3) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.
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In addition, we have the ability to redeem outstanding public warrants once they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant if, among other things, the last reported sale price of our ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) on the trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their warrants for cash or on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of ordinary shares determined by reference to the table set forth under “Description of Securities - Warrants” based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our ordinary shares (as defined below) except as otherwise described in “Description of Securities - Warrants.” The value received upon exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
None of the warrants underlying the private units will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor, founders or their permitted transferees.
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a way that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of a majority of the then outstanding warrants.
Our warrants are issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision. The warrant agreement requires the approval by the holders of a majority of the then outstanding public warrants in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders.
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.
On April 12, 2021, the Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance and Acting Chief Accountant of the SEC together issued a statement regarding the accounting and reporting considerations for warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”)” (the “SEC Statement”). Specifically, the SEC Statement focused on certain settlement terms and provisions related to certain tender offers following a business combination, which terms are similar to those contained in the warrant agreement governing our warrants. As a result of the SEC Statement, we reevaluated the accounting treatment of our public warrants and private placement warrants and determined to classify the warrants as derivative liabilities measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings.
As a result, included on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 contained elsewhere in this Annual Report, are derivative liabilities related to embedded features contained within our warrants. Accounting Standards Codification 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”, (“ASC 815”), provides for the remeasurement of the fair value of such derivatives at each balance sheet date, with a resulting non-cash gain or loss related to the change in the fair value being recognized in earnings in the statement of operations. As a result of the recurring fair value measurement, our financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly, based on factors, which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses on our warrants each reporting period and that the amount of such gains or losses could be material.
A public shareholder that fails to vote either in favor of or against a proposed business combination will not be able to have their ordinary shares redeemed for cash.
In order for a public shareholder to have their ordinary shares redeemed for cash in connection with any proposed business combination, that public shareholder must vote either in favor of or against a proposed business combination. If a public shareholder fails to vote in favor of or against a proposed business combination, whether that shareholder abstains from the vote or simply does not vote, that shareholder would not be able to have their ordinary shares so redeemed to cash in connection with such business combination.
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We will require public shareholders who wish to redeem their ordinary shares in connection with a proposed business combination to comply with specific requirements for redemption that may make it more difficult for them to exercise their redemption rights prior to the deadline for exercising their rights.
We will 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 expiration date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or in the event we distribute proxy materials, up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. In order to obtain a physical stock certificate, a shareholder’s broker and/or clearing broker, DTC and our transfer agent will need to act to facilitate this request. It is our understanding that shareholders should generally allot at least two weeks to obtain physical certificates from the transfer agent. However, because we do not have any control over this process or over the brokers or DTC, it may take significantly longer than two weeks to obtain a physical stock certificate. While we have been advised that it takes a short time to deliver shares through the DWAC System, this may not be the case. Under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we are required to provide at least 10 days advance notice of any shareholder meeting, which would be the minimum amount of time a shareholder would have to determine whether to exercise redemption rights. Accordingly, if it takes longer than we anticipate for shareholders to deliver their shares, shareholders who wish to redeem may be unable to meet the deadline for exercising their redemption rights and thus may be unable to redeem their shares. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem public shares, its shares may not be redeemed.
Additionally, despite our compliance with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, shareholders may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem their shares.
Redeeming shareholders may be unable to sell their securities when they wish to in the event that the proposed business combination is not approved.
We will require public shareholders who wish to redeem their ordinary shares in connection with any proposed business combination to comply with the delivery requirements discussed above for redemption. If such proposed business combination is not consummated, we will promptly return such certificates to the tendering public shareholders. Accordingly, investors who attempted to redeem their shares in such a circumstance will be unable to sell their securities after the failed acquisition until we have returned their securities to them. The market price for our ordinary shares may decline during this time and you may not be able to sell your securities when you wish to, even while other shareholders that did not seek redemption may be able to sell their securities.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share or potentially less than $10.00 per share on our redemption, and the warrants will expire worthless.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private units, including the interest earned on the proceeds held in the trust account that may be available to us for our initial business combination, may be sufficient to allow us to consummate our initial business combination, because we have not yet identified any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private units prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. Financing may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to consummate our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular initial business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share or potentially less than $10.00 per share on our redemption, and the warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to consummate our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
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If we do not hold an annual meeting of shareholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination, shareholders will not be afforded an opportunity to elect directors and to discuss company affairs with management until such time.
Unless otherwise required by law or the rules of Nasdaq, we do not currently intend to call an annual meeting of shareholders until after we consummate our initial business combination. If our shareholders want us to hold a meeting prior to our consummation of our initial business combination, they may do so by members holding not less than thirty percent of voting rights in respect of the matter for which the meeting is requested making a request in writing to the directors in accordance with Section 82(2) of the Companies Act. Under British Virgin Islands law, we may not increase the required percentage to call a meeting above thirty percent. Until we hold an annual meeting of shareholders, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to elect directors and to discuss company affairs with management.
An active, efficient and liquid market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
The market for our securities is limited. Moreover, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. An active, efficient and liquid trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. Additionally, if our securities become delisted from Nasdaq for any reason, and are quoted on the OTCQB Market, an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities not listed on a national exchange, the liquidity and price of our securities may be more limited than if we were listed on Nasdaq or another national exchange. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Our securities may not continue to be listed on Nasdaq in the future, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our securities are currently listed on Nasdaq. However, we cannot assure you of this or that our securities will continue to be listed on Nasdaq in the future. Additionally, in connection with our business combination, Nasdaq will require us to file a new initial listing application and meet its initial listing requirements as opposed to its more lenient continued listing requirements. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
● | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
● | a reduced liquidity with respect to our securities; |
● | a determination that our ordinary shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules, possibly resulting in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our ordinary shares; |
● | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage for our company; and a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
General Risk Factors
We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of consummating an initial business combination.
We were formed in 2020 with the sole purpose of seeking and consummating an initial business combination. We have no revenue generating operations or operating results. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. There is a risk that we will be unable to complete our initial business combination, and if we fail to do so we will never generate any operating revenues and you could lose your investment in our company if you fail to exercise your right to cause us to redeem your ordinary shares for cash.
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Our sponsor is controlled by and has substantial ties to non-U.S. persons. As such, we may not be able to complete an initial business combination with a U.S. target company if such initial business combination is subject to U.S. foreign investment regulations and review by a U.S. government entity such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), or ultimately prohibited.
Our sponsor is controlled by and has substantial ties to non-U.S. persons, including persons with Greek and Indian citizenship. Our sponsor and/or the post-combination company may be considered a “foreign person” under the regulations administered by CFIUS. As such, our initial business combination with a U.S. business may be subject to CFIUS review. If our potential initial business combination with a U.S. business falls within CFIUS’s jurisdiction, we may determine that we are required to make a mandatory filing with CFIUS or that we will submit a voluntary notice to CFIUS, or to proceed with the initial business combination without notifying CFIUS and risk CFIUS intervention, before or after closing the initial business combination. In each case, CFIUS may decide to block or delay our initial business combination, impose conditions to mitigate national security concerns with respect to such initial business combination or order us to divest all or a portion of a U.S. business of the combined company, which may limit the attractiveness of or prevent us from pursuing certain initial business combination opportunities that we believe would otherwise be beneficial to us and our shareholders. As a result, the pool of potential targets with which we could complete an initial business combination may be limited and we may be adversely affected in terms of competing with other special purpose acquisition companies which do not have similar ties to non-U.S. persons.
Moreover, the process of government review, whether by CFIUS or otherwise, could be lengthy and we have limited time to complete our initial business combination. If we cannot complete our initial business combination within the timeframe described herein, because the review process drags on beyond such timeframe or because our initial business combination is ultimately prohibited by CFIUS or another U.S. government entity, we may be required to liquidate. If we liquidate, our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless. This would also cause you to lose the investment opportunity in a target company and the chance of realizing future gains on your investment in us through any price appreciation in the combined company.
We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting.
Following the re-evaluation of accounting guidance, our management and our audit committee concluded that it was appropriate to restate our previously issued audited financial statements as of December 31, 2020 and for the year ended December 31, 2020 (the “Restatement”). As part of the Restatement, we identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting.
As a result of such material weakness, the Restatement related to the accounting for complex financial instruments, and other matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, we face potential litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the Restatement and material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. As of the date of this annual report, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or our ability to complete an initial business combination.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of one or more target businesses. Because our board of directors may consummate our initial business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on our initial business combination. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
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The requirement that we maintain a minimum net worth or retain a certain amount of cash could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If, pursuant to the terms of our proposed business combination, we are required to maintain a minimum net worth or retain a certain amount of cash in trust in order to consummate the business combination and regardless of whether we proceed with redemptions under the tender or proxy rules, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in our trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we are required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application also may change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
We are not subject to the supervision of the Financial Services Commission of the British Virgin Islands and so our shareholders are not protected by any regulatory inspections in the British Virgin Islands.
We are not an entity subject to any regulatory supervision in the British Virgin Islands by the Financial Services Commission. As a result, shareholders are not protected by any regulatory supervision or inspections by any regulatory agency in the British Virgin Islands and the company is not required to observe any restrictions in respect of its conduct save as disclosed in this Report or its amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Investors may have difficulty enforcing judgments against our management or our target business.
After the consummation of an initial business combination, it is likely that substantially all or a significant portion of our assets may be located outside of the United States and some of our officers and directors may reside outside of the United States. As a result, it may not be possible for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties of our directors and officers under federal securities laws. Moreover, we have been advised that India does not have a treaty providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments of courts with the United States.
Our warrant agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “NY foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (a “NY enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such NY enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the NY foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
You may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited, because we are incorporated under British Virgin Islands law.
We are a company incorporated under the laws of the British Virgin Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act and the common law of the British Virgin Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under British Virgin Islands law are governed by the Companies Act and the common law of the British Virgin Islands. The common law of the British Virgin Islands is derived from English common law, and whilst the decisions of the English courts are of persuasive authority, they are not binding on a court in the British Virgin Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under British Virgin Islands law may not be as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the British Virgin Islands has a less developed body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and some states, such as Delaware, have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, while statutory provisions do exist in British Virgin Islands law for derivative actions to be brought in certain circumstances, shareholders in BVI companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in a federal court of the United States. The circumstances in which any such action may be brought, and the procedures and defenses that may be available in respect to any such action, may result in the rights of shareholders of a BVI company being more limited than those of shareholders of a company organized in the United States. Accordingly, shareholders may have fewer alternatives available to them if they believe that corporate wrongdoing has occurred.
