GLOBALINK INVESTMENT INC. - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number: 001-41122
GLOBALINK INVESTMENT INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware | 36-4984573 | |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
1180 Avenue of the Americas, 8th Floor
New York, 10036
(Address of principal executive offices)
(Zip Code)
(212) 382-4605
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:
Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||
Common Stock | GLLI | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC | ||
Warrants | GLLIW | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC | ||
Rights | GLLIR | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC | ||
Units | GLLIU | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer ☐ | Accelerated filer☐ | Non-accelerated filer ☒ | Smaller reporting company ☒ |
Emerging growth company ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☒ No ☐
The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, held by non-affiliates of the registrant, as computed by reference to the June 30, 2022 closing price reported by the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, was approximately $119.6 million.
As of March 31, 2023, there were shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, issued and outstanding.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Terms that Apply to this Annual Report
Unless otherwise stated in this annual report on Form 10-K of Globalink Investment Inc. (this “Annual Report”), references to:
● | “insider shares” are to the 2,875,000 shares of common stock held or controlled by our insiders (as defined below) prior to the IPO (as defined below); | |
● | “insiders” are to our officers, directors, sponsor and any holder of our insider shares; | |
● | “IPO” are to our initial public offering that was consummated on December 9, 2021; | |
● | “management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors; | |
● | “private investor” are to Public Gold Marketing Sdn. Bhd, a Malaysian private limited company, and/or its designee, an entity not affiliated with us, our sponsor or the underwriters in the IPO; | |
● | “private rights” are to the rights included in the private units (as defined below); | |
● | “private shares” are to the shares included in the private units (as defined below); | |
● | “private units” are to the 570,000 units we sold privately to the private investor upon consummation of the IPO; | |
● | “private warrants” are to the warrants included in the private units; | |
● | “public shares” are to shares of common stock which were sold as part of the units in the IPO (whether they are purchased in the IPO or thereafter in the open market); | |
● | “public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our insiders to the extent our insiders purchase public shares, provided that their status as “public stockholders” shall exist only with respect to such public shares; | |
● | “rights” or “public rights” are to the rights which were sold as part of the units in the IPO; | |
● | “sponsor” are to GL Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; | |
● | “warrants” or “public warrants” are to the warrants which were sold as part of the units in the IPO; and | |
● | “we,” “us,” “our company” or “the company” are to Globalink Investment Inc., a Delaware corporation. |
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”) are forward-looking in nature. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. 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;
● our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;
● our pool of prospective target businesses and the technology industry, specifically within the medical technology and green energy sectors;
● our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the recent COVID-19 pandemic;
● the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities;
● our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;
● 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 “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.
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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
We are a blank check company formed under the laws of the State of Delaware on March 24, 2021. We were formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Annual Report as our initial business combination. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business, industry or geographic location, we intend to search globally, with a focus on North America, Europe, South East Asia, and Asia (excluding China, Hong Kong and Macau), for target companies within the medical technology and green energy sectors. We shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). We intend to focus specifically on companies that are positioned to benefit directly from the technological development in the medical industry and green energy sectors. While our efforts to identify a target will not be limited to any particular segment or geography, we intend to focus our search on the medical technology and green energy sectors.
Our Initial Public Offering
On December 9, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering (“IPO”) of 10,000,000 units. Each unit consists of one share of common stock, $0.001 par value, one right to receive one-tenth (1/10) of a share of common stock upon the consummation of an initial business combination and one redeemable warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one-half (1/2) of a share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per whole share. The units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $100,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, we consummated the private placement of 517,500 private units at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating total proceeds of $5,175,000.
On December 9, 2021, the underwriters exercised their over-allotment option in full, and the closing of the issuance and sale of the additional units (the “Over-Allotment Units”) occurred on December 13, 2021. The total aggregate issuance by the Company of 1,500,000 Over-Allotment Units at a price of $10.00 per unit resulted in total gross proceeds of $15,000,000. On December 13, 2021, simultaneously with the sale of the Over-Allotment Units, we consummated the private sale of an additional 52,500 private units, generating gross proceeds of $525,000. The private units were issued pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, as the transactions did not involve a public offering.
A total of $116,725,000 of the net proceeds from the sale of units in the IPO (including the Over-Allotment Units) and the private placements on December 9, 2021 and December 13, 2021, were placed in a trust account established for the benefit of the Company’s public stockholders.
Recent Developments
On August 3, 2022, Globalink entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) by and among Tomorrow Crypto Group Inc., a Nevada corporation (“Tomorrow”), Globalink Merger Sub, Inc., a Nevada corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globalink (“Merger Sub”), GL Sponsor LLC, our sponsor and acting as the representative of Globalink (the “Parent Representative”), and Mingliu Wang, an individual and acting as the representative of Tomorrow (the “Seller Representative”).
On March 8, 2023, Globalink sent a notice of termination pursuant to the terms set forth in the Merger Agreement and, accordingly, the Merger Agreement was terminated on the same date.
On March 6, 2023, the stockholders of the Company approved a proposal (the “Extension Amendment Proposal”) to amend the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, allowing the Company to extend the date by which the Company must (i) consummate a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination involving the Company and one or more businesses, (ii) cease its operations if it fails to complete such business combination, and (iii) redeem or repurchase 100% of the Company’s outstanding public shares of common stock included as part of the units sold in the Company’s IPO (the “Termination Date”) by up to two (2) three-months extensions, followed by three (3) one-month extensions, to December 9, 2023 (each of which we refer to as an “Extension”, and such later date, the “Extended Deadline”). To obtain each extension, the Company, its sponsor or any of their affiliates or designees must deposit into the Company’s trust account with Continental by the deadline applicable prior to the extension, $390,000 for each three-month extension and $130,000 for each one-month extension. On March 6, 2023, the stockholders of the Company also approved a proposal to amend the Company’s Trust Agreement (as defined below), by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (the “Trust Amendment Proposal”). In connection with the approval of the Extension Amendment Proposal and the Trust Amendment Proposal at the special meeting held on March 6, 2023, holders of 6,756,695 shares of the Company’s common stock exercised their right to redeem those shares for cash at an approximate price of $10.35 per share, for an aggregate of approximately $69.92 million.
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On March 6, 2023, Globalink entered into an amendment to the Investment Management Trust Agreement (the “Trust Agreement”), originally entered into by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee (“Continental”) on December 6, 2021 to conform the procedures in the Trust Agreement by which the Company may extend the date on which Continental must liquidate its trust account if the Company has not completed its initial business combination to the procedures in the amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.
On March 6, 2023, Globalink elected to extend the Termination Date by three months until June 9, 2023, and deposited an aggregate of $390,000 into the trust account for its public stockholders. The Extension is first of up to five extensions permitted under the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company.
On March 22, 2023, Mr. Cliff (Ming Hang) Chong, the Company’s then director and chief financial officer, notified the Company of his resignation as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, effective March 31, 2023. On March 31, 2023, the Company’s board of directors (the “Board”) appointed Mr. Kelvin Chin as the Company’s chief financial officer and director, with effect from March 31, 2023. The appointment intends to fill the vacancy created by Mr. Cliff (Ming Hang) Chong’s departure.
Our Management Team
Our officers, directors and strategic advisors consist of seasoned investors and industry executives with an extensive track record of identifying, investing, building, operating and advising leading businesses. Our collective team has experience in:
● | management of industry life cycle and raising capital for varied businesses in different manners; | |
● | deep understanding of the Asia Pacific markets; | |
● | deep understanding of the operation and management of companies in the medical technology and green energy field; | |
● | sourcing, structuring, acquiring and integrating businesses; and | |
● | negotiating and executing transactions favorable to investors in multiple geographies and under varying economic and financial market conditions. |
We believe our team will be able to source medical technology and green energy acquisition investment opportunities through an extensive network. Additionally, we believe that our team has the operational expertise to drive efficiencies at a target company following a business combination, and, given their extensive experience with public market investors, are well positioned to develop a thoughtful investor relations strategy.
Our management team is led by Mr. Say Leong Lim, the Chairman of our Board of Directors (the “Board of Directors”) and our Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Kelvin Chin, our Chief Financial Officer. Our board members have extensive experience serving as directors or officers for numerous publicly listed and privately-owned companies. Our directors have experience with acquisitions, divestitures and corporate strategy and implementation, which we believe will significantly benefit us as we evaluate potential acquisition or merger candidates as well as following the completion of our initial business combination. We believe our management team is well positioned to take advantage of the growing set of acquisition opportunities focused on technology focused companies and that our contacts and relationships, ranging from owners and management teams of private and public companies, private equity funds, investment bankers, attorneys, to accountants and business brokers will allow us to generate an attractive transaction for our stockholders.
The past performance of our management team, or advisor or their respective affiliates is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. No member of our management team has had management experience with special purpose acquisition corporations in the past. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team’s or advisor’s or their respective affiliates’ performance as indicative of our future performance.
Corporate Information
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or 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 stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
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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 this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our shares of common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior December 31, 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. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our shares of common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior December 31, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our shares of common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior December 31.
Our executive offices are located at 1180 Avenue of the Americas, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10036, and our telephone number is 212-382-4605.
Business Strategy
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic location, we intend to focus our search on industries that complement our management team’s background and to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business, focusing in technology industries, specifically within the medical technology and green energy sectors. Our objective is to focus on middle market and emerging growth businesses operating with a total enterprise value from $80 million to $2 billion, which may be located throughout the world.
We believe that acquiring a leading high-growth technology company or assets in the technology industry such as medical and green energy technologies will provide a platform to fund consolidation and fuel growth for our company. There is no restriction in the geographic location of targets we can pursue, although we intend to initially prioritize North America, Europe, South East Asia, and Asia (excluding China, Hong Kong and Macau), as the geographical focus. We shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau).
We believe that there is a large pool of quality initial business combination targets looking for exit opportunities with an increasing number of private equity and venture capital activities in the certain regions, which provides us opportunities given what we believe are the limited exit options for mid-market companies in the region. Also, we believe that the medical technology and green energy industries represent a particularly attractive deal sourcing environment that will allow us to leverage our team’s skill sets and experience to identify an initial business combination which can potentially serve as a strong platform for future add-on acquisitions. Our investment thesis is supported by what we believe are the following trends in our target sectors:
Strong Growth in Private Equity: Strong levels of venture capital activity in the technology sector support our pursuit of an initial business combination.
Operator-Led Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”) outperform their Sectors: According to an article published by McKinsey & Company on September 23, 2020, SPACs that are led by executives with past C-Suite experience tend to outperform other SPACs (by about 40%) and their industry peers (by about 10%) after at least 12 months of publicly available trading data.
Competitive Advantages
We intend to capitalize on the following competitive advantages in our pursuit of a target company:
Leadership of an Experienced Management Team. Our experienced management team and Board of Directors have many years of combined work experience in investments, technology consulting industries, financial institutions and working with regulatory authorities. These years of experience have allowed us to gain not only extensive and deep expertise in our fields, but also vast networks of influential thought leaders and performing companies in our target industries and regions. We believe this positions us as a strategic player, and as an attractive alternative, for the many companies in our focus industries and regions that seek to tap the equity capital markets, helping us find attractive opportunities that maximize value to our stockholders.
