Eve Holding, Inc. - Quarter Report: 2022 September (Form 10-Q)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. 

1.     Organization and Nature of Business

The Company and Nature of Business

Eve Holding, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, as applicable, “Eve”, the “Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”), a Delaware corporation, is an aerospace company with operations in Melbourne, Florida and Brazil. The Company is a former blank check company incorporated on November 19, 2020 under the name Zanite Acquisition Corp. (“Zanite”) as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. 

Eve is dedicated to accelerating the urban air mobility ("UAM") ecosystem. Benefitting from a startup mindset and with a singular focus, Eve is taking a holistic approach to progressing the UAM ecosystem, with an advanced electrical vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) project, a comprehensive global services and support network and a unique air traffic management solution. 

Business Combination

On December 21, 2021, Zanite entered into a Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”) with Embraer S.A., a Brazilian corporation (sociedade anônima) (“ERJ”), Embraer Aircraft Holding, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“EAH”) wholly owned by ERJ, and EVE UAM, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Eve Sub”), a former subsidiary of EAH, that was formed for purposes of conducting the UAM Business (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement).

On May 9, 2022, in accordance with the Business Combination Agreement, the closing (the "Closing") of the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination”) occurred, pursuant to which Zanite issued 220,000,000 shares of Class A common stock to EAH in exchange for the transfer by EAH to Zanite of all of the issued and outstanding limited liability company interests of Eve Sub (the “Equity Exchange”). As a result of the Business Combination, Eve is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zanite, which has changed its name to “Eve Holding, Inc.”

On December 21, 2021, December 24, 2021, March 9, 2022, March 16, 2022 and April 4, 2022, in connection with the Business Combination, Zanite entered into subscription agreements or amendments thereto (as amended from time to time, the “Subscription Agreements”) with certain investors, including certain strategic investors and/or investors with existing relationships with ERJ (the “Strategic Investors”), Zanite Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”), and EAH (collectively, the “PIPE Investors”), pursuant to which, and on the terms and subject to the conditions of which, Zanite agreed to issue and sell to the PIPE Investors in private placements to close immediately prior to the Closing, an aggregate of 35,730,000 shares of Class A common stock at a purchase price of $10.00 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $357,300,000, which included the commitment of the Sponsor to purchase 2,500,000 shares of Class A common stock for a purchase price of $25,000,000 and the commitment of EAH to purchase 18,500,000 shares of Class A common stock for a purchase price of $185,000,000 (the “PIPE Investment”). The PIPE Investment was consummated substantially concurrently with the Closing.

Upon Closing, all shares of Zanite Class A and Class B common stock were converted into, on a one-for-one basis, shares of common stock of Eve Holding.

Both ERJ and Zanite's sponsors incurred costs in connection with the business combination ("Transaction Costs”). The Transaction Costs that were determined to be directly attributable and incremental to the Company and incurred related to the Business Combination were deferred and recorded as other assets in the balance sheet until the Closing. Such costs were subsequently recorded either as an expense of the Business Combination or a reduction of cash contributed with a corresponding reduction of additional paid-in capital if they were attributable to one or multiple sub-transactions of the Business Combination.

Accounting Treatment of the Business Combination

The Business Combination was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization, equivalent to the issuance of shares by Eve Sub for the net monetary assets of Zanite accompanied by a recapitalization. Accordingly, the consolidated assets, liabilities and results of operations of Eve Sub (or the "UAM Business", as applicable) became the historical financial statements of the Company, and the assets, liabilities and results of operations of Zanite were consolidated with Eve Sub beginning on the Closing date. For accounting purposes, the financial statements of the Company represent a continuation of the financial statements of Eve Sub. The net assets of Zanite were recorded at historical costs, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded. Operations prior to the transaction are presented as those of Eve Sub (or the "UAM Business", as applicable) in future reports of the Company.

The financial statements included in this report reflect (i) the historical operating results of Eve Sub prior to the Business Combination; (ii) the combined results of Eve Sub and Zanite following the Closing; (iii) the assets and liabilities of Eve Sub at their historical cost; and (iv) the Company’s equity structure for all periods presented.

EAH did not lose control over Eve Sub as a result of the Closing because EAH held approximately 90% of Eve’s shares immediately after the Closing. Therefore, the transaction did not result in a change in control that would otherwise necessitate business combination accounting. 