The British Virgin Islands Courts are also unlikely:
● | to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States based on certain civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws where that liability is in respect of penalties, taxes, fines or similar fiscal or revenue obligations of the company; and |
● | to impose liabilities against us, in original actions brought in the British Virgin Islands, based on certain civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws that are penal in nature. |
There is no statutory recognition in the British Virgin Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, although the courts of the British Virgin Islands will in certain circumstances recognize such a foreign judgment and treat it as a cause of action in itself which may be sued upon as a debt at common law so that no retrial of the issues would be necessary provided that the U.S. judgment:
● | the U.S. court issuing the judgment had jurisdiction in the matter and the company either submitted to such jurisdiction or was resident or carrying on business within such jurisdiction and was duly served with process; |
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● | is final and for a liquidated sum; |
● | the judgment given by the U.S. court was not in respect of penalties, taxes, fines or similar fiscal or revenue obligations of the company; |
● | in obtaining judgment there was no fraud on the part of the person in whose favor judgment was given or on the part of the court; |
● | recognition or enforcement of the judgment would not be contrary to public policy in the British Virgin Islands; and |
● | the proceedings pursuant to which judgment was obtained were not contrary to natural justice. |
In appropriate circumstances, a British Virgin Islands Court may give effect in the British Virgin Islands to other kinds of final foreign judgments such as declaratory orders, orders for performance of contracts and injunctions.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by our board of directors, management or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a U.S. company.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association permit the board of directors by resolution to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, including to create additional classes of securities, including shares with rights, preferences, designations and limitations as they determine which may have an anti-takeover effect.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association permits the board of directors by resolution to amend the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association including to designate rights, preferences, designations and limitations attaching to the preferred shares as they determine in their discretion, without shareholder approval with respect the terms or the issuance. If issued, the rights, preferences, designations and limitations of the preferred shares would be set by the board of directors and could operate to the disadvantage of the outstanding ordinary shares the holders of which would not have any pre-emption rights in respect of such an issue of preferred shares. Such terms could include, among others, preferences as to dividends and distributions on liquidation, or could be used to prevent possible corporate takeovers. We may issue some or all of such preferred shares in connection with our initial business combination. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we and our directors and officers have agreed not to propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance and timing of our obligation to redeem our public shares if we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by April 27, 2023.
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are determined to be a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. holder of our ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our actual PFIC status for our current taxable year may depend on the status of an acquired company pursuant to a business combination and whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception. Depending on the particular circumstances, the application of the start-up exception is uncertain, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any future taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. If we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. holder upon request such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, including a PFIC annual information statement, in order to enable the U.S. holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. holders to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules.
We may re-domicile or reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination which may result in taxes imposed on shareholders and warrant holders.
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We may, in connection with our initial business combination, re-domicile or reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders to pay such taxes. Shareholders and warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
An investment in our initial public offering may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.
An investment in our initial public offering may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we are issuing in our initial public offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the ordinary share and the warrant included in each unit could be challenged by the IRS or courts. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of warrants included in the units we are issuing in our initial public offering is unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our ordinary shares suspend the running of a U.S. Holder’s holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of ordinary shares is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered “qualified dividends” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See the section titled “Taxation - United States Federal Income Taxation” for a summary of the U.S. federal income tax considerations of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.
We are an “emerging growth company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our securities less attractive to investors.
We are an “emerging growth “ within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following year. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from seeking an initial business combination target.
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Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 2. Properties.
We currently maintain our executive offices at 250 West 55th Street, Suite 13D, New York, New York 10019. Such space, utilities and secretarial and administrative services are provided to us free of charge. 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.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
None.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information.
Our units, ordinary shares and warrants are traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbols “EUCRU,” “EUCR” and “EUCRW,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on October 23, 2020, and our ordinary shares and warrants commenced public trading on December 14, 2020.
Holders
At March 30, 2023, there were two holders of record of our units, two holders of record of our ordinary shares and one holder 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
On October 27, 2020, we completed our initial public offering of 10,000,000 units. On November 24, 2020, in connection with the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their over-allotment option, we sold an additional 479,626 units. The units sold in our initial public offering and the partial exercise of over-allotment option sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating total gross proceeds of $104,796,260. Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated and H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC acted as joint book-running managers. The securities sold in the offering were registered under the Securities Act on a registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-24333) that became effective on October 23, 2020.
Simultaneously with the consummation of our initial public offering, and the partial exercise of the over-allotment option, we consummated a private placement of 359,592 private units to our sponsor at a price of $10.00 per private unit generating total proceeds of $3,595,925. Such securities were issued pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Of the gross proceeds received from our initial public offering, including the over-allotment option, and the sale of the private units, $104,796,260 was placed in the Trust Account.
We paid a total of $2,095,925 in underwriting discounts and commissions and $405,182 for other costs and expenses related to our initial public offering. In addition, the underwriter agreed to defer $3,667,869 in underwriting discounts and commissions.
There has been no material change in the planned use of proceeds from our initial public offering from what was described in our final prospectus dated October 26, 2020, which was filed with the SEC.
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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 our audited financial statements and the notes related thereto which are included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands on August 21, 2020 formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or other similar initial business combination with one or more businesses. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash derived from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private units, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, shares and debt.
We expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete an initial business combination will be successful.
Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any operations (other than searching for an initial business combination after our initial public offering) nor generated any operating revenues to date. Our only activities from inception through December 31, 2022 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for our initial public offering, described below, and, subsequent to our initial public offering, identifying a target company for an initial business combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our initial business combination. We expect to generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held after our initial public offering and changes in fair value of our warrants and promissory note. We expect that we will incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses in connection with searching for, and completing, an initial business combination.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had net income of $2,419,605, which consisted of change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $1,877,109 and interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account of $701,134 and change in fair value of convertible promissory note - related party of $539,940, partially offset by formation and operational costs of $698,578.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net income of $3,824,229, which consisted of change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $4,530,016, interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account of $35,761 and unrealized gain on marketable securities held in Trust Account of $1,523, offset by formation and operational costs of $743,071.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Until the consummation of our initial public offering, our only source of liquidity was an initial purchase of ordinary shares by our sponsor and loans from our sponsor.
On October 27, 2020, we consummated our initial public offering of 10,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $100,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we consummated the sale of 350,000 private units to our sponsor at a price of $10.00 per private unit generating gross proceeds of $3,500,000.
On November 24, 2020, the Company sold an additional 479,626 units for total gross proceeds of $4,796,260 in connection with the underwriters’ partial exercise of their over-allotment option. Simultaneously with the partial closing of the over-allotment option, we also consummated the sale of an additional 9,592 private units at $10.00 per private unit, generating total proceeds of $95,925.
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Following our initial public offering, the partial exercise of the over-allotment option, and the sale of the private units, a total of $104,796,260 was placed in the Trust Account. We incurred $6,168,976 in transaction costs, including $2,095,925 of underwriting fees, $3,667,869 of deferred underwriting fees and $405,182 of other costs.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash used in operating activities was $630,291. Net income of $2,419,605 was impacted by interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account of $701,134, change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $1,877,109 and change in fair value of convertible promissory note - related party of $539,940. Changes in operating assets and liabilities provided $68,287 of cash from operating activities.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, net cash used in operating activities was $502,108. Net income of $3,824,229 was impacted by interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account of $35,761, change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $4,530,016 and unrealized gain on marketable securities held in Trust Account of $1,523. Changes in operating assets and liabilities provided $240,963 of cash from operating activities.
At December 31, 2022, we held $12,353,160 of cash in the Trust Account of. We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account, which interest shall be net of taxes payable and excluding deferred underwriting commissions, to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest from the Trust Account to pay taxes, if any. To the extent that our share capital or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete an initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the Trust Account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
At December 31, 2022, we held $18,865 of cash outside of the Trust Account. We intend to use the funds held outside the Trust Account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, structure, negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to us. In the event that an initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts, but no proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into additional private units, at a price of $10.00 per unit, at the option of the lender.
On January 20, 2022, we issued an unsecured promissory note (the “2022 Promissory Note”) to our sponsor. The 2022 Promissory Note provided that we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $600,000 from our sponsor. On January 24, 2022, we made an initial draw on the 2022 Promissory Note of $250,000 and a subsequent draw on November 7, 2022 of $350,000. On February 15, 2023 we issued another unsecured promissory note (the “2023 Promissory Note”) to our sponsor. The 2023 Promissory Note provides that we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $500,000 from our sponsor. Also on February 15, 2023 we made an initial draw on the 2023 Promissory Note of $96,000, followed by a draw of $150,000 on March 31, 2023.
Amounts up to the aggregate maximum amount may and are expected to be drawn down from time to time by us pursuant to the 2023 Promissory Note to fund our working capital requirements and for general corporate purposes. The 2022 Promissory Note and the 2023 Promissory Note do not bear any interest. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay outstanding loaned amounts under the 2022 Promissory Note and the 2023 Promissory Note. In the event that we are unable to complete an initial business combination, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside its trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from its trust account would be used for such repayment. The loans are convertible into units of the Company, at a price of $10.00 per unit, at the option of our sponsor. The units would be identical to those units that were issued to our sponsor in a private placement concurrent with our initial public offering.
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Going Concern
We have until April 27, 2023, to consummate an initial business combination. It is uncertain that we will be able to consummate an initial business combination by this time. If an initial business combination is not consummated by this date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution. We have $67,058 of working capital as of December 31, 2022 and may require additional capital to complete an initial business combination, which is available to us through our 2023 Promissory Note. Management has determined that the liquidity condition and mandatory liquidation, should an initial business combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should we be required to liquidate after April 27, 2023.
Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements
We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2022. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than described below.