Established Deal Sourcing Network. We believe the strong track record of our management team and financial advisor will provide access to quality initial business combination partners. In addition, through our management team and financial advisor, we believe we have contacts and sources from which to generate acquisition opportunities and possibly seek complementary follow-on business arrangements. These contacts and sources include those in government, private and public companies, private equity and venture capital funds, investment bankers, attorneys and accountants.
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Status as a Publicly Listed Acquisition Company. We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to prospective target businesses. As a publicly listed company, we will offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering process. We believe that some target businesses will favor this alternative, which we believe is less expensive, while offering greater certainty of execution, than the traditional initial public offering process. During an initial public offering, there are typically underwriting fees and marketing expenses, which would be costlier than a business combination with us. Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is approved by our stockholders (if applicable) and the transaction is consummated, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriter’s ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions that could prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe our target business would have greater access to capital and additional means of creating management incentives that are better aligned with our stockholders’ interests than it would as a private company.
Acquisition Criteria
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines.
Target Size. Consistent with our investment thesis as described above, we plan to target businesses with total enterprise values ranging from $80 million to $2 billion in the technology industries, specifically within the medical technology and green energy sectors.
Businesses with Revenue and Earnings Growth Potential. We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that have the potential for significant revenue and earnings growth through a combination of both existing and new product development, increased production capacity, expense reduction and synergistic follow-on acquisitions resulting in increased operating leverage.
Businesses with Potential for Strong Free Cash Flow Generation. We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that have the potential to generate strong, stable, and increasing free cash flow. We intend to focus on one or more businesses that have predictable revenue streams and definable low working capital and capital expenditure requirements. We may also seek to prudently leverage this cash flow to enhance stockholder value.
Strong Management. We will seek companies with strong management teams already in place. We will spend significant time assessing a company’s leadership and human fabric and maximizing its efficiency over time.
Benefit from Being a Public Company. We intend to acquire one or more businesses that will benefit from being publicly traded and can effectively utilize the broader access to capital and the public profile that are associated with being a publicly traded company.
Appropriate Valuations and Upside Potential. We intend to apply rigorous, criteria-based, disciplined, and valuation-centric metrics. We intend to acquire a target on terms that we believe provide significant upside potential while seeking to limit risk to our investors.
High-Growth Markets. Businesses in higher-growth sub-sectors and geographies in selected developed and emerging international markets.
Leverage Our Management Team Expertise. Targets that can particularly capitalize on our management team’s expertise acquired through decades of hands-on experience, deep geographic insights, long standing personal relationships, wide network, and strategic deal-making experience.
The parameters mentioned above are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this Annual Report, would be in the form of proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we would file with the SEC.
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Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure will make 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. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their equity interests, shares and/or shares of stock in the target business for our shares or for a combination of our shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests. It 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 have a negative view of us since we are a blank check company, without an operating history, and there is uncertainty relating to our ability to obtain stockholders approval of our proposed initial business combination and retain sufficient funds in our trust account in connection therewith.
Effecting an Initial Business Combination
We will have until June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein). However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within the deadline, we may, by resolution of our Board of Directors if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to five times, with two three-month extensions followed by three one-month extensions (for a total of up to 24 months to complete a business combination), subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as set out below. On March 6, 2023, we elected to extend the Termination Date by three months from March 9, 2023 to June 9, 2023 by depositing into the trust account an aggregate of $390,000.
Pursuant to the terms of our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the Trust Agreement, as amended, in order for the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination to be extended, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account $390,000 for each three-month extension or $130,000 for each one-month extension, on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline. In the event that we receive notice from our sponsor five days prior to the applicable deadline of its wish for us to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within the applicable time period, we will, as promptly as possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of our outstanding public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account, including a pro rata portion of any interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, and then seek to dissolve and liquidate. However, we may not be able to distribute such amounts as a result of claims of creditors which may take priority over the claims of our public stockholders. In the event of our dissolution and liquidation, the rights and warrants included in the private units will expire and will be worthless.
We will either (1) seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose, at which stockholders may seek to convert their shares, regardless of whether they vote or vote for or against the proposed business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (net of taxes payable), or (2) provide our stockholders with the opportunity to sell their shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (net of taxes payable), in each case subject to the limitations described herein. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of our proposed business combination or allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Any tender offer documents used in connection with a business combination will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules.
The initial per public share redemption or conversion price will be $10.15 per share. However, we may not be able to distribute such amounts as a result of claims of creditors which may take priority over the claims of our public stockholders.
Pursuant to the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”), our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriter’s fees and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account), which we refer to as the 80% test, at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. Therefore, the fair market value of the target business will be calculated prior to any conversions of our shares in connection with a business combination and therefore will be a minimum of $40,000,000 in order to satisfy the 80% test. While the fair market value of the target business must satisfy the 80% test, the consideration we pay the owners of the target business may be a combination of cash (whether cash from the trust account or cash from a debt or equity financing transaction that closes concurrently with the business combination) or our equity securities. The exact nature and amount of consideration would be determined based on negotiations with the target business, although we will attempt to primarily use our equity as transaction consideration. If our Board of Directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We will also obtain a fairness opinion from an independent investment banking firm before consummating a business combination with an entity affiliated with any of our officers, directors or insiders. If we are no longer listed on the Nasdaq, we will not be required to satisfy the 80% test.
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We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise owns a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% test.
As more fully discussed in ITEM 10 “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interest,” 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 may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. All of our officers and directors currently have certain relevant pre-existing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations.
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 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 non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period until we are no longer an “emerging growth company.”
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 the IPO, (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 common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior December 31, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Stockholder Approval of Business Combination
In connection with any proposed business combination, we will either (1) seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which public stockholders (but not our insiders, officers or directors) may seek to convert their shares of common stock, regardless of whether they vote or vote for or against the proposed business combination, into a portion of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, or (2) provide our stockholders with the opportunity to sell their shares to us by means of a tender offer (and therefore avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, in each case subject to the limitations described herein. If we determine to engage in a tender offer, such tender offer will be structured so that each stockholder may tender all of his, her or its shares rather than some pro rata portion of his, her or its shares. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or whether we will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. We anticipate that our business combination could be completed by way of a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar transaction. Stockholder approval will not be required under Delaware law if the business combination is structured as an acquisition of assets of the target company, a share exchange with target company stockholders or a purchase of stock of the target company; however, Nasdaq rules would require us to obtain stockholder approval if we seek to issue shares representing 20% or more of our outstanding shares as consideration in a business combination. A merger of our company into a target company would require stockholder approval under Delaware law. A merger of a target company into our company would not require stockholder approval unless the merger results in a change to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or if the shares issued in connection with the merger exceed 20% of our outstanding shares prior to the merger. A merger of a target company with a subsidiary of our company would not require stockholder approval unless the merger results in a change in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation; however, Nasdaq rules would require us to obtain stockholder approval of such a transaction if we week to issue shares representing 20% or more of our outstanding shares as consideration.
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If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will provide our stockholders with an opportunity to tender their shares to us pursuant to a tender offer pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and we will file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules.
In the event we allow stockholders to tender their shares pursuant to the tender offer rules, our tender offer will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not purchase public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.
If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or Nasdaq requirements, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will:
● | permit stockholders to convert their shares 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 stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide stockholders with the conversion rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
We will consummate our initial business combination only if public stockholders do not exercise conversion rights in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and, assuming a quorum is present at the meeting, the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares of common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the meeting are voted in favor of the business combination. As a result, if holders of approximately 89% or more of the public shares issued and outstanding as of the date of this Annual Report exercises their conversion rights, the business combination will not be consummated. However, the actual percentages will only be able to be determined once a target business is located and we can assess all of the assets and liabilities of the combined company (which would include the fee payable to the underwriters in an amount equal to 3.5% of the total gross proceeds raised in the IPO as described elsewhere in this Annual Report, any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by our insiders or their affiliates in connection with certain activities on our behalf, such as identifying and investigating possible business targets and business combinations that have not been repaid at that time, as well as any other liabilities of ours and the liabilities of the target business) upon consummation of the proposed business combination, subject to the requirement that we must have at least $5,000,001 of net tangible assets upon closing of such business combination. As a result, the actual percentages of shares that can be converted may be significantly lower than our estimates. We chose our net tangible asset threshold of $5,000,001 to ensure that we would avoid being subject to Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. However, if we seek to consummate an initial business combination with a target business that imposes any type of working capital closing condition or requires us to have a minimum amount of funds available from the trust account upon consummation of such initial business combination, our net tangible asset threshold may limit our ability to consummate such initial business combination (as we may be required to have a lesser number of shares converted) and may force us to seek third-party financing which may not be available on terms acceptable to us or at all. As a result, we may not be able to consummate such initial business combination and we may not be able to locate another suitable target within the applicable time period, if at all. Public stockholders may therefore have to wait until June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein) in order to be able to receive a portion of the trust account.
Our insiders, including our officers and directors, have agreed (1) to vote any shares of common stock owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination, (2) not to convert any shares of common stock into the right to receive cash from the trust account in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination or a vote to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity and (3) not to sell any shares of common stock in any tender in connection with a proposed initial business combination.
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Depending on how a business combination was structured, any stockholder approval requirement could be satisfied by obtaining the approval of either (i) a majority of the shares of our common stock that were voted at the meeting (assuming a quorum was present at the meeting), or (ii) a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock. Because our insiders, including our sponsor, officers and directors, collectively beneficially own approximately 42.07% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock, a minimum of approximately 649,153 public shares, or approximately 7.93% of the outstanding shares of our common stock (if the approval requirement was a majority of shares issued and outstanding and assuming that only a quorum was present at the meeting and that the insiders do not purchase any units in the IPO or units or shares in the after-market), would need to be voted in favor a business combination in order for it to be approved.
None of our insiders or their affiliates has indicated any intention to purchase units or shares of common stock from persons in the open market or in private transactions. However, if we seek stockholder approval of a business combination and if we hold a meeting to approve a proposed business combination and a significant number of stockholders vote, or indicate an intention to vote, against such proposed business combination, we or our insiders or their affiliates could make such purchases in the open market or in private transactions in order to influence the vote. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. No funds from the trust account can be released from the trust account prior to the consummation of a business combination to make such purchases (although such purchases could be made using funds available to us after the closing of a business combination). We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we or our insiders or their affiliates will not make purchases of shares of common stock if the purchases would violate Sections 9(a)(2) or 10(b) of the Exchange Act or Regulation M, which are rules that prohibit manipulation of a company’s stock, and we and they will comply with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act in connection with any open-market purchases. If purchases cannot be made without violating applicable law, no such purchases will be made. The purpose of such purchases would be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. Our insiders anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our insiders or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our insiders or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against the business combination.
Conversion Rights
At any meeting called to approve an initial business combination, any public stockholder, whether voting for or against such proposed business combination, will be entitled to demand that his, her or its shares of common stock be converted for a full pro rata portion of the amount then in the trust account ($10.25 per share as of December 31, 2022), plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us or necessary to pay our taxes. Alternatively, we may provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to sell their shares of our common stock to us through a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, net of taxes payable.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of his or hers or any other person with whom he or she is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to 20% or more of the shares of common stock sold in the IPO. Such a public stockholder would still be entitled to vote against a proposed business combination with respect to all shares of common stock owned by him or her, or his or her affiliates. We believe this restriction will prevent stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares before the vote held to approve a proposed business combination and attempt to use the conversion right as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then current market price. By not allowing a stockholder to convert more than 20% of the shares of common stock sold in the IPO, we believe we have limited the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block a transaction which is favored by our other public stockholders.