Transaction costs incurred during the period from the first quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2022 related to the transaction with Zanite (Transaction Costs) were reviewed to conclude if they were direct and incremental to the Business Combination and which entity was the primary beneficiary. Direct and incremental costs were deferred to the extent permitted by the accounting standards by the primary beneficiary entity. Transaction Costs not considered to be direct and incremental were expensed by the primary beneficiary entity.

COVID-19 Pandemic

The World Health Organization declared a global emergency on January 30, 2020 with respect to the outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus, or COVID-19 pandemic. There are many uncertainties regarding the continuing global COVID-19 pandemic, the full impact of which continues to evolve as of the date hereof. Eve is closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic situation and its impacts on its employees, operations, the global economy, the supply and the demand for its products and services, including the UAM Business.

The full magnitude that the pandemic will have on the Company’s financial condition, liquidity, and future results of operations remains uncertain. Management is actively monitoring the situation on its operations, suppliers, industry, and workforce. 

Separation-related adjustments

Management considers the legal entity approach to be the most meaningful representation of Eve’s standalone carve-out financial statements. 

The change in the carve-out approach impacted the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of cash flow until May 9, 2022. Amounts that were previously presented as Transfer from Parent are now presented as a noncash item contributed by the Parent.

For periods ended as of or prior to December 31, 2021, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial information includes both direct and indirect expenses. The historical direct expenses consist primarily of personnel-related costs (including salaries, labor taxes, profit sharing program, benefits, short and long-term incentive) of research and development employees directly involved in UAM activities, research expenses, facilities depreciation and others. The indirect expenses consist of personnel-related costs (including salaries, labor taxes, profit sharing program, benefits, short and long term incentive) allocated to Eve and general and administrative overhead, including expenses for information systems, accounting, other financial services (such as treasury, audit and purchasing), human resources, legal, and facilities, allocated as per headcount of employees exclusively involved in UAM activities compared to the total headcount of all ERJ employees or using an expense input comparing the total R&D expenses of Eve against the total R&D expenses of ERJ’s market accelerator and disruptive business innovation company, EmbraerX. Eve has calculated its income tax amounts using a separate return methodology and it has presented these amounts as if it were a separate taxpayer from ERJ and EAH.

For periods ended as of or prior to December 31, 2021, the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets of Eve also include other assets, capitalized software, accounts payable and other payables that were allocated on a specific identification basis. Derivative instruments used to hedge the salaries for employees directly involved in UAM activities were allocated by comparing the salaries of these employees in Brazilian reais (“BRL” or “R$”) against the total employees’ salaries of ERJ in BRL, and for employees not directly involved in UAM activities the expense input approach using R&D metrics, noted above, was used to allocate the Derivatives instruments. Incentive payments received in advance, which were related to service arrangements to process employee payroll were allocated based on a headcount proportion basis.

Emerging Growth Company

The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is not an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

Functional and reporting currency

Management has concluded that the US dollar ("USD") is the functional and reporting currency of Eve. Therefore, the condensed consolidated financial statements that were derived from Eve entities’ financial statements are presented in USD.

The foreign currency gains and losses are related to transactions with suppliers recognized in the functional currency, USD, but settled in BRL. The impacts were recognized in “Financial and foreign exchange gain/ (loss), net” within the consolidated statements of operations.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include bank deposits and highly liquid short-term investments, usually maturing within 90 days of the investment date, readily convertible into a known amount of cash and subject to an insignificant risk of change in value.

Financial Investments

Our financial investments consist in time deposits (investment available in USD, in which a determined amount is invested for a period of time with a fixed interest rate) with maturity dates over 90 days.

Hedge accounting

Until December 31, 2021, the Company accounted for certain derivative instruments under the cash flow hedge accounting methodology to hedge against the payroll cash flow volatility attributable to a risk of foreign exchange rate fluctuation associated with highly probable forecast transactions that will affect income or loss for the year. Effective January 1, 2022, no hedge transactions were observed since the derivative contracts were not transferred to Eve.

The Company recognizes all derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities in the balance sheet at their respective fair values. For derivatives designated in hedging relationships changes in the fair value are recognized in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss (“AOCI”), to the extent the derivative is effective at offsetting the changes in cash flows being hedged until the hedged item affects earnings. The cash flow impact of the derivative instruments is included in our combined statement of cash flows in net cash used in operating activities.