The underwriter is entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per unit, or $3,667,869 in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that we complete an initial business combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
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 the Warrants in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40 under which the Warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, we classify the 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 statements of operations. The Private Placement Warrants and the Public Warrants for periods where no observable traded price was available are valued using a binomial lattice 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, except for December 31, 2020 when the Public Warrants price was derived as the difference between the price of the units and the price of the ordinary shares due to a lack of quoted prices for the public warrants.
Ordinary Shares Subject to Redemption
We account for our ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including ordinary shares that features redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares are classified as a component of shareholders’ equity. Our ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, ordinary shares subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ deficit section of our balance sheets.
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Net Income Per Ordinary Share
Net income per ordinary share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. Accretion associated with the redeemable shares of ordinary shares is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 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): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity” (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. ASU 2020-06 removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it also simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact, if any, that ASU 2020-06 would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
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
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
This information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is included herein by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief 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 upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this Annual Report present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented.
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Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley 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 we did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022.
Management has implemented remediation steps to improve our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, we expanded and improved our review process for complex securities and related accounting standards. We plan to further improve this process by enhancing access to accounting literature, and identification of third-party professionals with whom to consult regarding complex accounting applications.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of 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
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information.
None.
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Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections.
Not applicable.
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Our current directors and executive officers are as follows:
Name |
| Age |
| Position |
Dr. Stelios Papadopoulos | 72 | Chairman of the Board | ||
Parag Saxena | 65 | Chief Executive Officer, Director | ||
Dr. Evangelos (Vangelis) Vergetis | 43 | President, Chief Operating Officer and Director | ||
Gonzalo Cordova | 68 | Chief Financial Officer | ||
Shrikant Sathe | 66 | Senior Vice President | ||
Atanuu Agarrwal | 31 | Vice President | ||
Daphne Karydas | 47 | Director | ||
William Campbell | 76 | Director | ||
Nina Shapiro | 74 | Director | ||
Amitabh (Amit) Singhal | 52 | Director |
Dr. Stelios Papadopoulos, the Chairman of our Board of Directors, is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Biogen Inc., Exelixis, Inc., and Regulus Therapeutics Inc. He is a co-founder of Exelixis, Inc. as well as co-founder and former Chairman of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Hoffman — La Roche in 2011) and Cellzome, Inc. (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2012). In the not-for-profit sector, Dr. Papadopoulos is a member of the Board of Visitors of Duke Medicine, a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Duke Institute for Health Innovation, and co-founder and Chairman of Fondation Sante, a foundation providing research grants to biomedical scientists in Greece and Cyprus. Dr. Stelios Papadopoulos spent six years (2000-2006) at Cowen & Co., LLC, most recently as Vice Chairman, where as an investment banker he focused on the biotech and pharma sectors. Prior to joining Cowen, he spent 13 years as an investment banker at Paine Webber, Incorporated where he was most recently Chairman of Paine Webber Development Corp., a Paine Webber subsidiary focusing on biotechnology. He joined Paine Webber in 1987 from Drexel Burnham Lambert where he was an analyst in the Equity Research Department covering the biotechnology industry. Prior to Drexel, he was the biotechnology analyst of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Before coming to Wall Street, Dr. Papadopoulos was on the faculty of the Department of Cell Biology at New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Papadopoulos holds an M.S. in physics, a Ph.D. in biophysics and an M.B.A. in finance, all from New York University. We believe Dr. Papadopoulus’s deep scientific, financial, entrepreneurial and business expertise and extensive experience as a member of the boards and board committees of other public companies qualifies him to serve on our Board of Directors.
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Parag Saxena, our Chief Executive Officer and member of our Board of Directors, has extensive investment experience in the U.S. and in the Indian subcontinent. Mr. Saxena co-founded Vedanta Management L.P. and New Silk Route Advisors L.P., private equity investment management firms, in 2006 which currently collectively manage over $600 million in assets. He is the Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of both firms. Since August 2018, he has served as Chairman for Tenzing Acquisition Corporation and now serves as Chairman of Reviva Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. Previously, he was Chief Executive Officer of INVESCO Private Capital (and its predecessor firms), a venture capital firm in the U.S. During his 23-year tenure, over 300 investments were made, including early stage investments in Amgen, Costco, PictureTel, Polycom, Staples and Starbucks. Mr. Saxena led more than 90 investments for INVESCO Private Capital (and its predecessor firms), a third of which went on to become public companies. These investments include Alkermes, Celgene, Genomic Health, Indigo, Masimo, Transgenomic, Xenon Pharmaceuticals, Amber Networks, ARM Holdings, MetroPCS, and Volterra. Mr. Saxena has served on committees advising the Prime Minister of India on foreign direct investments, and the Planning Commission of India on venture capital. He was also a Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay’s Heritage Fund as well as a Trustee of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. He is on the Advisory Board of the Center for Advanced Studies on India at the University of Pennsylvania and is on the Indian Advisory Council of Brown University. Mr. Saxena was the President of TiE Tri-State (NY, CT, NJ) from 2003 to 2010. He was also on Mayor Bloomberg’s Applied Sciences NYC Advisory Committee. Mr. Saxena received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He earned a B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies. We believe Mr. Saxena’s deep financial, entrepreneurial and business expertise and extensive experience as a member of the boards and board committees of other public companies qualifies him to serve on our Board of Directors.
Dr. Evangelos (Vangelis) Vergetis, our President, Chief Operating Officer, and member of our Board of Directors, is a company founder with over a dozen years of early-stage investing, strategic advisory, and operational experience in data science and healthcare. Dr. Vergetis is a co-founder and currently serves as the CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Epikast Inc., a venture-backed company founded in 2022 which partners with biopharmaceutical companies as they engage their most important stakeholders: patients, caregivers, and physicians. Prior to Epikast he was a co-founder, CEO, and member of the Board of Directors of Intelligencia Inc., a venture-backed company founded in 2017 which applies artificial intelligence to pharmaceutical research and development to assess and minimize the risk of clinical development. He currently serves as an advisor to Intelligencia’s board of directors. Dr. Vergetis previously worked at Hakluyt from 2014 to 2018, where he was a Partner, and at McKinsey & Company from 2006 to 2014, where he most recently served as an Associate Partner. During his time at Hakluyt and McKinsey, Dr. Vergetis led or facilitated multiple diligences in healthcare, and several engagements designing and putting in place different operating models for healthcare companies. Dr. Vergetis has been working in the intersection of technology/data science and healthcare for more than a decade, is a board member and member of the Executive Committee of the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAIH), and has served as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for Cornell’s Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. He received a B.S. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. We believe Dr. Vergetis’s deep financial, entrepreneurial and business expertise qualifies him to serve on our Board of Directors.
Gonzalo Cordova, our Chief Financial Officer, has served as Chief Financial Officer for Tenzing Acquisition Corporation since August 2018 through December 2020 and has been Senior and Lead Portfolio Manager of over $900 million in structured finance vehicles, including a collateralized financial obligations of private equity holdings and collateralized bond obligations of emerging market fixed income instruments. He has also served as director of a long short equity hedge fund, managed global balanced and fixed income funds and portfolios, served as Investment Counselor specializing in emerging markets and derivatives transactions, and has been a member of various investment policy and asset allocation committees. Mr. Cordova has been a Partner at Vedanta Capital since 2006, where he has served on committees having responsibility for evaluation and selection of private equity funds as well as private companies with an asset value of over $600M. Mr. Cordova earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in economics from the University of Florida and a Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies in economic policy from Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris. He received his PhD in economics from the Graduate Center, City University of New York, where he concentrated in environmental and financial economics. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
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Shrikant Sathe, our Senior Vice President, has over 24 years of operational experience in the technology area, over 20 years of which have been with private companies. Mr. Sathe joined as a Partner in Vedanta in 2007, around the time of its inception. Since then he has been involved in direct investment activities in the technology and healthcare areas, and in fund of fund investments in early and growth stage venture funds. He has served as a board member and member of the advisory board at several of the Vedanta portfolio companies and funds. Prior to joining Vedanta, he also has served in many functional areas including engineering, marketing, business development, international sales, and general management. Mr. Sathe started his career at Intel Corporation in engineering in 1979. Since then he has worked for several private companies, two of which (Daisy Systems and Cadence Design Systems) have gone public and one has been acquired by a publicly traded company (Infineon Technologies). Mr. Sathe worked at Daisy Systems as Customer Marketing Manager, at Cadence Design Systems as Director of Product Marketing and Director of Strategic Partnerships, and at Infineon Technologies as Senior Vice President of Marketing for a business unit. He holds a BTech degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, an MSEE from Virginia Tech, and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Atanuu Agarrwal our Vice President, is Co-founder and Director at Upside AI, a investment management firm (founded in December 2017) in India that uses machine learning to drive investment decisions. Previously, he was Vice President at NSR Advisors and Vedanta. He had been an investment professional with them since December 2012, through to July 2021. Since August 2018, through December 2020 he served as Vice President for Tenzing Acquisition Corporation which completed an initial business combination with Reviva Pharmaceuticals. He has worked closely on investments worth over $500 million across financial services, education, telecom, pharmaceutical and media sectors. These include: (i) early stage investments in the biotech, digital health, medical devices, and SAAS sectors for Vedanta and Tenzing Acquisition Corporation; (ii) a financial services platform to invest in PNB Housing Finance, which platform subsequently sold to Carlyle in 2015 resulting in a highly profitable exit for NSR Advisors; PNB Housing Finance later went public in India; and (iii) NSR’s investments in Beaconhouse, a large network of K12 schools present in 7 countries, and Varsity Education Management, a leading service provider to K12 schools and colleges in India. From 2011 to 2012, Mr. Agarrwal was part of the investment banking team at Credit Suisse where he was part of the successful $3 billion acquisition of a stake in a Portuguese utility, EDP, by China Three Gorges, which at that time was the largest ever China-into-Portugal cross-border investment. Mr. Agarrwal holds a B.tech and M.tech in Materials Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay where he completed a dissertation on the applications of Graphene in drug delivery systems and co-authored a paper in the prestigious Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials.