None of our insiders will have the right to receive cash from the trust account in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination or a vote to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity with respect to any shares of common stock owned by them, directly or indirectly, whether acquired prior to the IPO or purchased by them in the IPO or in the aftermarket.
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We may also require public stockholders who wish to convert, whether they are a record holder or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent at any time through the vote on the business combination or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The proxy solicitation materials that we will furnish to stockholders in connection with the vote for any proposed business combination will indicate whether we are requiring stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a stockholder would have from the time the stockholder received our proxy statement through the vote on the business combination to deliver his or her shares if he or she wishes to seek to exercise his or her conversion rights. Under Delaware law and our bylaws, we are required to provide at least 10 days’ advance notice of any stockholder meeting, which would be the minimum amount of time a public stockholder would have to determine whether to exercise conversion rights.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced delivery process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $45.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders to deliver their shares prior to the vote on the business combination in order to exercise conversion rights. This is because a holder would need to deliver shares to exercise conversion rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated. However, in the event we require stockholders to deliver their shares prior to the vote on the proposed business combination and the proposed business combination is not consummated, this may result in an increased cost to stockholders.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. Traditionally, in order to perfect conversion rights in connection with a blank check company’s business combination, the company would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an 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 or her conversion rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the consummation of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the conversion price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the conversion rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become a “continuing” right surviving past the consummation of the business combination until the holder delivered its certificate.
The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a holder’s election to convert his or her shares is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to convert such shares once made may be withdrawn at any time up to the vote on the proposed business combination. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered his or her certificate in connection with an election of their conversion and subsequently decides prior to the vote on the proposed business combination not to elect to exercise such rights, he or she may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically).
If the initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their conversion rights would not be entitled to convert their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any shares delivered by public holders.
Liquidation if No Business Combination
If we do not complete a business combination on or before June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein), we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the outstanding public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (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 our remaining stockholders and our Board of Directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject (in the case of (ii) and (iii) above) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. At such time, the rights will expire and holders of the rights will receive nothing upon a liquidation with respect to such rights, and the rights will be worthless.
Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of 100% of our outstanding public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period may be considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the Delaware General Corporation Law intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any redemptions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a redemption is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.
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Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of 100% of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period is not considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidation distribution. It is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 18th month (or such longer period of time if our time to complete a business combination is extended) from the closing of the IPO and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the above procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.
Because we will not be complying with Section 280 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, Section 281(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to seeking to complete an initial business combination, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses.
We will seek to have all third parties (including any vendors or other entities we engage after the IPO) and any prospective target businesses enter into valid and enforceable agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in or to any monies held in the trust account. The underwriters in the IPO have execute such a waiver agreement. As a result, the claims that could be made against us will be limited, thereby lessening the likelihood that any claim would result in any liability extending to the trust. We therefore believe that any necessary provision for creditors will be reduced and should not have a significant impact on our ability to distribute the funds in the trust account to our public stockholders. Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that vendors, service providers and prospective target businesses will execute such agreements. In the event that a potential contracted party was to refuse to execute such a waiver, we will execute an agreement with that entity only if our management first determines that we would be unable to obtain, on a reasonable basis, substantially similar services or opportunities from another entity willing to execute such a waiver. Examples of instances where we may engage a third-party that refused to execute a waiver would be the engagement of a third-party consultant who cannot sign such an agreement due to regulatory restrictions, such as our auditors who are unable to sign due to independence requirements, or whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or a situation in which management does not believe it would be able to find a provider of required services willing to provide the waiver. There is also no guarantee that, even if they execute such agreements with us, they will not seek recourse against the trust account. Our sponsor has 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 amount of funds in the trust account to the lesser of (i) $10.15 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.15 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the IPO 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 its indemnification obligations, as we have not required our sponsor to retain any assets to provide for its indemnification obligations, nor have we taken any further steps to ensure that our sponsor will be able to satisfy any indemnification obligations that arise. Moreover, our sponsor will not be liable to our public stockholders and instead will only have liability to us. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties, including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses. As a result, if we liquidate, the per-share distribution from the trust account could be less than approximately $10.15 due to claims or potential claims of creditors. We will distribute to all of our public stockholders, in proportion to their respective equity interests, an aggregate sum equal to the amount then held in the trust account, inclusive of any interest not previously released to us, (subject to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors as described below).
If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination and are forced to redeem 100% of our outstanding public shares for a portion of the funds held in the trust account, we anticipate notifying the trustee of the trust account to begin liquidating such assets promptly after such date and anticipate it will take no more than 10 business days to effectuate the redemption of our public shares. Our insiders have waived their rights to participate in any redemption with respect to their insider shares. We will pay the costs of any subsequent liquidation from our remaining assets outside of the trust account. If such funds are insufficient, our insiders have agreed to pay the funds necessary to complete such liquidation (currently anticipated to be no more than approximately $15,000) and have agreed not to seek repayment of such expenses. Each holder of public shares will receive a full pro rata portion of the amount then in the trust account, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us or necessary to pay our taxes. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to claims of our creditors that are in preference to the claims of public stockholders.
Our public stockholders shall be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only in the event of our failure to complete our initial business combination in the required time period or if the stockholders seek to have us convert their respective shares of common stock upon a business combination which is actually completed by us. In no other circumstances shall a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.
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If we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us which is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per share redemption or conversion amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.15.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our Board of Directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. Claims may be brought against us for these reasons.
Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation
Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains certain requirements and restrictions relating to the IPO that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. If we hold a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholder’s rights or pre-business combination activity (including the substance or timing within which we have to complete a business combination), we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, in connection with any such vote. Our insiders have agreed to waive any conversion rights with respect to any insider shares, private shares and any public shares they may hold in connection with any vote to amend our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Specifically, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that:
● | prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall either (1) seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which public stockholders may seek to convert their shares of common stock, regardless of whether they vote or vote for or against the proposed business combination, into a portion of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, net of taxes payable, or (2) provide our stockholders with the opportunity to sell their shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, net of taxes payable, in each case subject to the limitations described herein; | |
● | we will consummate our initial business combination only if public stockholders do not exercise conversion rights in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and, assuming a quorum is present at the meeting, the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares of common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the meeting are voted in favor of the business combination; | |
● | if our initial business combination is not consummated on or before June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein) the closing of the IPO, then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account to all of our public holders of shares of common stock; | |
● | we may not consummate any other business combination, merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar transaction prior to our initial business combination; and | |
● | prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. |
Potential Revisions to Agreements with Insiders
Each of our insiders has entered into letter agreements with us pursuant to which each of them has agreed to do certain things relating to us and our activities prior to a business combination. We could seek to amend these letter agreements without the approval of stockholders, although we have no intention to do so. In particular:
● | restrictions relating to liquidating the trust account if we failed to consummate a business combination in the time-frames specified above could be amended, but only if we allowed all stockholders to redeem their shares in connection with such amendment; | |
● | restrictions relating to our insiders being required to vote in favor of a business combination or against any amendments to our organizational documents could be amended to allow our insiders to vote on a transaction as they wished; | |
● | the requirement of members of the management team to remain our officer or director until the closing of a business combination could be amended to allow persons to resign from their positions with us if, for example, the current management team was having difficulty locating a target business and another management team had a potential target business; | |
● | the restrictions on transfer of our securities could be amended to allow transfer to third parties who were not members of our original management team; | |
● | the obligation of our management team to not propose amendments to our organizational documents could be amended to allow them to propose such changes to our stockholders; | |
● | the obligation of insiders to not receive any compensation in connection with a business combination could be modified in order to allow them to receive such compensation; and | |
● | the requirement to obtain a valuation for any target business affiliated with our insiders, in the event it was too expensive to do so. |
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As specified above, stockholders would not be required to be given the opportunity to redeem their shares in connection with such changes. Such changes could result in:
● | our having an extended period of time to consummate a business combination (although with less in trust as a certain number of our stockholders would certainly redeem their shares in connection with any such extension); | |
● | our insiders being able to vote against a business combination or in favor of changes to our organizational documents; | |
● | our operations being controlled by a new management team that our stockholders did not elect to invest with; | |
● | our insiders receiving compensation in connection with a business combination; and | |
● | our insiders closing a transaction with one of their affiliates without receiving an independent valuation of such business. |
We will not agree to any such changes unless we believe that such changes are in the best interests of our stockholders (for example, if we believe such a modification is necessary to complete a business combination). Each of our officers and directors has fiduciary obligations to us requiring that he or she act in our best interests and the best interests of our stockholders.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources than us and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there may be numerous potential target businesses that we could complete a business combination with utilizing the net proceeds of the IPO, our ability to compete in completing a business combination with certain sizable target businesses may be limited by our available financial resources.
The following also may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses:
● | our obligation to seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination or engage in a tender offer may delay the completion of a transaction; | |
● | our obligation to convert shares of common stock held by our public stockholders may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination; | |
● | our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commission to the underwriters upon consummation of our initial business combination; | |
● | our obligation to either repay working capital loans or extension loans that may be made to us by our insiders or their affiliates; | |
● | our obligation to register the resale of the insider shares, as well as the private units (and underlying securities) and any units (and underlying securities) issued to our insiders or their affiliates upon conversion of working capital loans or extension loans; and | |
● | the impact on the target business’ assets as a result of unknown liabilities under the securities laws or otherwise depending on developments involving us prior to the consummation of a business combination. |
Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating our initial business combination. Our management believes, however, that our status as a public entity and potential access to the United States public equity markets may give us a competitive advantage over privately held entities having a similar business objective as ours in connection with an initial business combination with a target business with significant growth potential on favorable terms.
If we succeed in effecting our initial business combination, there will be, in all likelihood, intense competition from competitors of the target business. Subsequent to our initial business combination, we may not have the resources or ability to compete effectively.