The Company only enters into derivative contracts that it intends to designate as a hedge of a forecasted transaction or the variability of cash flows to be received or paid related to a recognized asset or liability (cash flow hedge). For all hedging relationships, Eve formally documents the hedging relationship and its risk-management objective and strategy for undertaking the hedge, the hedging instrument, the hedged transaction, the nature of the risk being hedged, how the hedging instrument’s effectiveness in offsetting the hedged risk will be assessed prospectively and retrospectively, and a description of the method used to measure ineffectiveness. The Company also formally assesses, both at the inception of the hedging relationship and on an ongoing basis, whether the derivatives that are used in hedging relationships are highly effective in offsetting changes in cash flows of hedged transactions. For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as part of a cash flow hedging relationship, the effective portion of the gain or loss on the derivative is reported as a component of other comprehensive loss and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. Gains and losses on the derivative representing either hedge ineffectiveness or hedge components excluded from the assessment of effectiveness are recognized in current earnings. 

Eve discontinues hedge accounting prospectively when it determines that the derivative is no longer effective in offsetting cash flows attributable to the hedged risk, the derivative expires or is sold, terminated, or exercised, the cash flow hedge is designated because a forecasted transaction is not probable of occurring, or management determines to remove the designation of the cash flow hedge. Additionally, when it is probable that a forecasted transaction will not occur, Eve recognizes immediately in earnings gains and losses that were accumulated in other comprehensive loss related to the hedging relationship.

In all situations in which hedge accounting is discontinued and the derivative remains outstanding, Eve continues to carry the derivative at its fair value on the balance sheet and recognizes any subsequent changes in its fair value in earnings.

Capitalized software, net

Eve had capitalized software until December 31, 2021, consisting of software licenses that were recorded at cost, net of accumulated amortization, and if applicable, impairment charges. Software licenses are amortized over their useful lives which is approximately 5 years on a straight-line basis. Eve reviews intangible assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable.

Selling, General and Administrative 

Until December 31, 2021, general and administrative expenses primarily consisted of allocated expenses from ERJ and EAH of personnel-related costs (including salaries, labor taxes, profit sharing program, benefits, short- and long-term incentives), information systems, accounting, other financial services (such as treasury, audit and purchasing), human resources, legal, facilities, and other corporate expenses. Prior to December 31, 2021, such expenses were allocated to the UAM Business based on the most relevant allocation method for the services provided, primarily based on headcount of employees exclusively involved in the UAM Business’ activities compared to the total headcount of all ERJ employees as these measures reflect the historical utilization levels.

Effective January 1, 2022, all selling, general and administrative expenses were incurred by Eve entities.

Selling expenses consist of personnel expenses, including salaries, benefits, contractor and travel expenses aiming the UAM business development and to support our commercialization efforts.

Expenses related to the Transaction Costs contributed by ERJ and EAH were also recognized as selling, general and administrative expenses.

New Warrants expenses

Eve issued or agreed to issue New Warrants to potential customers, financiers and suppliers. See more details in Note 11. The New Warrants were recognized by Eve at their respective fair values as an operating expense (since Eve has no current revenue or binding contracts in place). The recognized expenses for these warrants amounted to $17,424,230 and $104,776,230 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022.  No subsequent remeasurement is required since they are equity classified.

Income Taxes

The deferred income taxes are generally recognized, based on enacted tax rates, when assets and liabilities have different values for financial statement and tax purposes. Eve has calculated its income tax amounts using a separate return methodology. Under this method, Eve assumes it will file separate returns with tax authorities, thereby reporting its taxable income or loss and paying the applicable tax to or receiving the appropriate refund from EAH. As a result, Eve’s deferred tax balances and effective tax rate as a stand-alone entity will likely differ significantly from those recognized in historical periods. A valuation allowance is appropriate if it is more likely than not all or a portion of deferred tax assets will not be realized. The calculation of income taxes on a separate return basis requires a considerable amount of judgment and use of both estimates and allocations.

The tax loss carryforwards and valuation allowances reflected in the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements are based on a hypothetical stand-alone income tax return basis and may not exist in the ERJ consolidated financial statements. 

Eve accounts for uncertain income tax positions recognized in the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements by applying a two-step process to determine the amount of tax benefit to be recognized. First, the tax position must be evaluated to determine the likelihood that it will be sustained upon external examination by the taxing authorities. If the tax position is deemed more-likely-than-not to be sustained, the tax position is then assessed to determine the amount of benefit to be recognized in the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. The amount of the benefit that may be recognized is the largest amount that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The provision for income taxes includes the effects of any resulting tax reserves, or unrecognized tax benefits, that are considered appropriate as well as the related net interest and penalties.