Daphne Karydas, a member of our Board of Directors, has served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Flare Therapeutics since October 2021. Previously, she served as the Chief Financial Officer of Syndax Pharmaceuticals from July 2020 through October 2021, and also held positions as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis and Head of Global Investor Relations at Allergen from April 2017 to May 2020, until its acquisition by Abbvie. In these roles, Ms. Karydas oversaw Allergen’s long-term financial and business strategy, and also led engagement with the investment community and business strategy development. Prior to her operating roles at Syndax Pharmaceuticals and Allergan, Ms. Karydas spent approximately 16 years in investment banking and asset management roles, focused exclusively in the healthcare space, including biopharmaceuticals, life sciences & medical technologies and healthcare services. Prior to joining Allergan, Ms. Karydas served as Executive Director and Senior Healthcare Analyst at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Previously, Ms. Karydas was a Portfolio Manager and Senior Healthcare Analyst at The Boston Company Asset Management, a BNY Mellon company. Earlier, Ms. Karydas was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs Asset Management focused on healthcare, as well as a member of Goldman Sachs’ healthcare investment banking team. Before joining Goldman Sachs, she was a Project Chemical Engineer at Merck & Co. where she focused on process development for novel vaccines. Ms. Karydas received a B.A. and M.S. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. We believe Ms. Karyadas’s deep financial, entrepreneurial and business expertise and experience as a member of the board of another public company qualifies her to serve on our Board of Directors.
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William Campbell, a member of our Board of Directors, currently serves as President of Sanoch Management, a consulting and investment vehicle for financial companies, start-ups, and venture capital firms, since January 2012. He also serves as Senior Operating Advisor for NSR Advisors. Mr. Campbell served as a Senior Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase from 2008 until 2012. Prior to that position, William was the Chairman of the Card Services Unit at JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s second largest credit card organization, from 2003 until 2008. From 2005 to 2007 he served as Chairman of Visa International, leading the organization to its IPO, the largest in U.S. history in 2008. Prior to his executive roles mentioned above, Mr. Campbell oversaw Citigroup’s Global Consumer Business from 1996 through 2000. Mr. Campbell spent 28 years at Philip Morris, including five years as Chief Executive Officer of Philip Morris USA. He began his career in Canada in brand management and eventually served as President of Philip Morris Asia Pacific, EVP of Marketing and Sales for Philip Morris USA, and then EVP of Strategic Planning for Philip Morris Companies. William Campbell earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Alberta in 1965 and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario in 1967. In 2001, together with his wife and daughters, Mr. Campbell created The Campbell Family Foundation. A primary goal of Mr. Campbell and his family was to become active philanthropists with a mission of providing low cost interventions to change lives. In support of that effort he serves as a founding Board member and Chairman of the END Fund, a private philanthropic initiative dedicated to controlling and eliminating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that affect over one billion people globally. Mr. Campbell is a passionate and avid supporter of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), where he has served on the Board since 1992. His appreciation of the arts has also inspired William to serve as the Chairman of The Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation that honors the work of Robert Wilson and provides residency opportunities for artists’ development. We believe Mr. Campbell’s extensive experience in general management and corporate finance across marquee multinational corporations qualifies him to serve on our Board of Directors.
Nina Shapiro, a member of our Board of Directors, is a Senior Operating Advisor for NSR Advisors. She is the former Vice President Finance and Treasurer of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC). She was appointed Treasurer in 2000 and Vice President Finance in 2003, and held those titles until she retired in 2011. In those roles Ms. Shapiro managed IFC’s funding, liquid asset investments, asset liability management and the Corporation’s initiatives in structured finance and in local currency and risk hedging instruments. She has also held several prominent positions at the World Bank including Senior Financial Analyst for Asia Infrastructure and Director of Project Finance and Guarantees, where she developed the Bank’s partial risk guarantee instrument in project finance and the partial credit guarantee in capital market transactions. Ms. Shapiro has served on the boards of HSBC Global Asset Management, Global Parametrics, Indentiv and served on the board of Man Group PLC until 2018. She also currently serves on the advisory boards of Mountain Nazca and Carbon Trust. Ms. Shapiro holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she received a Sheldon Fellowship, and a Masters in Planning from Harvard Graduate School of Design. In 2010, she received the Euroweek Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the capital markets. We believe Ms. Shapiro’s strong expertise in finance and international and domestic business transactions qualifies her to serve on our Board of Directors.
Amitabh (Amit) Singhal, a member of our Board of Directors, worked at Google from November 2000 to February 2016 in various positions including Senior Vice President of Search and in 2006 was named a Google Fellow, an award given to the company’s “elite engineers,” as recognition of his rewrite of the ranking code. He led Google’s core ranking team which focused on improving the accuracy, speed, and thoroughness of Google searches. During his tenure at Google, Singhal received numerous awards and honors. In 2009, Singhal was named by India Abroad as one of the 50 most influential Indian Americans. In 2011, he was inducted as a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and was given the UBM Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science and Technology at the Asian Awards. Following his departure from Google in February 2016, Mr. Singhal and his spouse founded the Sitare Foundation which provides educational opportunities for underprivileged children in India. Mr. Singhal joined Uber Technologies, Inc. in January 2017 as Senior Vice President of Engineering and left in February 2017 upon it learning a female employee had complained of inappropriate conduct by him during his time at Google. Subsequent related shareholder lawsuits were filed against, among others, Google, all its Board members and Mr. Singhal which was resolved, by stipulation of all Defendants, and court approval in or around late November 2020. Mr. Singhal currently serves on the boards of GOQii Inc and One Hundred Feet Inc. and served on the board of One97 Communications Ltd. until 2019. Mr. Singhal received a B.S. degree in Computer Science from University of Roorkee (now IIT Roorkee) in India, an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cornell University. We believe Mr. Singhal’s deep scientific, financial, entrepreneurial and business expertise qualifies him to serve on our Board of Directors.
Director Independence
Nasdaq requires that a majority of our board must be composed of “independent directors,” which 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.
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Messrs. Campbell and Singhal and Mss. Karydas and Shapiro are our independent directors. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present. Any affiliated transactions will be on terms no less favorable to us than could be obtained from independent parties. Any affiliated transactions must be approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Mss. Karydas and Shapiro and Mr. Campbell serve as members of our audit committee. Ms. Shapiro serves as chairman of the audit committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have three members of the audit committee all of whom must be independent. Mss. Karydas and Shapiro and Mr. Campbell are independent.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Ms. Shapiro qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules. Responsibilities of the audit committee include:
● | the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent auditors 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 auditors or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; |
● | reviewing and discussing with the independent auditors all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; |
● | setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent auditors; |
● | 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 auditors describing (i) the independent auditor’s internal quality-control procedures and (ii) 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; |
● | 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 auditors, 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 a compensation committee of the board of directors that consists of Mr. Campbell and Ms. Shapiro. Mr. Campbell serves as chairman of the compensation committee. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, 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’s based on such evaluation in executive session at which the Chief Executive Officer is not present; |
● | reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other officers; |
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● | 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, 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.
Director Nominations
We do not have a standing nominating committee, though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(2) of the Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by the board of directors. The board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. The directors who shall participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Messrs. Campbell and Singhal and Ms. Karydas. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(1)(A) of the Nasdaq rules, all such directors are independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.
The board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our shareholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of shareholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of shareholders). Our shareholders that wish to nominate a director for election to the Board should follow the procedures set forth in our bylaws.
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.
Our board of directors is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of shareholders) serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Mr. Campbell and Ms. Shapiro, expired at our first annual meeting of shareholders, at which both Mr. Campbell and Ms. Shapiro were re-elected to the board. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Singhal and Vergetis and Ms. Karydas, will expire at our second annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Papadopoulos and Saxena, will expire at our third annual meeting of shareholders.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, and in the past year has not 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.
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Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of conduct and ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees in accordance with applicable federal securities laws.
You will be able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
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Conflicts of Interest
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers, directors and director nominees currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations.
Individual |
| Entity |
| Entity’s Business |
| Affiliation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dr. Stelios Papadopoulos | Biogen Inc. | Biopharmaceuticals | Chairman | |||
Exelixis, Inc. | Biotechnology | Chairman | ||||
Regulus Therapeutics Inc. | Biopharmaceuticals | Chairman | ||||
Parag Saxena | New Silk Route Partners Ltd (and affiliated entities) | Asset Management | CEO and Director | |||
Vedanta Partners, LLC (and affiliated entities) | Asset Management | CEO and Member of Board of Managers | ||||
Tenzing LLC | Asset Management | Managing Member | ||||
Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited | Telecom Towers | Director | ||||
Augere Holdings (Netherlands)BV | Telecom Services | Director | ||||
Loan Frame Technologies PTE Ltd. | Financial Technology | Director | ||||
SetuServ, Inc. | Software Services | Director | ||||
CereSpir Inc. | Pharmaceutical Research | Director | ||||
Arduino Holdings Limited | Asset Management | Director | ||||
Cercacor Laboratories, Inc. | Medical Devices | Director | ||||
Weikfield Foods Private Limited | Consumer Packaged Goods | Director | ||||
Eco Valley Farms and Foods Ltd | Consumer Packaged Goods | Director | ||||
Puruvaras Consultancy Private Ltd | Business Consulting | Director | ||||
CHIPS. Health, Ltd. | Healthcare Platform | Director | ||||
Bio Bharat Ltd. (and affiliated entities) | Biotechnology | Director | ||||
Dr. Evangelos (Vangelis) Vergetis | Epikast, Inc. | Healthcare services and technology | CEO and Director | |||
Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare(AAIH) | Global Advocacy | Director | ||||
Gonzalo Cordova | Vedanta Management, LP | Asset Management | Partner, Portfolio Manager | |||
Shrikant Sathe | Vedanta Management, LP | Asset Management | Director of Business Development | |||
Augere Wireless Bangladesh Broadband, Ltd. | Telecom Services | Director | ||||
Atanuu Agarrwal | ||||||
Wyridian Advisors LLP | Asset Management | Partner | ||||
Daphne Karydas | Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc. | Biopharmaceuticals | CFO | |||
Elicio Therapeutics, Inc. | Biotechnology | Director | ||||
William Campbell | Sanoch Management | Asset Management | Founder | |||
New Silk Route Advisors, LP (and affiliated entities) | Asset Management | Senior Operating Advisor | ||||
First Beverage Group LLC | Asset Management | Director | ||||
Nina Shapiro | New Silk Route Advisors, LP (and affiliated entities) | Asset Management | Senior Operating Advisor | |||
Indentiv, Inc. | Security | Director | ||||
HSBC Global Asset Management | Asset Management | Director | ||||
Global Parametrics Man Group RusRail Leasing African Minerals World Bank Group | Technology Asset Management Commercial Services Iron Ore Development Financial Institution | Director Board Member Board Member Board Member Pension Board Member | ||||
Amitabh (Amit) Singhal | GOQii Inc. | Technology | Director | |||
One Hundred Feet Inc. | Technology | Director | ||||
Fingo Inc. | Financial Technology | Director | ||||
REX Homes | Real Estate | Director |
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Under British Virgin Islands law, the directors owe fiduciary duties at both common law and under statute, including a statutory duty to act honestly, in good faith and with a view to the company’s best interests. When exercising powers or performing duties as a director, the director shall exercise the care, diligence and skill that a reasonable director would exercise in the circumstances taking into account, without limitation the nature of the company; the nature of the decision; and the position of the director and the nature of the responsibilities undertaken by him. In exercising the powers of a director, the directors shall exercise their powers for a proper purpose and shall not act or agree to the company acting in a manner that contravenes our memorandum and articles of association or the Companies Act.