Facilities
We currently maintain our principal executive offices at 1180 Avenue of the Americas, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10036. The cost for this space is included in the $10,000 per-month fee (subject to deferral as described herein) payable to GL Sponsor LLC, for office space, utilities and secretarial services. Our agreement with GL Sponsor LLC provides that, commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the Nasdaq and until we consummate a business combination, such office space, as well as utilities and secretarial services, will be made available to us as may be required from time to time. We believe that the fee charged by GL Sponsor LLC is at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person. We consider our current office space, combined with the other office space otherwise available to our executive officers, adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We have two executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters and intend to devote only as much time as they deem necessary to our affairs. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for the business combination and the stage of the business combination process the company is in. Accordingly, once a suitable target business to consummate our initial business combination with has been located, management will spend more time investigating such target business and negotiating and processing the business combination (and consequently spend more time on our affairs) than had been spent prior to locating a suitable target business. We presently expect our executive officers to devote an average of approximately 10 hours per week to our business. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
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RISK FACTORS SUMMARY
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section entitled “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, the following:
● | We are a newly formed blank check company with no operating history and no revenues and, accordingly, you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. | |
● | If we determine to amend certain agreements made by our management team, many of the disclosures contained in the IPO prospectus regarding those agreements would no longer apply. | |
● | We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us. | |
● | Globalink may not be able to complete an initial business combination with a U.S. target company since such initial business combination may be 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. | |
● | Reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by our insiders or any of their affiliates in connection with certain activities on our behalf, such as identifying and investigating possible business targets and business combinations, could reduce the funds available to us to consummate a business combination. In addition, an indemnification claim by one or more of our officers and directors in the event that any of them are sued in their capacity as an officer or director could also reduce the funds available to us outside of the trust account. | |
● | Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders. | |
● | If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our Board of Directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our Board of Directors and us to claims of punitive damages. | |
● | As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination. | |
● | If our insiders exercise their registration rights, it may have an adverse effect on the market price of our shares of common stock and the existence of these rights may make it more difficult to affect our initial business combination. | |
● | Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination. | |
● | Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. 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. | |
● | Our insiders and their affiliates may be owed reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses which may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is most advantageous. |
● | We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our executive officers, directors or insiders, which may raise potential conflicts of interest. | |
● | The shares beneficially owned by our insiders, including our officers and directors, will not participate in a redemption and, therefore, our insiders may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is appropriate for our initial business combination. |
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● | Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business. | |
● | The value of the insider shares following completion of our initial business combination is likely to be substantially higher than the nominal price paid for them, even if the trading price of our common stock at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per share. | |
● | There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities. | |
● | Our insiders paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, for the insider shares, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our shares of common stock. | |
● | The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.15 per share. | |
● | If we require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares of common stock to comply with the delivery requirements discussed above for conversion, such converting stockholders may be unable to sell their securities when they wish to in the event that the proposed business combination is not approved. | |
● | We may amend the terms of the rights or warrants in a way that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of a majority of the then outstanding rights or warrants, respectively. | |
● | Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (the “Court of Chancery”) as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company or our company’s directors, officers or other employees. |
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
This Annual Report contains forward-looking information based on our current expectations. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this Annual Report, before deciding whether to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Relating to Our Business and Our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
We are a newly formed blank check company with no operating history and no revenues and, accordingly, you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a newly formed blank check company with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until we consummate our initial business combination. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective, which is to complete our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have not engaged in any substantive discussions and we have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our business combination. If we fail to complete our business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
We will consummate our initial business combination only if public stockholders do not exercise conversion rights in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001.
The Company’s public shares are subject to redemption at the time of an initial business combination. Although the Company did not specify a maximum redemption threshold, its charter currently in effect provides that consummate our initial business combination only if public stockholders do not exercise conversion rights in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In connection with a special meeting of stockholders held by the Company on March 6, 2023, 6,756,695 public shares of the Company were redeemed at a price of $10.35 per share. This redemption event lowers the amount of money available in our trust account and increases the risks that we may not be able to consummate an initial business combination.
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If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination, our public stockholders may be forced to wait more than 24 months before receiving distributions from the trust account.
We have until June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein) to consummate our initial business combination. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to such date unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to convert their shares. Only after the expiration of this full time period will holders of our common stock be entitled to distributions from the trust account if we are unable to complete our initial business combination. Accordingly, investors’ funds may be unavailable to them until after such date and to liquidate your investment, public security holders may be forced to sell their public shares, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination.
We will either (1) seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which public stockholders may seek to convert their shares, regardless of whether they vote or vote for or against the proposed business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (net of taxes payable), or (2) provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to sell their shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, in each case subject to the limitations described elsewhere in this Annual Report. Accordingly, it is possible that we will consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our public shares do not approve of the business combination. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. For instance, Nasdaq rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares, we would seek stockholder approval of such business combination instead of conducting a tender offer.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of the IPO 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 $5,000,001 after the IPO and have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors of blank check companies such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules which would, for example, completely restrict the transferability of our securities, require us to complete our initial business combination on or before June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein) of the effective date of the initial registration statement and restrict the use of interest earned on the funds held in the trust account. Because we are not subject to Rule 419, our units will be immediately tradable, we will be entitled to withdraw amounts from the funds held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination and we may have a longer period of time to complete such a business combination than we would if we were subject to such rule.
Our public stockholders will not be entitled to vote or redeem their shares in connection with our potential extensions.
If we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination on or before June 9, 2023, we may, by resolution of our Board of Directors if requested by our sponsor, further extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to another four times, by a three-month extension followed by three one-month extensions, as long as our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, deposits into the trust account $390,000 for a three-month extension or $130,000 for a one-month extension on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline. Our public stockholders will not be entitled to vote or redeem their shares in connection with any such extension. As a result, we may conduct such an extension even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such an extension. This feature is different than the traditional special purpose acquisition company structure, in which any extension of the company’s period to complete a combination requires a vote of the company’s stockholders and stockholders have the right to redeem their public shares in connection with such vote.
If we determine to amend certain agreements made by our management team, many of the disclosures contained in the IPO prospectus regarding those agreements would no longer apply.
We could seek to amend certain agreements with our management team disclosed in the IPO prospectus without the approval of our stockholders, although we have no current intention to do so. For example, restrictions on our executives relating to the voting of securities owned by them, the agreement of our management team to remain with us until the closing of a business combination, the obligation of our management team to not propose certain changes to our organizational documents or the obligation of the management team and its affiliates to not receive any compensation in connection with a business combination could be modified without obtaining stockholder approval. Although stockholders would not be given the opportunity to redeem their shares in connection with such changes, in no event would we be able to modify the redemption or liquidation rights of our stockholders without permitting our stockholders the right to redeem their shares in connection with any such change. We will not agree to any such changes unless we believe that such changes are in the best interests of our stockholders (for example, if such a modification is necessary to complete a business combination).
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If we deviate from the acquisition criteria or guidelines set forth in the IPO prospectus and this Annual Report, investors in the IPO may have rescission rights or may bring an action for damages against us or we could be subject to civil or criminal actions taken by governmental authorities.
If we were to elect to deviate from the acquisition criteria or guidelines set forth in the IPO prospectus and this Annual Report, each person who purchased units in the IPO and still held such securities upon learning of the facts relating to the deviation may seek rescission of the purchase of the units he, she or it acquired in the IPO (under which a successful claimant has the right to receive the total amount paid for his, her or its securities pursuant to an allegedly deficient prospectus, plus interest and less any income earned on the securities, in exchange for surrender of the securities) or bring an action for damages against us (compensation for loss on an investment caused by alleged material misrepresentations or omissions in the sale of a security). In such event, we could also be subject to civil or criminal actions taken by governmental authorities. For instance, the SEC can seek injunctions under Section 20(b) of the Securities Act if it believes a violation under the Securities Act has occurred or is imminent. The SEC can also seek civil penalties under Sections 20(d) and 24 if a party has violated the Securities Act or an injunctive action taken by the SEC or if a party willfully, in a registration statement filed under the Securities Act, makes any untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. Furthermore, Section 20 allows the SEC to refer matters to the attorney general to bring criminal penalties against an issuer.
We may issue shares of our capital stock to complete our initial business combination, which would reduce the equity interest of our stockholders and likely cause a change in control of our ownership.
Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 500,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share. Although we have no commitment as of the date of this Annual Report, we may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common stock to complete our initial business combination. The issuance of additional shares of common stock:
● | may significantly reduce the equity interest of investors in the IPO; | |
● | may subordinate the rights of holders of shares of common stock if we issue shares of preferred stock with rights senior to those afforded to our shares of common stock; | |
● | may cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of common stock 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 shares of common stock. |
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our business combination. However, 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; | |
● | 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; 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. |
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We may issue our shares to investors in connection with our initial business combination at a price that is less than the prevailing market price of our shares at that time.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may issue shares to investors in private placement transactions (so-called PIPE transactions) at a price of $10.35 per share or which approximates the per-share amounts in our trust account at such time, which is generally approximately $10.35. The purpose of such issuances will be to enable us to provide sufficient liquidity to the post-business combination entity. The price of the shares we issue may therefore be less, and potentially significantly less, than the market price for our shares at such time.
Globalink may not be able to complete an initial business combination with a U.S. target company since such initial business combination may be 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.
Globalink’s sponsor, GL Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, has equity holders that reside outside the United States. Globalink therefore may be considered a “foreign person” under the regulations administered by CFIUS and will continue to be considered as such in the future for so long as the Sponsor has the ability to exercise control over Globalink for purposes of CFIUS’s regulations. As such, an initial business combination with a U.S. business may be subject to CFIUS review, the scope of which was expanded by the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (“FIRRMA”), to include certain non-passive, non-controlling investments in sensitive U.S. businesses and certain acquisitions of real estate even with no underlying U.S. business. FIRRMA, and subsequent implementing regulations that are now in force, also subjects certain categories of investments to mandatory filings. If Globalink’s initial business combination with a U.S. business falls within CFIUS’s jurisdiction, Globalink may determine that it is required to make a mandatory filing or that it 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. CFIUS may decide to block or delay Globalink’s initial business combination, impose conditions to mitigate national security concerns with respect to such initial business combination or order Globalink to divest all or a portion of a U.S. business of the combined company without first obtaining CFIUS clearance, which may limit the attractiveness of or prevent Globalink from pursuing certain initial business combination opportunities that it believes would otherwise be beneficial to Globalink and its stockholders.
Moreover, the process of government review, whether by the CFIUS or otherwise, could be lengthy and Globalink has limited time to complete its initial business combination. If Globalink cannot complete its initial business combination by June 9, 2023 (or by December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein) because the review process drags on beyond such timeframe or because Globalink’s initial business combination is ultimately prohibited by CFIUS or another U.S. government entity, Globalink may be required to liquidate. If Globalink liquidates, based on the trust account balance as of April 10, 2023, Globalink’s public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.35 per share, and the warrants and rights will expire worthless. This will also cause you to lose the investment opportunity in a target company and the chance of realizing future gains on your investment through any price appreciation in the combined company.
We may be limited to the funds held outside of the trust account to fund our search for target businesses, to pay our tax obligations and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of the IPO, $967,578 is available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. Especially since the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised in full, we may not have sufficient funds available with which to structure, negotiate or close our initial business combination. In such event, we would need to borrow funds from our insiders to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Our insiders are under no obligation to loan us any funds. If we are unable to obtain the funds necessary, we may be forced to cease searching for a target business and may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
Reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by our insiders or any of their affiliates in connection with certain activities on our behalf, such as identifying and investigating possible business targets and business combinations, could reduce the funds available to us to consummate a business combination. In addition, an indemnification claim by one or more of our officers and directors in the event that any of them are sued in their capacity as an officer or director could also reduce the funds available to us outside of the trust account.
We may reimburse our insiders or any of their affiliates for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with certain activities on our behalf, such as identifying and investigating possible business targets and business combinations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us; provided that, to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination. In addition, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law, we may be required to indemnify our officers and directors in the event that any of them are sued in their capacity as an officer or director. We will also enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and under Delaware law. In the event that we reimburse our insiders or any of their affiliates for out-of-pocket expenses prior to the consummation of a business combination or are required to indemnify any of our officers or directors pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, Delaware law, or the indemnity agreements that we have entered into with them, we would use funds available to us outside of the trust account for our working capital requirements. Any reduction in the funds available to us could have a material adverse effect on our ability to locate and investigate prospective target businesses and to structure, negotiate, conduct due diligence in connection with or consummate our initial business combination.
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If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption price received by stockholders may be less than approximately $10.15.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will 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. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to consummate an initial business combination on or before June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein) or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.15 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement dated December 6, 2021, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.15 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.15 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties, including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.15 per share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.15 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.15 per share.
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Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them.