In certain limited circumstances, a shareholder has the right to seek various remedies against the company in the event the directors are in breach of their duties under the Companies Act. Pursuant to Section 184B of the Companies Act, if a company or director of a company engages in, or proposes to engage in or has engaged in, conduct that contravenes the provisions of the Companies Act or the memorandum or articles of association of the company, the British Virgin Islands Court may, on application of a shareholder or director of the company, make an order directing the company or director to comply with, or restraining the company or director from engaging in conduct that contravenes the Companies Act or the memorandum or articles of association. Furthermore, pursuant to section 184I(1) of the Companies Act a shareholder of a company who considers that the affairs of the company have been, are being or likely to be, conducted in a manner that is, or any acts of the company have been, or are likely to be oppressive, unfairly discriminatory, or unfairly prejudicial to him in that capacity, may apply to the British Virgin Islands court for an order that the Court considers just and equitable which, inter alia, can require the company or any other person to pay compensation to the shareholders.
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
● | None of our officers or directors 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 officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which 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. |
● | Our sponsor purchased founder shares and private units. Our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their right to liquidating distributions with respect to its founder shares and private shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months. However, our initial shareholders are entitled to receive liquidating distributions with respect to public shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the required time period. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the insider units will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the insider units will expire worthless. Subject to certain limited exceptions, our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell their founder shares until the earlier of (i) one year after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination or (ii) the date on which the closing price of our ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing 150 days after our initial business combination, or earlier, in either case, if, subsequent to our initial business combination, we consummate a subsequent liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the insider units will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial shareholders until after the completion of our initial business combination. |
● | Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
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Subject to the foregoing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations, each of our officers and directors has agreed that until the earliest of our initial business combination, our liquidation or such time as he ceases to be an officer or director, to present to us for our consideration, prior to presentation to any other entity, investment opportunities that might be suitable for our business. However, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us or, in the case of a non-compete obligation, possibly prohibited from referring such opportunity to us.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial business combination and our officers and directors have also agreed to vote any public shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Our memorandum and articles of association provide that, subject to certain limitations, the company shall indemnify its directors and officers against all expenses, including legal fees, and against all judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement and reasonably incurred in connection with legal, administrative or investigative proceedings. Such indemnity only applies if the person acted honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the company and, in the case of criminal proceedings, the person had no reasonable cause to believe that their conduct was unlawful. The decision of the directors as to whether the person acted honestly and in good faith and with a view to the best interests of the company and as to whether the person had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful and is, in the absence of fraud, sufficient for the purposes of the memorandum and articles of association, unless a question of law is involved. The termination of any proceedings by any judgment, order, settlement, conviction or the entering of a nolle prosequi does not, by itself, create a presumption that the person did not act honestly and in good faith and with a view to the best interests of the company or that the person had reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful.
We have entered into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our memorandum and articles of association. Our memorandum and articles of association also permits us to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any officer or director who at the request of the Company is or was serving as a director or officer of, or in any other capacity is or was acting for, another company or a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against any liability asserted against the person and incurred by the person in that capacity, whether or not the company has or would have had the power to indemnify the person against the liability as provided in the memorandum and articles of association. We have purchased a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
These provisions may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
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 theretofore unenforceable.
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
No compensation will be paid to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, 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. Our independent directors review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.
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After the completion of our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us, may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being 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. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommenced, to the board of directors for determination, either by a committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after the initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
Item 12.Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
We have no compensation plans under which equity securities are authorized for issuance.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of the date of this annual report, by:
● | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of ordinary shares; |
● | each of our executive officers, directors and director nominees; and |
● | all our executive officers, directors and director nominees as a group. |
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 following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this annual report.
| Number of |
| Percentage |
| |
Shares | of |
| |||
Beneficially | Outstanding |
| |||
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) | Owned | Ordinary |
| ||
Eucrates LLC (2) |
| 2,619,906 |
| 62.3 | % |
Dr. Stelios Papadopoulos(2) |
| 2,619,906 |
| 62.3 | % |
Parag Saxena(2) |
| 2,619,906 |
| 62.3 | % |
Dr. Evangelos (Vangelis) Vergetis(3) |
| — |
| — | |
Shrikant Sathe(3) |
| — |
| — | |
Gonzalo Cordova(3) |
| — |
| — | |
Atanuu Agarrwal(3) |
| — |
| — | |
Daphne Karydas(3) |
| — |
| — | |
William Campbell(3) |
| — |
| — | |
Nina Shapiro((3) |
| — |
| — | |
Amitabh (Amit) Singhal(3) |
| — |
| — | |
BlackRock, Inc.(4) |
| 900,132 |
| 21.4 | % |
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.(5) | 730,864 | 17.4 | % | ||
All officers and directors as a group (10 individuals) |
| 2,619,906 |
| 62.3 | % |
(1) | Unless otherwise indicated, the business address of each of the individuals is 250 West 55th Street Suite 13D New York, New York 10019. |
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(2) | Represents shares held by our sponsor. Each of our officers and directors is expected to become a member of our sponsor. The shares held by our sponsor are beneficially owned by Parag Saxena, our Chief Executive Officer, and Stelios Papadopoulos, our Chairman, the managing members of our sponsor, who have voting and dispositive power over the shares held by our sponsor. |
(3) | Does not include any shares held by our sponsor. This individual is a member of our sponsor. |
(4) | Based solely upon the Schedule 13G/A filed by BlackRock, Inc. with the SEC on February 8, 2022. |
(5) | Based solely upon the Schedule 13G filed by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. with the SEC on February 8, 2022. |
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
In August 2020, our sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain offering costs of the Company in consideration for 2,875,000 of the founder shares. The founder shares included an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares subject to forfeiture by our sponsor to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment was not exercised in full or in part, so that our sponsor would collectively own 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after our initial public offering (assuming our sponsor did not purchase any Public Shares in our initial public offering and excluding the private units and underlying securities). As a result of the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their over-allotment option on November 24, 2020, a total of 119,906 founder shares are no longer subject to forfeiture and 255,094 founder shares were forfeited, resulting in 2,619,906 founder shares issued and outstanding.
Subject to certain limited exceptions, our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell their founder shares until the earlier of (i) one year after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination or (ii) the date on which the closing price of our ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing 150 days after our initial business combination, or earlier, in either case, if, subsequent to our initial business combination, we consummate a subsequent liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 350,000 private units at a price of $10.00 per private unit, or $3,500,000. On November 24, 2020, in connection with the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their over-allotment option, the Company sold an additional 9,592 private units to our sponsor, at a price of $10.00 per private unit, generating gross proceeds of $95,925.
Other than reimbursement of 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, no compensation or fees of any kind, including finder’s fees, consulting fees or other similar compensation, will be paid to our sponsor, officers or directors, or to any of their respective affiliates, prior to or with respect to our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). Our independent directors review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will be responsible for reviewing and approving all related party transactions as defined under Item 404 of Regulation S-K, after reviewing each such transaction for potential conflicts of interests and other improprieties.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we consummate our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the offering proceeds held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Such loans would be evidenced by promissory notes. The notes would either be paid upon consummation of our initial business combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of the notes may be converted upon consummation of our business combination into additional private units at a price of $10.00 per unit (which, for example, would result in the holders being issued 150,000 ordinary shares if $1,500,000 of notes were so converted as well as warrants to purchase 50,000 shares).
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On January 20, 2022, we issued the 2022 Promissory Note to our sponsor. The 2022 Promissory Note provides that we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $600,000 from our sponsor. On January 24, 2022, we made an initial draw on the 2022 Promissory Note of $250,000, and on November 7, 2023 we drew down the remaining $350,000 available on the 2022 Promissory Note. On February 15, 2023 we issued the 2023 Promissory Note to our sponsor. The 2023 Promissory Note provides that we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $500,000 from our sponsor. Also on February 15, 2023 we made an initial draw on the 2023 Promissory Note of $96,000, followed by a draw of $150,000 on March 31, 2023. The notes are convertible into private units as described above.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a shareholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
All ongoing and future transactions between us and any member of our management team or his or her respective affiliates will be on terms believed by us at that time, based upon other similar arrangements known to us, to be no less favorable to us than are available from unaffiliated third parties. It is our intention to obtain estimates from unaffiliated third parties for similar goods or services to ascertain whether such transactions with affiliates are on terms that are no less favorable to us than are otherwise available from such unaffiliated third parties. If a transaction with an affiliated third party were found to be on terms less favorable to us than with an unaffiliated third party, we would not engage in such transaction.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a 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.
Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the founder shares, the insider units and underlying securities and any securities issued upon conversion of working capital loans. The holders of the private units (or underlying securities) are entitled to demand that the Company register these securities at any time after the Company consummates an initial business combination. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights on registration statements filed after the Company’s consummation of an initial business combination.
Director Independence
Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. 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. Our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Campbell and Singhal and Mss. Karydas and Shapiro are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services.