If we have not completed our initial business combination on or before June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein), we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the outstanding public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (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 our remaining holders of common stock and our Board of Directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject (in the case of (ii) and (iii) above) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. We may not properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of the date of distribution. Accordingly, third parties may seek to recover from our stockholders amounts owed to them by us.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our Board of Directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our Board of Directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our Board of Directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
Holders of rights will not have redemption rights.
If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time period and we redeem the funds held in the trust account, the rights will expire and holders will not receive any of the amounts held in the trust account in exchange for such rights.
Since we have not yet selected a particular industry or target business with which to complete our initial business combination, we are unable to currently ascertain the merits or risks of the industry or business in which we may ultimately operate.
Although we intend to focus our search on target businesses in North America, Europe, South East Asia, and Asia (excluding China, Hong Kong and Macau), in the medical technology and green energy industry, we may consummate our initial business combination with a target business in any industry or geographic region we choose and are not limited to any particular industry, type of business or geographic region. We shall not, however, undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). Accordingly, there is no current basis for you to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the particular industry in which we may ultimately operate or the target business which we may ultimately consummate our initial business combination. To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a financially unstable company or an entity in its development stage, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations of those entities. If we complete our initial business combination with an entity in an industry characterized by a high level of risk, we may be affected by the currently unascertainable risks of that industry. We may not properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. An investment in our shares may not ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors in the IPO than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a target business.
The requirement that our initial business combination occur with one or more target businesses having an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the trust account at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for our initial business combination may limit the type and number of companies that we may complete such a business combination with.
Pursuant to the Nasdaq listing rules, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses having an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriter’s fees and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for our initial business combination. This restriction may limit the type and number of companies that we may complete a business combination with. If we are unable to locate a target business or businesses that satisfy this fair market value test, we may be forced to liquidate and you will only be entitled to receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account, which may be less than $10.15 per share. If we are no longer listed on Nasdaq, we will not be required to satisfy the 80% test.
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We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of the IPO, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services.
It is likely we will consummate our initial business combination with a single target business, although we have the ability to simultaneously consummate our initial business combination with several target businesses. By consummating a business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
● | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, 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 developments, 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.
Alternatively, if we determine to simultaneously consummate our initial business combination with several businesses and such businesses 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 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 target 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.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise their conversion rights may not allow us to effectuate the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
If our initial business combination requires us to use substantially all of our cash to pay the purchase price, because we will not know how many public stockholders may exercise conversion rights, we may either need to reserve part of the trust account for possible payment upon such conversion, or we may need to arrange third-party financing to help fund our initial business combination. In the event that the business combination involves the issuance of our stock as consideration, we may be required to issue a higher percentage of our stock to make up for a shortfall in funds. Raising additional funds to cover any shortfall may involve dilutive equity financing or incurring indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. This may limit our ability to effectuate the most attractive business combination available to us.
We may be unable to consummate an initial business combination if a target business requires that we have a certain amount of cash at closing, in which case public stockholders may have to remain stockholders of our company and wait until our redemption of the public shares to receive a pro rata share of the trust account or attempt to sell their shares in the open market.
A potential target may make it a closing condition to our initial business combination that we have a certain amount of cash in excess of the $5,000,001 of net tangible assets we are required to have pursuant to our organizational documents available at the time of closing. If the number of our public stockholders electing to exercise their conversion rights has the effect of reducing the amount of money available to us to consummate an initial business combination below such minimum amount required by the target business and we are not able to locate an alternative source of funding, we will not be able to consummate such initial business combination and we may not be able to locate another suitable target within the applicable time period, if at all. In that case, public stockholders may have to remain stockholders of our company and wait the full 24 months after the IPO in order to be able to receive a portion of the trust account, or attempt to sell their shares in the open market prior to such time, in which case they may receive less than they would have in a liquidation of the trust account.
Public stockholders, together with any affiliates of theirs or any other person with whom they are acting in concert or as a “group,” will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to more than 15% of the shares of common stock sold in the IPO.
In connection with any meeting held to approve an initial business combination, we will offer each public stockholder (but not our insiders) the right to have his, her, or its shares of common stock converted into cash. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of his or hers or any other person with whom he or she is acting in concert or as a “group,” will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to more than 15% of the shares of common stock sold in the IPO. Generally, in this context, a stockholder will be deemed to be acting in concert or as a group with another stockholder when such stockholders agree to act together for the purpose of acquiring, voting, holding or disposing of our equity securities. Accordingly, if you purchase more than 15% of the shares of common stock sold in the IPO and our proposed business combination is approved, you will not be able to seek conversion rights with respect to the full amount of your shares and may be forced to hold such additional shares of common stock or sell them in the open market. The value of such additional shares may not appreciate over time following our initial business combination, and the market price of our shares of common stock may not exceed the per-share conversion price.
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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 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 consummating our initial business combination with certain sizable target businesses may be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing a business combination with certain target businesses. Furthermore, seeking stockholder approval of our initial business combination may delay the consummation of a transaction. Additionally, our outstanding warrants and the future dilution they represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Any of the foregoing may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating our initial business combination.
Our ability to consummate an attractive business combination may be impacted by the market for initial public offerings.
Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to any particular industry or geographic region, although we intend to pursue targets that are in North America, Europe, South East Asia, and Asia (excluding China, Hong Kong and Macau), in the medical technology and green energy industry. We shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). If the market for initial public offerings is limited, we believe there will be a greater number of attractive target businesses open to consummating an initial business combination with us as a means to achieve publicly held status. Alternatively, if the market for initial public offerings is robust, we believe that there will be fewer attractive target businesses amenable to consummating an initial business combination with us to become a public reporting company. Accordingly, during periods with strong public offering markets, it may be more difficult for us to complete an initial business combination.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, more effort and more resources to identify a suitable target and to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause target companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing, if required, to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of the target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of the IPO will be sufficient to allow us to consummate a business combination, because we have not yet identified any prospective target business, the capital requirements for any particular transaction remain to be determined. If the net proceeds of the IPO prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of the business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, or other reasons, we will be required to seek additional financing. Such 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 a particular business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. In addition, if we consummate a business combination, we may require additional financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
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Our insiders control a substantial interest in us and thus may influence certain actions requiring a stockholder vote.
Our insiders collectively beneficially own approximately 39.40% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. Our insiders or their affiliates could determine in the future to make such purchases in the open market or in private transactions, to the extent permitted by law, in order to influence the vote. In connection with any vote for a proposed business combination, our insiders have agreed to vote the shares of common stock owned by them after the IPO as well as any shares of common stock acquired in the aftermarket in favor of such proposed business combination, and therefore will have a significant influence on the vote.
Our Board of Directors is divided into three classes and, therefore, our insiders will continue to exert control over us until the closing of a business combination.
Our Board of Directors is and will be 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 stockholders 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 business combination. Accordingly, you may not be able to exercise your voting rights under corporate law until after June 9, 2023 (or until after December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein). If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” Board of Directors, fewer than half of the Board of Directors will be considered for election and our insiders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our insiders will continue to exert control at least until the consummation of our initial business combination.
We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
Under Section 211(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. It is unlikely that there will be an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the Delaware General Corporation Law.
If our insiders exercise their registration rights, it may have an adverse effect on the market price of our shares of common stock and the existence of these rights may make it more difficult to affect our initial business combination.
Our insiders are entitled to make a demand that we register the resale of the insider shares at any time commencing three months prior to the date on which their shares may be released from escrow. Additionally, the purchasers of the private units and our insiders or their affiliates are entitled to demand that we register the resale of the private units and any units our insiders or their affiliates may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans or extension loans made to us (and any securities underlying the private units or units issued upon conversion of the working capital loans or extension loans) commencing on the date that we consummate our initial business combination. The presence of these additional shares of common stock trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities. In addition, the existence of these warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination or increase the cost of consummating our initial business combination with the target business, as the stockholders of the target business may be discouraged from entering into a business combination with us or will request a higher price for their securities because of the potential effect the exercise of such warrants may have on the trading market for our shares of common stock.
We may enter into agreements with consultants or financial advisers that provide for the payment of fees upon the consummation of our initial business combination, and, therefore, such consultants or financial advisers may have conflicts of interest.
We may enter into agreements with consultants or financial advisers that provide for the payment of fees upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we pay consultants or financial advisers fees that are tied to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may have conflicts of interest when providing services to us, and their interests in such fees may influence their advice with respect to a potential business combination. For example, if a consultant’s or financial advisor’s fee is based on the size of the transaction, then they may be influenced to present us with larger transactions that may have lower growth opportunities or long-term value versus smaller transactions that may have greater growth opportunities or provide greater value to our stockholders. Similarly, consultants whose fees are based on consummation of a business combination may be influenced to present potential business combinations to us regardless of whether they provide longer-term value for our stockholders. While we will endeavor to structure agreements with consultants and financial advisors to minimize the possibility and extent of these conflicts of interest, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so and that we will not be impacted by the adverse influences they create.
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If we are deemed to be an investment company, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
● | restrictions on the nature of our investments; | |
● | restrictions on the issuance of securities; and | |
● | each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our business combination. |
In addition, we may have imposed upon us certain burdensome requirements, including:
● | registration as an investment company; | |
● | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and | |
● | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations. |
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading in securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a) (16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 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. Pursuant to the Trust Agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. Our IPO was not intended for persons who were seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earlier to occur of either: (i) the completion of our primary business objective, which is a business combination; or (ii) absent a business combination, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.15 per share on the liquidation of our trust account.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination on or before June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein) may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating our initial business combination.
We have until June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein) to complete our initial business combination. Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware of this requirement. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete a business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete a business combination with any other target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the time limit referenced above.
We may not obtain a fairness opinion with respect to the target business that we seek to consummate our initial business combination with and therefore you may be relying solely on the judgment of our Board of Directors in approving a proposed business combination.
We will only be required to obtain a fairness opinion with respect to the target business that we seek to consummate our initial business combination with if it is an entity that is affiliated with any of our insiders. In all other instances, we will have no obligation to obtain an opinion. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our Board of Directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
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Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.15 per share on the liquidation of our trust account.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons, including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.15 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, and our rights and warrants will expire worthless.
Compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 will require substantial financial and management resources and may 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 control and may require that we have such system of internal control audited. If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal control, we could be subject to regulatory scrutiny, civil or criminal penalties and/or stockholder litigation. Any inability to provide reliable financial reports could harm our business. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act also requires that our independent registered public accounting firm report on management’s evaluation of our system of internal control, although as an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, we may take advantage of an exemption to this requirement. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal control. 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 initial business combination.
If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
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.
In addition, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in the target business’ home jurisdiction, including any of the following:
● | rules and regulations or currency conversion or corporate withholding taxes on individuals; | |
● | tariffs and trade barriers; | |
● | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; | |
● | 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; | |
● | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; | |
● | cultural and language differences; | |
● | employment regulations; | |
● | crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks and wars; and | |
● | deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we are unable to do so, our operations may suffer.
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If we reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, 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 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.
If we effect our initial business combination with a target business located outside of the United States, the laws applicable to such target business will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
If we effect our initial business combination with a target business located outside of the United States, the laws of the country in which such target business is domiciled will govern almost all of the material agreements relating to its operations. The target business may not be able to enforce any of its material agreements in such jurisdiction and appropriate remedies to enforce its rights under such material agreements may not be available in this new jurisdiction. 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. Additionally, if we consummate our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, it is likely that substantially all of our assets would be located outside of the United States and some of our officers and directors might 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 of the United States.
Provisions in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our common stock and could entrench management.
Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered Board of Directors and the ability of the Board of Directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or international financial reporting standards, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The 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. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards, or IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board or the IASB, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with any tender offer documents we use, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may consummate our initial business combination with 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 complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. There can be no assurance that these trends will not continue.
The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
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In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
Risks Relating to Our Management Team
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. 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.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our key personnel, at least until we have consummated our initial business combination. None of our officers are required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs (although we expect them to devote approximately 10 hours per week to our business) and, accordingly, they will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote more substantial amounts of time to their other business activities, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs and could have a negative impact on our ability to consummate our initial business combination. In addition, we do not have employment agreements with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our officers. The unexpected loss of the services of our key personnel could have a detrimental effect on us.
The role of our key personnel after our initial business combination, however, remains to be determined. Although some of our key personnel may serve in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that most, if not all, of the management of the target business will remain in place. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a public company, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
Our officers and directors may not have significant experience or knowledge regarding the jurisdiction or industry of the target business we may seek to consummate our initial business combination with.
We may consummate a business combination with a target business in any industry or geographic location (excluding China, Hong Kong and Macau) we choose. Our officers and directors may not have enough experience or sufficient knowledge relating to the jurisdiction of the target or its industry to make an informed decision regarding our initial business combination.
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 completion of our business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business.
Our insiders and their affiliates may be owed reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses which may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is most advantageous.
Our insiders and their affiliates may incur out-of-pocket expenses in connection with certain activities on our behalf, such as identifying and investigating possible business targets and combinations. We have no policy that would prohibit these individuals and their affiliates from negotiating the reimbursement of such expenses by a target business. As a result, the personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business.
Members of our management team may have affiliations with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Members of our management team may have affiliations with companies, including companies that are engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us. Accordingly, they may participate in transactions and have obligations that may be in conflict or competition with our consummation of our initial business combination. As a result, a potential target business may be presented by our management team to another entity prior to its presentation to us and we may not be afforded the opportunity to engage in a transaction with such target business. For a more detailed description of the potential conflicts of interest of our management, see ITEM 10 “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interest.”
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We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our executive officers, directors or insiders, which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our insiders, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our insiders, officers and directors. Our officers and directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under ITEM 10 “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance — Conflicts of Interest.” Our insiders, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in ITEM 1 “Business — Acquisition Criteria” such transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested and independent directors (if we have any at that time), and we obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that the business combination is fair to our unaffiliated stockholders from a financial point of view. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our insiders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
The shares beneficially owned by our insiders, including our officers and directors, will not participate in a redemption and, therefore, our insiders may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is appropriate for our initial business combination.
Our insiders, including our officers and directors, have waived their right to convert their insider shares and private shares in connection with a business combination and their redemption rights with respect to their insider shares and private shares if we are unable to consummate our initial business combination. Accordingly, these securities will be worthless if we do not consummate our 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 stockholders’ best interest.
If we are unable to consummate a business combination, any loans made by our insiders, including our officers and directors, or their affiliates would not be repaid, resulting in a potential conflict of interest in determining whether a potential transaction is in our stockholders’ best interest.
In order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of the IPO, our insiders, including our officers and directors, or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. The loans would be non-interest bearing and would be payable at the consummation of a business combination. If we fail to consummate a business combination within the required time period, the loans would not be repaid. Consequently, our directors and officers may have a conflict of interest in determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise owns a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.
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The nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the insider shares may result in significant dilution to the implied value of the public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination.
We offered our units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit and the amount in our trust account was $10.15 per public share, implying an initial value of $10.00 per public share. However, prior to the IPO, our sponsor paid a nominal aggregate purchase price of $25,000 for the insider shares, or approximately $0.009 per share. As a result, the value of the public shares may be significantly diluted upon the consummation of our initial business combination. For example, the following table shows the dilutive effect of the insider shares on the implied value of the public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination, assuming that our equity value at that time is $45,585,545, which is the amount we would have for our initial business combination in the trust account after payment of $4,025,000 of deferred underwriting discounts, no interest is earned on the funds held in the trust account, and no public shares are redeemed in connection with our initial business combination, and without taking into account any other potential impacts on our valuation at such time, such as the trading price of our public shares, the business combination transaction costs, any equity issued or cash paid to the target’s sellers or other third parties, or the target’s business itself, including its assets, liabilities, management and prospects, as well as the value of our public and private warrants. At such valuation, each of our shares of common stock would have an implied value of $5.50 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, which would be a 45.0% decrease as compared to the initial implied value per public share of $10.00 (the price per unit in the IPO, assuming no value to the public warrants).
Public shares | 4,743,305 | |||
Insider shares | 2,875,000 | |||
Private shares | 570,000 | |||
Total shares | 8,188,305 | |||
Total funds in trust available for initial business combination (less deferred underwriting discounts) | $ | 45,060,545 | ||
Initial implied value per public share | $ | 10.00 | ||
Implied value per share upon consummation of initial business combination | $ | 5.50 |
The value of the insider shares following completion of our initial business combination is likely to be substantially higher than the nominal price paid for them, even if the trading price of our common stock at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per share.
Our sponsor has invested $25,000 in connection with the purchase of 2,875,000 insider shares. Assuming a trading price of $10.00 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, the 2,875,000 insider shares would have an aggregate implied value of $28,750,000. Even if the trading price of our common stock was as low as $0.009 per share, and the private rights and private warrants were worthless, the value of the insider shares would be equal to our sponsor’s initial investment in us. As a result, our sponsor is likely to be able to recoup its investment in us and make a substantial profit on that investment, even if our public shares have lost significant value. Accordingly, our management team, which owns founder shares and/or interests in our sponsor, may have an economic incentive that differs from that of the public stockholders to pursue and consummate an initial business combination rather than to liquidate and to return all of the cash in the trust to the public stockholders, even if that business combination were with a riskier or less-established target business. For the foregoing reasons, you should consider our management team’s financial incentive to complete an initial business combination when evaluating whether to redeem your shares prior to or in connection with the initial business combination.
Risks Relating to our Securities
Nasdaq may delist our securities from quotation on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our securities are listed on Nasdaq, a national securities exchange. We cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in market value of listed securities of $50 million and publicly held shares of $15 million, a minimum number of 1.1 million publicly held shares, and a minimum number of 400 total stockholders. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share. 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; | |
● | reduced liquidity with respect to our securities; | |
● | a determination that our shares are a “penny stock,” which will require brokers trading in our shares to adhere to more stringent rules, possibly resulting in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our 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. |
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The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.15 per share.
The proceeds held in the trust account are held as cash or invested only in the U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of taxes paid or payable. Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.15 per share.
We may require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares of common stock in connection with a vote of stockholders on a proposed business combination to comply with specific requirements for conversion that may make it more difficult for them to exercise their conversion rights prior to the deadline for exercising their rights.
In connection with any stockholder meeting called to approve a proposed initial business combination, each public stockholder will have the right, regardless of whether he, she or it votes or is voting for or against such proposed business combination, to demand that we convert his or her shares of common stock into a share of the trust account. We may require public stockholders seeking to convert their shares in connection with a stockholder vote on a proposed business combination, whether they are a record holder or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, at least two business days on the initial business combination (a tender of shares is always required in connection with a tender offer). In order to obtain a physical stock certificate, a stockholder’s broker and/or clearing broker, DTC and our transfer agent will need to act to facilitate this request. It is our understanding that stockholders 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 Delaware law and our bylaws, we are required to provide at least 10 days’ advance notice of any stockholder meeting, which would be the minimum amount of time a public stockholder would have to determine whether to exercise conversion rights. Accordingly, if it takes longer than we anticipate for stockholders to deliver their shares, stockholders who wish to convert may be unable to meet the deadline for exercising their conversion rights and thus may be unable to convert their shares.
If we require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares of common stock to comply with the delivery requirements discussed above for conversion, such converting stockholders may be unable to sell their securities when they wish to in the event that the proposed business combination is not approved.
If we require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares of common stock to comply with the delivery requirements discussed above for conversion and such proposed business combination is not consummated, we will promptly return such certificates to the tendering public stockholders. Accordingly, investors who attempted to convert their shares in such a circumstance will be unable to sell their securities after the failed business combination until we have returned their securities to them. The market price for our shares of common stock may decline during this time and you may not be able to sell your securities when you wish to, even while other stockholders that did not seek conversion may be able to sell their securities.
Holders of warrants will not have redemption rights.
If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time period and we redeem the funds held in the trust account, the warrants will expire and holders will not receive any of the amounts held in the trust account in exchange for the warrants.
We have no obligation to net cash settle the warrants.
In no event will we have any obligation to net cash settle the warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.
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If we do not maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the redeemable warrants, public holders will only be able to exercise such redeemable warrants on a “cashless basis” which would result in a fewer number of shares being issued to the holder had such holder exercised the redeemable warrants for cash.
Except as set forth below, if we do not maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at the time that holders wish to exercise such warrants, they will only be able to exercise them on a “cashless basis,” provided that an exemption from registration is available. As a result, the number of shares of common stock that a holder will receive upon exercise of its warrants will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised its warrant for cash. Further, if an exemption from registration is not available, holders would not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis and would only be able to exercise their warrants for cash if a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is available. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our best efforts to meet these conditions and to maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so. If we are unable to do so, the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company may be reduced or the warrants may expire worthless. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the private warrants may be exercisable for unregistered shares of common stock for cash even if the prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not current and effective.
An investor will only be able to exercise warrants if the issuance of shares of common stock upon such exercise has been registered or qualified or is deemed exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants.
No warrants will be exercisable for cash and we will not be obligated to issue shares of common stock unless the shares of common stock issuable upon such exercise have been registered or qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants. At the time that the warrants become exercisable, we expect to continue to be listed on a national securities exchange, which would provide an exemption from registration in every state. However, we cannot assure you of this fact. If the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the warrants reside, the warrants may be deprived of any value, the market for the warrants may be limited and they may expire worthless if they cannot be sold.
Our management’s ability to require holders of our redeemable warrants to exercise such redeemable warrants on a cashless basis will cause holders to receive fewer shares of common stock upon their exercise of the redeemable warrants than they would have received had they been able to exercise their redeemable warrants for cash.
If we call our warrants for redemption after the redemption criteria described in the IPO prospectus have been satisfied, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his warrants (including any warrants held by our initial stockholders or their permitted transferees) to do so on a “cashless basis.” If our management chooses to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, the number of shares of common stock received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his warrants for cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company.
We may amend the terms of the rights or warrants in a way that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of a majority of the then outstanding rights or warrants, respectively.
Our rights will be issued in registered form under a rights agreement, and our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement, each between Continental, as rights or warrant agent, as applicable, and us. Each of the rights agreement and warrant agreement provides that the terms of the rights or warrants, as applicable, may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision. Each of the rights agreement and warrant agreement requires the approval by the holders of a majority of the then outstanding rights or warrants (including the private warrants), as applicable, in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of the rights or warrants, as applicable. With respect to any amendment to the terms of only the private warrants, the warrant agreement requires the approval of the registered holders of a majority of the then outstanding private warrants.