The firm of Marcum LLP, or Marcum, acts as our independent registered public accounting firm. The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Marcum for services rendered.
Audit Fees. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were approximately $110,000 and $83,000 for the services Marcum performed in connection with the audit of our December 31, 2022 and 2021 financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and reviews of our quarterly Form 10-Qs.
Audit-Related Fees. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were approximately $0 and $0 for the services Marcum performed in connection with our initial public offering.
Tax Fees. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render services to us for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.
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All Other Fees. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were no fees billed for products and services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm other than those set forth above.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our initial public offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
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PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.
(a)The following documents are filed as part of this annual report on Form 10-K/A:
(1) Financial Statements:
Page | |
F-2 | |
F-3 | |
F-4 | |
F-5 | |
F-6 | |
F-7 |
(2) Financial Statement Schedules. All schedules are omitted for the reason that the information is included in the financial statements or the notes thereto or that they are not required or are not applicable.
(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 can be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington D.C. 20549. Copies of such material can also be obtained from the Public Reference Section of the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, at prescribed rates or on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
Exhibit |
| Description | |
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3.1 |
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4.1 |
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4.2 |
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4.3 |
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4.4 |
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4.5 |
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10.1 |
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10.2 |
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10.3 |
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10.4 |
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10.5 |
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10.6 |
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Exhibit |
| Description | |
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10.6 | |||
24 |
| Power of Attorney (included on signature page of this annual report). | |
31.1* |
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31.2* |
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32.1** |
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32.2** |
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(101.INS) |
| XBRL Instance Document | |
(101.SCH) |
| XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | |
(101.CAL) |
| XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | |
(101.DEF) |
| XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | |
(101.LAB) |
| XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document | |
(101.PRE) |
| XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document |
* | Filed herewith. |
** | Furnished. |
*** | Previously filed. |
71
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this annual report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in New York City, New York, on the 13th day of April, 2023.
| EUCRATES BIOMEDICAL ACQUISITION CORP. | |
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| By: | /s/ Parag Saxena |
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| Name: Parag Saxena |
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| Title: Chief Executive Officer |
72
POWERS OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL BY THESE PRESENTS, that each of the undersigned constitutes and appoints each of Parag Saxena and Gonzalo Cordova, each acting alone, his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for such person and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign this annual report on Form 10-K (including amendments thereto), and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming that any such attorney-in-fact and agent, or his or her substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this annual report has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Name |
| Position |
| Date |
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/s/ Parag Saxena |
| Chief Executive Officer and Director |
| April 13, 2023 |
Parag Saxena |
| (Principal executive officer) |
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/s/ Gonzalo Cordova |
| Chief Financial Officer |
| April 13, 2023 |
Gonzalo Cordova |
| (Principal financial and accounting officer) |
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/s/ Stelios Papadopoulos |
| Director |
| April 13, 2023 |
Stelios Papadopoulos |
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/s/ Evangelos Vergetis |
| Director |
| April 13, 2023 |
Evangelos Vergetis |
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/s/ Daphne Karydas |
| Director |
| April 13, 2023 |
Daphne Karydas |
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/s/ Amitabh Singal |
| Director |
| April 13, 2023 |
Amitabh Singal |
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/s/ William Campbell |
| Director |
| April 13, 2023 |
William Campbell |
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/s/ Nina Shapiro |
| Director |
| April 13, 2023 |
Nina Shapiro |
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73
EUCRATES BIOMEDICAL ACQUISITION CORP.
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID #688) | F-2 |
Financial Statements: |
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F-3 | |
F-4 | |
F-5 | |
F-6 | |
F-7 to F-18 |
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
Eucrates Biomedical Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of Eucrates Biomedical Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ deficit and cash flows for each of the two years in the period 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 2021 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph – Liquidation
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 10 to the financial statements, on April 7, 2023 the Company’s Board of Directors approved the redemption of all of the Company’s outstanding ordinary shares issued as part of the Company’s initial public offering. The Company expects to complete the redemptions by April 27, 2023 and immediately thereafter liquidate and dissolve. The accompanying financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the Company’s decision to redeem these outstanding ordinary shares and subsequently liquidate and dissolve.
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 audits. 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 audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits 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 audits 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 audits 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 audits 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 audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum LLP
Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.
April 13, 2023
New York, NY
F-2
EUCRATES BIOMEDICAL ACQUISITION CORP.
BALANCE SHEETS
December 31, | December 31, | |||||
| 2022 | 2021 | ||||
ASSETS | |
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Current assets |
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| ||
Cash | $ | 18,865 | $ | 49,156 | ||
Prepaid expenses |
| 113,333 |
| 215,000 | ||
Total Current Assets |
| 132,198 |
| 264,156 | ||
Cash and marketable securities held in Trust Account |
| 12,353,160 |
| 104,842,820 | ||
TOTAL ASSETS | $ | 12,485,358 | $ | 105,106,976 | ||
LIABILITIES, ORDINARY SHARES SUBJECT TO POSSIBLE |
|
| ||||
REDEMPTION AND SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT |
|
| ||||
Current liabilities: | ||||||
Accrued expenses | $ | 5,080 | $ | 38,460 | ||
Convertible promissory note - related party |
| 60,060 |
| — | ||
Total current liabilities |
| 65,140 |
| 38,460 | ||
Warrant liability |
| 216,785 |
| 2,093,894 | ||
Deferred underwriting fee payable |
| 3,667,869 |
| 3,667,869 | ||
TOTAL LIABILITIES |
| 3,949,794 |
| 5,800,223 | ||
Commitments and Contingencies |
|
| ||||
Ordinary shares subject to possible redemption 1,226,561 and 10,479,626 shares at redemption value as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively |
| 12,253,160 |
| 104,796,260 | ||
Shareholders’ Deficit |
|
| ||||
Preferred shares, no par value; unlimited shares authorized; none issued and outstanding |
|
| ||||
Ordinary shares, no par value; unlimited shares authorized; 2,979,499 issued and outstanding (excluding 1,226,561 and 10,479,626 shares subject to possible redemption) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively |
| — |
| — | ||
Accumulated deficit |
| (3,717,596) |
| (5,489,507) | ||
Total Shareholders’ Deficit |
| (3,717,596) |
| (5,489,507) | ||
TOTAL LIABILITIES, ORDINARY SHARES SUBJECT TO POSSIBLE | ||||||
REDEMPTION AND SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT | $ | 12,485,358 | $ | 105,106,976 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-3
EUCRATES BIOMEDICAL ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the Year Ended | ||||||
December 31, | ||||||
| 2022 |
| 2021 | |||
Formation and operational costs | | $ | 698,578 | | $ | 743,071 |
Loss from operations |
| (698,578) |
| (743,071) | ||
Other income: |
|
| ||||
Interest earned on cash and marketable securities held in Trust Account | 701,134 | 35,761 | ||||
Change in fair value of warrants | 1,877,109 | 4,530,016 | ||||
Change in fair value of convertible promissory note - related party |
| 539,940 |
| 1,523 | ||
Total other income | 3,118,183 | 4,567,300 | ||||
| ||||||
Net income | $ | 2,419,605 | $ | 3,824,229 | ||
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Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Redeemable ordinary shares | 8,674,770 | 10,479,626 | ||||
Basic and diluted net income per share, Redeemable ordinary shares | $ | 0.21 | $ | 0.28 | ||
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Non-redeemable ordinary shares |
| 2,979,499 |
| 2,979,499 | ||
Basic and diluted net income per share, Non-redeemable ordinary shares | $ | 0.21 | $ | 0.28 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-4
EUCRATES BIOMEDICAL ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022 AND 2021
| | Total | |||||||||
Ordinary Shares | Accumulated | Shareholders’ | |||||||||
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Deficit |
| Deficit | ||||
Balance – December 31, 2020 | 2,979,499 | $ | — | $ | (9,313,736) | $ | (9,313,736) | ||||
Net income |
| — |
| — |
| 3,824,229 |
| 3,824,229 | |||
Balance – December 31, 2021 |
| 2,979,499 | — | (5,489,507) | (5,489,507) | ||||||
Accretion of ordinary shares subject to possible redemption |
| — | — | (647,694) | (647,694) | ||||||
Net income |
| — | — | 2,419,605 | 2,419,605 | ||||||
Balance – December 31, 2022 | 2,979,499 | $ | — | $ | (3,717,596) | $ | (3,717,596) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-5
EUCRATES BIOMEDICAL ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
For the Year Ended | ||||||
December 31, | ||||||
| 2022 |
| 2021 | |||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: |
| |||||
Net income | $ | 2,419,605 | $ | 3,824,229 | ||
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities: |
| |||||
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | (1,877,109) | (4,530,016) | ||||
Interest earned on cash and marketable securities held in Trust Account | (701,134) |
| (35,761) | |||
Unrealized gain on marketable securities held in Trust Account | — |
| (1,523) | |||
Change in fair value of convertible promissory note - related party | (539,940) | — | ||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
| |||||
Prepaid expenses | 101,667 |
| 255,106 | |||
Accrued expenses | (33,380) |
| (14,143) | |||
Net cash used in operating activities | (630,291) |
| (502,108) | |||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: |
| |||||
Cash withdrawn from Trust Account in connection with redemption | 93,190,794 |
| — | |||
Net cash provided by investing activities | 93,190,794 |
| — | |||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: |
| |||||
Proceeds from promissory note - related party | 600,000 |
| — | |||
Redemption of ordinary shares | (93,190,794) |
| — | |||
Net cash used in financing activities | (92,590,794) |
| — | |||
Net Change in Cash | (30,291) |
| (502,108) | |||
Cash – Beginning | 49,156 |
| 551,264 | |||
Cash – Ending | $ | 18,865 | $ | 49,156 | ||
Non-Cash Investing and Financing Activities: |
| |||||
Accretion for Ordinary Shares to redemption amount | $ | 647,694 | | $ | — |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-6
NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Eucrates Biomedical Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands on August 21, 2020. The Company was formed for the purpose of acquiring, engaging in a share exchange, share reconstruction and amalgamation with, purchasing all or substantially all of the assets of, entering into contractual arrangements with, or engaging in any other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (“Business Combination”).