Our outstanding rights, warrants and insider shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our shares of common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
To the extent we issue shares of common stock to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of common stock upon conversion of the rights and exercise of the warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of common stock and reduce the value of the shares of common stock issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our rights, warrants and insider shares may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business. If and to the extent the rights are converted or the warrants are exercised, you may experience dilution to your holdings.
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Each of our rights agreement and 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 rights and holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of rights holders and warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Each of our rights agreement and 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 rights agreement or the warrant agreement, as applicable, 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.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the rights agreement and 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 rights or warrants, as applicable, shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our rights agreement or warrant agreement, as applicable. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the rights agreement or the warrant agreement, as applicable, 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 (for purposes of this subsection, a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our rights or warrants, as applicable, 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 or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (for purposes of this subsection, an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such rights holder or warrant holder, as applicable, in any such enforcement action by service upon such rights holder’s counsel or warrant holder’s counsel, as applicable, in the foreign action as agent for such rights holder or warrant holder, as applicable.
These choice-of-forum provisions may limit the ability of rights holders and warrant holders to bring a claim in a judicial forum that such holders find favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our rights agreement or 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. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce these provisions and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.
There are no authorities addressing the proper allocation of tax basis to the components of a unit, and therefore, investors may not appropriately allocate such basis for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of a unit or instruments similar to a unit for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as the acquisition of one share of our common stock, one right to receive one-tenth (1/10) of a share of our common stock upon the consummation of an initial business combination and one redeemable warrant to purchase one half (1/2) of one share of common stock, and, by purchasing a unit, you agree to adopt such treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, each holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the one share of our common stock, one right to receive one-tenth (1/10) of a share of our common stock upon the consummation of an initial business combination and one redeemable warrant to purchase one half (1/2) of one share of common stock based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. The price allocated should be the stockholder’s tax basis in such share or warrant, as the case may be. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the share of our share of our common stock, one right to receive one-tenth (1/10) of a share of our common stock upon the consummation of an initial business combination and one redeemable warrant to purchase one half (1/2) of one share of common stock comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the common stock, the right and the redeemable warrant based on their respective relative fair market values at the time of disposition. The foregoing treatment of the unit and a holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the Internal Revenue Service, or “IRS”, or the courts. The IRS or the courts may not agree with such characterization and investors could suffer adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences as a result. Accordingly, we urge each prospective investor to consult its own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit).
Redemptions of our common stock pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the IPO prospectus could give rise to dividend income (rather than gain on a sale or exchange) in certain circumstances.
In the event that an investor’s common stock is redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the IPO prospectus, the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as sale of the common stock or is instead treated as a dividend. Whether a redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of shares of our stock treated as held by the investor (including any stock constructively owned by the investor as a result of owning rights or by attribution) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption. If the redemption does not qualify for sale treatment, all or a portion of such redemption could be treated as a taxable dividend to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits for tax purposes (which include earnings for the entire year of such payment, including after such payment is made). Amounts treated as dividends to non-U.S. investors may be subject to withholding tax. Certain non-corporate U.S. investors may be eligible for reduced rates of taxation upon dividends. The rules regarding the tax treatment of such redemptions are complex and will depend on each investor’s own circumstances. Each investor should consult with its own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption.
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General Risk Factors
We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
The JOBS Act permits “emerging growth companies” like us to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. As long as we qualify as an emerging growth company, we would be permitted, and we intend to, omit the auditor’s attestation on internal control over financial reporting that would otherwise be required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as described above. We also intend to take advantage of the exemption provided under the JOBS Act from the requirements to submit say-on-pay, say-on-frequency and say-on-golden parachute votes to our stockholders and we will avail ourselves of reduced executive compensation disclosure that is already available to smaller reporting companies.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the exemption from complying with new or revised accounting standards provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act as long as we are an emerging growth company. An emerging growth company can therefore delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to take advantage of these benefits until we are no longer an emerging growth company or until we affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of this exemption. Our financial statements may therefore not be comparable to those of companies that comply with such new or revised accounting standards.
Following the IPO, we will continue to be an emerging growth company until the earliest to occur of (i) the last day of the fiscal year during which we had total annual gross revenues of at least $1.235 billion (as indexed for inflation), (ii) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of units under the IPO registration statement, (iii) the date on which we have, during the previous three-year period, issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt, or (iv) the date on which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer,” as defined under the Exchange Act.
Until such time that we lose “emerging growth company” status, it is unclear if investors will find our securities less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and our stock prices may be more volatile and could cause our stock prices to decline.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widespread health crisis that has adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we may consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and service providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. In addition, countries or supranational organizations in our target markets may develop and implement legislation that makes it more difficult or impossible for entities outside such countries or target markets to acquire or otherwise invest in companies or businesses deemed essential or otherwise vital. The extent of which COVID-19 impacts our search for and ability to consummate a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, and result in protectionist sentiments and legislation in our target markets, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected. In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
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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 will 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 legal 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 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 a business combination target.
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.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the occurrence of a natural disaster.
Our business could be adversely affected by severe weather conditions and natural disasters. Any of such occurrences could cause severe disruption to our daily operations, and may even require a temporary closure of our operations across one or more markets. Such closures may disrupt our business operations and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our operations could also be disrupted if our third-party service providers, business partners or acquisition targets were affected by such natural disasters. If the disruptions posed by such events continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
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Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (the “Court of Chancery”) as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company or our company’s directors, officers or other employees.
Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any (1) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our company, (2) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, employee or agent of our company to our company or our stockholders, or any claim for aiding and abetting any such alleged breach, (3) action asserting a claim against our company or any director or officer of our company arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, or (4) action asserting a claim against us or any director or officer of our company governed by the internal affairs doctrine except for, as to each of (1) through (4) above, any claim (a) as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (b) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or (c) arising under the federal securities laws, including the Securities Act, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall concurrently be the sole and exclusive forums. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the inclusion of such provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not be deemed to be a waiver by our stockholders of our obligation to comply with federal securities laws, rules and regulations, and the provisions of this paragraph 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 shall be the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware (a “foreign action”) in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such enforcement action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such stockholder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company or its directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation 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.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
We do not own any real estate or other physical properties. We currently maintain our principal executive offices at 1180 Avenue of the Americas, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10036. The cost for this space is included in the $10,000 per-month fee (subject to deferral as described herein) payable to GL Sponsor LLC, for office space, utilities and secretarial services. Our agreement with GL Sponsor LLC provides that, commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the Nasdaq and until we consummate a business combination, such office space, as well as utilities and secretarial services, will be made available to us as may be required from time to time. We believe that the fee charged by GL Sponsor LLC is at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person. We consider our current office space, combined with the other office space otherwise available to our executive officers, adequate for our current operations.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
To the knowledge of our management, there is no material litigation, arbitration, governmental proceeding or any other legal proceeding currently pending or known to be contemplated against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Our securities trade on the Nasdaq Global Market. Each of our units consists of one share of common stock, $0.001 par value, one right to acquire one-tenth (1/10) of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one half (1/2) of one share of common stock and, commencing on December 7, 2021, our units trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “GLLIU.” The common stock, rights and warrants underlying our units began trading separately on Nasdaq under the symbols “GLLI,” “GLLIR,” and “GLLIW,” respectively, on December 22, 2021.
Holders of Record
On April 10, 2023, there were two holders of record of our units, eight holders of record of shares of our common stock, one holder of record of our rights, and one holder of record of our warrants. Such numbers do not include beneficial owners holding our securities through nominee names.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our shares of common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination 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 dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our Board of Directors at such time. It is the present intention of our Board of Directors to retain all earnings, if any, for use in our business operations and, accordingly, our Board of Directors does not anticipate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
Use of Proceeds from our Initial Public Offering
On December 9, 2021, we consummated our IPO of 10,000,000 units. Each unit consists of one share of common stock, one right to receive one-tenth (1/10) of a share of common stock upon the consummation of an initial business combination and one redeemable warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one-half (1/2) of a share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per whole share. The units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $100,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, we consummated the private placement of 517,500 private units at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating total proceeds of $$5,175,000.
On December 9, 2021, the underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in full, and the closing of the issuance and sale of the Over-Allotment Units occurred on December 13, 2021. The total aggregate issuance by us of 1,500,000 Over-Allotment Units at a price of $10.00 per unit resulted in total gross proceeds of $15,000,000. On December 13, 2021, simultaneously with the sale of the Over-Allotment Units, we consummated the private sale of an additional 52,500 private units, generating gross proceeds of $525,000.
A total of $116,725,000 of the net proceeds from the sale of units in the IPO (including the Over-Allotment Units) and the private placements on December 9, 2021 and December 13, 2021, were placed in a trust account established for the benefit of the Company’s public stockholders.
For a description of the use of the proceeds generated in our IPO, see Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report.
Redemption of Public Shares
In connection with a special meeting of stockholders held by the Company on March 6, 2023, 6,756,695 public shares of the Company were redeemed at a price of $10.35 per share.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
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ITEM 6. [RESERVED]
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The statements in the discussion and analysis regarding industry outlook, our expectations regarding the performance of our business and the forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described in “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” Our actual results may differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements. You should read the following discussion together with the sections entitled “Risk Factors”,” “Business” and the audited consolidated financial statements, including the related notes, appearing elsewhere in this Form 10-K. All references to year, unless otherwise noted, refers to our fiscal year, which ends on December 31. As used in this Form 10-K, unless the context suggests otherwise, “we,” “us,” “our,” “the Company” or “Globalink” refer to Globalink Investment Inc.
Overview
We were formed on March 24, 2021 for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more target businesses. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to any particular industry or geographic region, although we intend to focus our search on target businesses in in North America, Europe, South East Asia, and Asia (excluding China, Hong Kong and Macau), in the medical technology and green energy industry. We shall not undertake our initial business combination with any entity with its principal business operations in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). We intend to complete the business acquisition in a combination of cash (whether cash from the trust account or cash from a debt or equity financing transaction that closes concurrently with the business combination) or our equity securities.
The issuance of additional shares of common stock in connection with an initial business combination:
● | may significantly dilute the equity interest of our investors who would not have pre-emption rights in respect of any such issuance; | |
● | may subordinate the rights of holders of shares of common stock if we issue shares of preferred stock with rights senior to those afforded to our shares of common stock; | |
● | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock is 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; | |
● | may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and | |
● | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common stock, rights and/or warrants. |
Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant debt, it could result in: | ||
● | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an 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; | |
● | 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; | |
● | 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 shares of common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund other general corporate purposes; |
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● | 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; | |
● | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and | |
● | other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less 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 a business combination will be successful.
Recent Developments
On March 6, 2023, the stockholders of the Company approved an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, allowing the Company to extend the Termination Date by up to two (2) three-months extensions, followed by three (3) one-month extensions, to December 9, 2023. To obtain each extension, the Company, its sponsor or any of their affiliates or designees must deposit into the Company’s trust account with Continental by the deadline applicable prior to the extension, $390,000 for each three-month extension and $130,000 for each one-month extension. In connection with the approval of the Extension Amendment Proposal and the Trust Amendment Proposal at the special meeting held on March 6, 2023, holders of 6,756,695 shares of the Company’s common stock exercised their right to redeem those shares for cash at an approximate price of $10.35 per share, for an aggregate of approximately $69.92 million.