The Company is not limited to a particular industry or geographic region for purposes of consummating a Business Combinations. 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.
At December 31, 2022, the Company had not yet commenced any operations. All activity from inception through December 31, 2022 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (“Initial Public Offering”), which is described below and, subsequent to the Initial Public Offering, identifying a target company for a business combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company generates nonoperating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the marketable securities held in the Trust Account (as defined below) and changes in fair value of warrant liability.
The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on October 23, 2020. On October 27, 2020, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 10,000,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the ordinary shares included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”) at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $100,000,000.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 350,000 units (the “Private Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Private Unit in a private placement to the Company’s sponsor, Eucrates LLC (the “Sponsor”), generating gross proceeds of $3,500,000.
On November 20, 2020, the underwriters notified the Company of their intention to partially exercise their over-allotment option. As such, on November 24, 2020, the Company consummated the sale of an additional 479,626 Units, at $10.00 per Unit (see Note 3) and sold an additional 9,592 Private Units, at $10.00 per Private Unit (see Note 4), generating total gross proceeds of $4,892,185.
Transaction costs amounted to $6,168,976 consisting of $2,095,925 of underwriting fees, $3,667,869 of deferred underwriting fees and $405,182 of other offering costs.
Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on October 27, 2020, the partial exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment exercise on November 24, 2020, and the sale of the Private Units, an aggregate amount of $104,796,260 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) located in the United States and invested 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 meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the consummation of a Business Combination or (ii) the distribution of the funds in the Trust Account to the Company’s shareholders, as described below.
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and sale of the Private Units, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. The Business Combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the Trust Account (excluding the taxes payable on interest earned and less any interest earned thereon that is released for taxes) at the time of the signing of an agreement to enter into a Business Combination. The Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-Business Combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.
F-7
The Company will provide its 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 shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. In connection with a proposed Business Combination, the Company may seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which shareholders may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed Business Combination. The Company will proceed with a Business Combination only if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon or immediately prior to such consummation of a Business Combination and, if the Company seeks shareholder approval, a majority of the outstanding shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination.
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 provides 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 seeking redemption rights with respect to 15% or more of the Public Shares without the Company’s prior written consent.
The shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially $10.00 per 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 per-share amount to be distributed to shareholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriter (as discussed in Note 6). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants.
If a shareholder vote is not required and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, offer such redemption pursuant to the tender offer rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and file tender offer documents containing substantially the same information as would be included in a proxy statement with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination.
The Sponsor has agreed (a) to vote its Founder Shares, the ordinary shares included in the Private Units (the “Private Shares”) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of a Business Combination, (b) not to propose an amendment to the Company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association with respect to the Company’s pre-Business Combination activities prior to the consummation of a Business Combination unless the Company provides dissenting public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment; (c) not to redeem any shares (including the Founder Shares) into the right to receive cash from the Trust Account in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a Business Combination (or to sell any shares in a tender offer in connection with a Business Combination if the Company does not seek shareholder approval in connection therewith) or a vote to amend the provisions of the Memorandum and Articles of Association relating to shareholders’ rights of pre-Business Combination activity and (d) that the Founder Shares shall not participate in any liquidating distributions upon winding up if a Business Combination is not consummated. However, the Sponsor will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering if the Company fails to complete its Business Combination.
On October 24, 2022, the Company held a special meeting to vote on an amendment to the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association to extend the date by which the Company must consummate a business combination from October 27, 2022 to April 27, 2023 (the “Extension Proposal”). In connection with the Extension Proposal, shareholders elected to redeem 9,253,065 Ordinary Shares, which represents approximately 88% of the shares that were part of the units that were sold in the Company’s initial public offering. Following such redemptions, approximately $12,353,160 remained in the trust account and 2,979,499 Ordinary Shares remained
and outstanding.Based on the shareholder vote, the Company will now have until April 27, 2023 to consummate a Business Combination (the “Combination Period”). 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 no more than
business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the outstanding Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the Company’s board of directors, proceed to commence a voluntary liquidation and thereby a formal dissolution of the Company, subject in each case to its obligations to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of applicable law. 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).F-8
The Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company, if and to the extent any claims by a vendor 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 amounts in the Trust Account to below $10.00 per share (whether or not the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), 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 underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). 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 auditors), 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
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Financial Accounting Standard Board’s Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” the Company has until April 27, 2023 to consummate a Business Combination. It is uncertain that the Company will be able to consummate a Business Combination by this time. If a Business Combination is not consummated by this date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the Company. The Company has $67,058 working capital as of December 31, 2022 and may require additional capital to complete a Business Combination, which is available to the Company through the Promissory Note. Management has determined that the liquidity condition and mandatory liquidation, should a Business Combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after April 27, 2023.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the financial statement. The financial statement does not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
F-9
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 income and expenses during the reporting periods.
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 significantly from those estimates.
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.
Offering Costs
The Company complies with the requirement of Accounting Standard Codification (ASC) 340-10-S99-1 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) Topic 5A – “Expenses of Offering”. Offering costs consisted of legal, accounting and other expenses incurred through the Initial Public Offering that were directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs were allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Initial Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs allocated to warrant liabilities were expensed as incurred in the statements of operations. Offering costs associated with the ordinary shares issued were initially charged to temporary equity and then accreted to ordinary shares subject to possible redemption upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs consist of legal, accounting and other expenses incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs amounting to $6,057,930 were charged to temporary equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering and the partial exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment and $111,046 of the offering costs were related to the warrant liabilities and charged to the statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Cash and Marketable Securities Held in Trust Account
At December 31, 2022, all of the assets held in the Trust Account were held in cash. At December 31, 2021, substantially all of the assets held in the Trust Account were held in money market funds, which primarily invest in U.S. Treasury securities. The Company accounts for its securities held in the trust account in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 320, “Debt and Equity Securities.” These securities were classified as trading securities with unrealized gains/losses, if any, recognized through the statements of operations.
Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption are classified as a liability instrument and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares are classified as a component of shareholders’ equity. The Company’s ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2022 and 2021, ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ deficit section of the Company’s balance sheets.
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 ordinary shares and accumulated deficit.
F-10
At December 31, 2022 and 2021, the ordinary shares reflected in the balance sheets are reconciled in the following table:
Gross proceeds |
| $ | 104,796,260 |
Less: |
| | |
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants | (1,886,333) | ||
Ordinary shares issuance costs | (6,057,930) | ||
Plus: |
|
| |
Accretion of carrying value to redemption value | 7,944,263 | ||
Ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2021 | 104,796,260 | ||
Less: |
| | |
Redemptions | (93,190,794) | ||
Plus: |
|
| |
Accretion of carrying value to redemption value | 647,694 | ||
Ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2022 | $ | 12,253,160 |
Warrant Liabilities
The Company accounts for the Warrants in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40 under which the Warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, the Company classifies the 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 sheets date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our statements of operations. The Private Placement Warrants and the Public Warrants for periods where no observable traded price was available are valued using a binomial lattice 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.
Income Taxes
The Company complies with the accounting and reporting requirements of ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes,” which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are computed for differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities that will result in future taxable or deductible amounts, based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
ASC Topic 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company’s management determined that the British Virgin Islands is the Company’s only major tax jurisdiction. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits, if any, as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties. 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 to be an exempted British Virgin Islands company with no connection to any other taxable jurisdiction and is presently not subject to income taxes or income tax filing requirements in the British Virgin Islands or the United States.
Net Income Per Ordinary Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share”. Net income per ordinary share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding for the period. Accretion associated with the redeemable shares of Class A ordinary shares is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
The calculation of diluted income per share does not consider the effect of the warrants issued in connection with the (i) Initial Public Offering, and (ii) the private placement since the exercise of the warrants to purchase 359,592 Units is contingent upon the occurrence of future events. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities or other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into ordinary shares and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted net income per ordinary share is the same as basic net income per ordinary share for the periods presented.
F-11
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 December 31, | ||||||||||||
2022 |
| 2021 | ||||||||||
Non- | Non- | |||||||||||
| Redeemable |
| redeemable |
| Redeemable |
| redeemable | |||||
Basic and diluted net income per ordinary share |
|
| ||||||||||
Numerator: |
|
| ||||||||||
Allocation of net income, as adjusted | $ | 1,801,015 | $ | 618,590 | $ | 2,977,645 | $ | 846,584 | ||||
Denominator: |
|
| ||||||||||
Basic and diluted weighted average ordinary share outstanding | 8,674,770 | 2,979,499 | 10,479,626 |
| 2,979,499 | |||||||
Basic and diluted net income per ordinary share | $ | 0.21 | $ | 0.21 | $ | 0.28 | $ | 0.28 |
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 accounts.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheets, primarily due to their short-term nature, excluding the Warrant Liability (see Note 9).
Fair Value Measurements
The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
Level 1: | Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. An active market for an asset or liability is a market in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis. |
Level 2: | Observable inputs other than Level 1 inputs. Examples of Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities and quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active. |
Level 3: | Unobservable inputs based on our assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. |
Convertible Promissory Note
The Company accounts for their convertible promissory note under ASC 815, “Derivatives and Hedging” (“ASC 815”). Under ASC 815-15-25, the election can be at the inception of a financial instrument to account for the instrument under the fair value option under ASC 825. The Company has made such election for their convertible promissory note. Using the fair value option, the convertible promissory note is required to be recorded at its initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter. Changes in the estimated fair value of the notes are recognized as a non-cash gain or loss on the statements of operations.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 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): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity” (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation
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models required under current GAAP. ASU 2020-06 removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it also simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact, if any, that ASU 2020-06 would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
NOTE 3. INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING
Pursuant to the Initial Public Offering and the underwriters’ partial exercise of their over-allotment option, the Company sold 10,479,626 Units, at a purchase price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one ordinary share and
-third of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share (see Note 8).NOTE 4. PRIVATE PLACEMENT
Simultaneously with the closings of the Initial Public Offering and the underwriters’ partial exercise of their over-allotment option, the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 359,592 Private Units at a price of $10.00 per Private Unit, or $3,595,925. The Private Units are identical to the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except for the private warrants (“Private Warrants”), as described in Note 8. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Warrants will expire worthless.
NOTE 5. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Founder Shares
In August 2020, the Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain offering costs of the Company in consideration for 2,875,000 of the Company’s ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”). The Founder Shares included an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment was not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor would collectively own 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 and excluding the Private Units and underlying securities). As a result of the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their over-allotment option on November 24, 2020, a total of 119,907 Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture and 255,093 Founder Shares were forfeited, resulting in 2,619,907 Founder Shares issued and
.The Sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares (except to certain permitted transferees) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination or (B) the date on which the closing price of the Company’s ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.50 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing 150 days after a Business Combination, or earlier, in each case, if, subsequent to a Business Combination, the Company consummates a subsequent liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of the Company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Promissory Note – Related Party
On November 7, 2022, the Company made a second draw on the Promissory Note of $350,000. The total amount drawn on the Promissory Note at December 31, 2022 was $600,000, which is now fully drawn upon. The Promissory Note does not bear any interest. If the Company completes an initial business combination, amounts outstanding under the Promissory Note would be repaid. In the event that the Company is unable to complete an initial business combination, a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from the trust account would be used for such repayment. The loans are convertible into units of the Company, at a price of $10.00 per unit, at the option of the Sponsor. The units would be identical to those units that were issued to the Sponsor in a private placement concurrent with the Company’s initial public offering.
F-13
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Company entered into a loan agreement with Eucrates LLC (the “Sponsor”) on January 20, 2022, that provides for borrowings of up to $600,000 (the “2022 Promissory Note”). The Sponsor Loan is non-interest bearing and payable upon consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination. On January 24, 2022, the Company made an initial draw on the 2022 Promissory Note of $250,000 and a second draw on November 7, 2022 of $350,000. At December 31, 2022, there was $600,000 of borrowings under the Sponsor Loan. This loan was valued using the fair value method. The fair value of the loan as of December 31, 2022, was $60,060, which resulted in a change in fair value of the convertible promissory note of $539,940 recorded in the statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 (see Note 9). On February 15, 2023, a 2023 Promissory Note was issued, with initial draws of $96,000 on February 15, 2023, followed by a draw of $150,000 on March 31, 2023.
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 additional funds as may be required (together with the Sponsor Loan, the “Working Capital Loans”). The notes would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of notes may be converted upon consummation of a Business Combination into additional Private Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans, but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. The units would be identical to those units that were issued to the Sponsor in a private placement concurrent with the Company’s initial public offering. 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. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, no such Working Capital Loans were outstanding.
NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Registration Rights
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into on October 23, 2020, the holders of the Founder Shares, Private Units (and their underlying securities) and any Units that may be issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans (and underlying securities) will be entitled to registration rights. The holders of 25% 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 consummation of a Business Combination. The registration rights agreement does not contain liquidating damages or other cash settlement provisions resulting from delays in registering the Company’s securities. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The underwriters are entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $3,667,869 in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters 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.
NOTE 7. SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
Preferred Shares — The Company is authorized to issue an number of no-par value preferred shares, divided into five classes, Class A through Class E, each with such designation, rights and preferences as may be determined by a resolution of the Company’s board of directors to amend the Memorandum and Articles of Association to create such designations, rights and preferences. The Company has five classes of preferred shares to give the Company flexibility as to the terms on which each Class is issued. All shares of a single class must be issued with the same rights and obligations. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, there are no preferred shares designated, issued or outstanding.
Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue an number of no-par value ordinary shares. Holders of the Company’s ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were 2,979,499 shares of ordinary shares issued and outstanding, excluding 1,226,561 and 10,479,626, respectively, ordinary shares subject to possible redemption which are presented as temporary equity, respectively, so that the Sponsor will own 20% of the issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering (excluding the Private Units and assuming the Sponsor did not purchase any Units in the Initial Public Offering).
F-14
NOTE 8. WARRANTS
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 consummation of a Business Combination or (b) 12 months from the effective date of the closing of the Initial Public Offering.
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any 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 ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those ordinary shares is available, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration. 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 from registration is available.
The Company has agreed that it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC and within 90 days following a Business Combination to have declared effective a registration statement covering the issuance of the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed. Notwithstanding the above, if the ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies 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, but 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 share of the ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described with respect to the Private Warrants):
● | in whole and not in part; |
● | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
● | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, or the 30-day redemption period, to each warrant holder; and |
● | if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. |
If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if 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 share of the ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described with respect to the Private Warrants):
● | in whole and not in part; |
● | at a price of $0.10 per warrant provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption and receive that number of shares of ordinary shares based on the redemption date and the fair market value of the ordinary shares except as otherwise described below; |
● | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; |
● | if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) on the trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; and |
F-15
● | if, and only if, there is an effective registration statement covering the issuance of the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating thereto available throughout the 30-day period after written notice of redemption is given. |
If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement. The exercise price and number of ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, extraordinary dividend or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, except as described above, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of ordinary shares at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrants. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.
In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of an initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per 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 their affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or their 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 our shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we complete our initial 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, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the newly issued price.
The Private Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Private Warrants and the ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
NOTE 9. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at December 31, 2022 and 2021 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value:
December 31, |
|
| December 31, | |||||||
Description | Level | 2022 | Level | 2021 | ||||||
Assets: |
|
|
|
| ||||||
Cash and marketable securities held in Trust Account | 1 | $ | 12,353,160 | 1 | $ | 104,842,820 | ||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||
Warrant Liability – Public Warrants | 1 | $ | 209,593 | 1 | $ | 2,024,156 | ||||
Warrant Liability – Private Placement Warrants | 3 | $ | 7,192 | 3 | $ | 69,738 | ||||
Convertible Promissory Note - Related Party | 3 | $ | 60,060 | 3 | $ | — |
The Warrants were accounted for as liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40 and are presented within warrant liabilities on our accompanying December 31, 2022 and 2021 balance sheets. The warrant liabilities are measured at fair value at inception and on a recurring basis, with changes in fair value presented within change in fair value of warrant liabilities in the statements of operations.
Level 3 financial liabilities consist of the Private Placement Warrant liability for which there is no current market for these securities such that the determination of fair value requires significant judgment or estimation. Changes in fair value measurements categorized within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy are analyzed each period based on changes in estimates or assumptions and recorded as appropriate.
F-16
The fair value of the Private Placement Warrants was estimated at December 31, 2022 and 2021 to be $0.06 and $0.06, respectively, using a binomial lattice option pricing model. A comparison with a Black-Scholes model with the following assumptions produced similar results:
December 31, |
| December 31, |
| ||||
Risk-free interest rate | 4.54 | % | 1.19 | % | |||
Effective expiration date | 05/15/2023 |
| 7/7/2026 | ||||
Dividend yield | 0.00 | % | 0.00 | % | |||
Expected volatility | 16.7 | % | 12.1 | % | |||
Exercise price | $ | 11.50 | $ | 11.50 | |||
Ordinary Share Price | $ | 9.99 | $ | 9.76 |
The following table presents the changes in fair value of the Level 3 warrant liabilities:
|
|
| Level 3 | ||||||
| Private |
|
| Warrant | |||||
| Placement |
| Public |
| Liabilities | ||||
Fair value as of December 31, 2021 | $ | 69,738 | $ | — | $ | 69,738 | |||
| (62,546) |
| — |
| (62,546) | ||||
Fair value as of December 31, 2022 | $ | 7,192 | $ | — | $ | 7,192 |
There were no transfers in or out of Level 3 from other levels in the fair value hierarchy during the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
The fair value of the Convertible Promissory Note – Related Party was estimated as the as converted value at December 31, 2022 and January 24, 2022 (initial measurement) to be $60,060 and $186,900, respectively, using a Black-Scholes model for the underlying warrants, which used the following assumptions:
| December 31, |
| January 24, |
| |||
2022 | 2022 |
| |||||
Risk-free interest rate |
| 4.54 | % | 2.42 | % | ||
Effective expiration date |
| 05/15/2023 |
| 7/7/2026 | |||
Dividend yield |
| 0.00 | % | 0.00 | % | ||
Expected volatility |
| 16.7 | % | 4.8 | % | ||
Exercise price | $ | 11.50 | $ | 11.50 | |||
Ordinary Share Price | $ | 9.99 | $ | 9.84 | |||
Probability of transaction |
| 10.0 | % |
| 75.0 | % |
The following table presents the changes in the fair value of the Level 3 Convertible Promissory Note – Related Party:
| Convertible | ||
Promissory | |||
Note | |||
Fair value as of January 1, 2022 | $ | — | |
Proceeds received through convertible note - Related Party on January 24, 2022 |
| 250,000 | |
Proceeds received through convertible note - Related Party on November 7, 2022 |
| 350,000 | |
Change in valuation inputs or other assumptions |
| (539,940) | |
Fair value as of December 31, 2022 | $ | 60,060 |
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NOTE 10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, other than as described below, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
Promissory Note
On February 15, 2023, the Company issued a second unsecured promissory note to the Sponsor. The Promissory Note provides that the Company may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $500,000 from the Sponsor. Also on February 15, 2023, the Company made an initial draw on the Promissory Note of $96,000, followed by a draw of $150,000 on March 31, 2023.
The Promissory Note does not bear any interest. If the Company completes an initial business combination, the Company would repay outstanding loaned amounts under the Promissory Note. In the event that the Company is unable to complete an initial business combination, the Company may use a portion of the working capital held outside its trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from its trust account would be used for such repayment. The loans are convertible into units of the Company, at a price of $10.00 per unit, at the option of the Sponsor. The units would be identical to those units that were issued to the Sponsor in a private placement concurrent with the Company’s initial public offering.
Liquidation
On April 7, 2023, the board of directors (the “Board”) of the Company approved the redemption of all of the outstanding ordinary shares of the Company, no par value, that were included in the Company’s IPO (the “Public Shares”). The Company anticipates that it will not be able to consummate an initial business combination within the time period required by its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, and as a result the Company intends to dissolve and liquidate. The redemption of the Public Shares is expected to be completed on April 27, 2023. As of the close of business on April 26, 2023, the Company will stop trading its Public Shares, and each Public Share held at that time will represent the right to receive the redemption amount of approximately $10.00.
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