On March 6, 2023, Globalink entered into an amendment to the Trust Agreement, originally entered into by and between the Company and Continental on December 6, 2021 to conform the procedures in the Trust Agreement by which the Company may extend the date on which Continental must liquidate its trust account if the Company has not completed its initial business combination to the procedures in the amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.
On March 6, 2023, Globalink elected to extend the Termination Date by three months until June 9, 2023, and deposited an aggregate of $390,000 into the trust account for its public stockholders. The Extension is first of up to five extensions permitted under the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company.
Business Combination
On August 3, 2022, Globalink entered into the Merger Agreement by and among Tomorrow, Merger Sub, the Parent Representative, and the Seller Representative. Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, a business combination between Globalink and Tomorrow through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Tomorrow, with Tomorrow surviving the Merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globalink.
In accordance with the termination provisions under Section 10.1 of the Merger Agreement, the Merger Agreement was terminated on March 8, 2023 (the “Merger Agreement Termination Date”). In conjunction with the termination of the Merger Agreement, the Additional Agreements (as defined in the Merger Agreement) (including the Support Agreements) were also terminated in accordance with their respective terms as of March 8, 2023, the Merger Agreement Termination Date.
Results of Operations
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity through December 31, 2022 relates to the Company’s formation and the IPO and search for a prospective initial business combination target. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of an initial business combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the IPO placed in the trust account established for the benefit of the Company’s public stockholders.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had a net income of $224,242, all of which consisted of interest income on investments held in trust account of $1,683,870 and change in fair value of the warrant liabilities of $108,300, partially offset by operating expenses incurred driven by general and administrative expenses of $1,107,632, provision for income tax of $308,185 and accrual of Delaware franchise taxes of $152,111.
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For the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, we had net loss of $119,631, which consists general and administrative expenses of $135,649 and transaction costs allocated to warrant issuance of $611, partially offset by change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $16,530 and interest income on investments held in the trust account of $99.
Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern
The registration statement on Form S-1 for the Company’s IPO was declared effective on December 6, 2021. On December 9, 2021, we consummated our IPO of 10,000,000 units. Each unit consists of one share of common stock, $0.001 par value, one right to receive one-tenth (1/10) of a share of common stock upon the consummation of an initial business combination and one redeemable warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one-half (1/2) of a share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per whole share. The units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $100,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, we consummated the private placement of 517,500 private units at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating total proceeds of $5,175,000.
On December 9, 2021, the underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in full, and the closing of the Over-Allotment Units occurred on December 13, 2021. The total aggregate issuance by the Company of 1,500,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit resulted in total gross proceeds of $15,000,000. On December 13, 2021, simultaneously with the sale of the Over-Allotment Units, we consummated the private sale of an additional 52,500 private units, generating gross proceeds of $525,000. Since the underwriter’s over-allotment was exercised in full, the Sponsor did not forfeit any insider shares.
Offering costs for the IPO and the exercise of the underwriters’ Over-allotment Option amounted to $6,887,896, consisting of $2,300,000 of underwriting fees, $4,025,000 of deferred underwriting fees payable (which are held in the trust account) and $562,896 of other costs. The $4,025,000 of deferred underwriting fee payable is contingent upon the consummation of an initial business combination by June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended), subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Following the closing of the IPO (including the Over-Allotment Units), $116,725,000 ($10.15 per unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the units in the IPO, Over-Allotment Units, and the private units was placed in a trust account established for the benefit of the Company’s public stockholders at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee and is 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 180 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of an initial business combination and (ii) the distribution of the trust account.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, cash used in operating activities was $730,469. Net income of $224,242 was impacted by interest earned on investments held in the trust account of $1,683,870, change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $108,300. Changes in operating assets and liabilities provided $837,459 of cash from operating activities.
For the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, cash used in operating activities was $324,872. Net loss was $119,631 consisting of general and administration expenses. Transaction costs allocated to warrant issuance of $611, offset partially by change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $16,530 and interest earned on investments held in the trust account of $99. Changes in operating assets and liabilities used $189,223 of cash from operating activities.
We had investments held in the trust account of $118,408,969 and $116,725,099 as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 respectively. Interest income on the balance in the trust account of $1,683,870 for the year ended December 31, 2022 may be used by us to pay taxes. Through December 31, 2022, no amount was withdrawn from the trust account to pay for taxes.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (less income taxes payable), to complete our business combination. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our 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.
We had $81,763 and $812,232 of cash held outside of the trust account as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We intend to use the funds held outside the trust account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete initial business combination.
Ding Jie Lin, a member of the Sponsor, agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the IPO pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). The Company borrowed $70,000 under the Note, which was repaid at IPO. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had no borrowings under this Note.
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In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an initial business combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required. If the Company completes an initial business combination, the Company will repay the working capital loans out of the proceeds of the trust account released to the Company. Otherwise, the working capital loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial 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. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such working capital loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The working capital loans would either be repaid upon consummation of an initial business combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of such working capital loans may be convertible into units of the post initial business combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit. The units would be identical to the private units. As of December 31, 2022, there were no working capital loans outstanding.
If our initial business combination is not consummated, the Company will need to raise additional capital through loans or additional investments from its Sponsor, stockholders, officers, directors, or third parties. The Company’s officers, directors and Sponsor may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion, to meet the Company’s working capital needs. Accordingly, the Company may not be able to obtain additional financing. If the Company is unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of a potential transaction, and reducing overhead expenses. The Company cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all.
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB ASU 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” the Company has until June 9, 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 and an extension is not requested by the Sponsor, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the Company. Management has determined that the mandatory liquidation, should a business combination not occur, and an extension is not requested by the Sponsor, and potential subsequent dissolution as well as liquidity condition noted above 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 June 9, 2023. The Company intends to complete a business combination before the mandatory liquidation date.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2022 and 2021. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with 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 the below.
Registration Rights
The holders of the insider shares, the private units and any units that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans or extension loans (and any securities underlying the private units or units issued upon conversion of the working capital loans or extension loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement requiring us to register such securities for resale. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to two demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 1,500,000 units to cover over-allotment. On December 13, 2021, the underwriters fully exercised the option and purchased 1,500,000 additional units, generating gross proceeds of $11,500,000. The underwriters are entitled to a deferred underwriting discounts of $0.35 per unit, or $4,025,000 from the closing of the IPO and the Over-Allotment Units. The deferred discounts will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the trust account solely if the Company completes an initial business combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
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Right of First Refusal
Subject to certain conditions, we granted Chardan Capital Markets, LLC, the representative of the underwriters in the IPO, for a period of 18 months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination, a right of first refusal to act as book-running manager, with at least 30% of the economics, for any and all future public and private equity and debt offerings. In accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(E)(i), such right of first refusal shall not have a duration of more than three years from the effective date of the registration statement for the IPO.
JOBS Act
On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As such, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the consolidated financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of executive compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our IPO or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of consolidated 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 consolidated 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:
Net (Loss) Income Per Share
The Company complies with the accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share”. Net (loss) income per common share is computed by dividing net (loss) income by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the period. Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value associated with the redeemable shares of common stock is included in (loss) income per share. As of December 31, 2022 and for the period from March 24, 2021 (Inception) through December 31, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted (loss) income per share is the same as basic (loss) income per share for the period presented.
Accounting for Warrants
The Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in FASB, ASC 480 and ASC 815. The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own common stock, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding. We account for the warrants issued in connection with our IPO in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815 under which the public warrants meet the criteria for equity treatment and the private warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, we classify the private warrants as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the private 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 consolidated statement of operations. The fair value of the warrants was estimated using a binomial lattice model.
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Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-06, Debt — Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) (“ASU 2020-06”) to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-converted method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective January 1, 2022 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 on March 24, 2021 (inception). The adoption of ASU 2020-06 did not have an impact on the Company’s financial statements.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2022.
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
As of December 31, 2022, we were not subject to any market or interest rate risk. The net proceeds held in our trust account have been invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 180 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
This information appears following Item 15 of this Annual 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
Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this Annual Report, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management evaluated, with the participation of our current Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (our “Certifying Officers”), the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2022, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, our Certifying Officers concluded that, due to the events that led to the Company’s restatement of its financial statements to reclassify the Company’s private warrants (complex financial instruments) and in the Company's internal control over financial reporting related to our compliance control of timely tax return filings our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective.
We do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors and all instances of fraud. Disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
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Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control 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 there is a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, due to improper classification of the Company’s private warrants (complex financial instruments) and in the Company's internal control over financial reporting related to our compliance control of timely tax return filings.
While we have processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements, we plan to further enhance our system of evaluating and implementing the accounting standards that apply to our financial statements. To supplement existing accounting professionals, we have also engaged a third-party consultant with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications and through whom we obtain access to accounting literature. The elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
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.
ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS
Not applicable.
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PART III
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Directors and Executive Officers
Our current directors and executive officers are as follows:
Name | Age | Title | ||
Say Leong Lim | 53 | Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer | ||
Kelvin (Zeng Yenn) Chin | 39 | Chief Financial Officer and Director | ||
Hong Shien Beh | 36 | Independent Director | ||
Kian Huat Lai | 56 | Independent Director | ||
Hui Liang Wong | 40 | Independent Director |
Say Leong Lim has served as our Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer since our inception. Mr. Lim has been involved in numerous corporate and operation transactions, amongst other IPOs, RTOs, M&A deals, restructuring and rightsizing, funding, training, management and operational controls in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Mainland China and Australia over the last 30 years. Since February 2019, Mr. Lim has served as the Independent Non-executive Director of Aurora Italia International Bhd, a public retail company in Malaysia. Since June 2021, Mr. Lim has served as an independent director at LFE corporation Bhd, an engineering company in Malaysia. In May 2010, Mr. Lim co-founded Everise Concepts PLT and has since served as its advisor. Everise Concepts PLT is principally involved in the provision of corporate and business consultancy, real estate projects and the wholesale and distribution of fast-moving consumer goods via retail and online channels. From November 2020 to April 2022, Mr. Lim served as an independent director of Caely Holdings Bhd. Mr. Lim obtained his Chartered Management Accountant Degree in management accountancy from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) United Kingdom in 1991 and was admitted as a Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) in 1996. Mr. Lim obtained his Masters of Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University in United Kingdom in 1997.
Kelvin (Zeng Yenn) Chin serves as a member of our Board of Directors since March 2023. Mr. Chin has over 15 years of audit experience, including auditing of issuers seeking initial public offerings. Since September 2021, Mr. Chin has served as the Financial Controller at PG Mall Sdn Bhd., an e-commerce marketplace. From September 2019 to August 2021, Mr. Chin served as the Disruptive Events Advisory Director at Deloitte Southeast Asia. He was an Operational Director with Herman Corporate Advisory Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian local boutique advisory firm from December 2017 to August 2019. From May 2016 to December 2017, he was an Audit Senior Manager with Deloitte Southeast Asia after serving as an Assurance Manager in PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia from January 2012 to April 2016. Mr. Kelvin (Zeng Yenn) Chin received his Bachelor’s degree in Business from Victoria University in 2007. He obtained his Certified Public Accountant (“CPA”) status in 2012 from CPA Australia and subsequently admitted as a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants in 2013.
Hong Shien Beh serves as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Beh is a legal professional with vast experience in various area of dispute resolution such as defamation, contract, arbitration, construction, planning appeals, commercial and stockholders disputes, industrial accidents, employment, family law, inheritance and estate disputes. Mr. Beh has been a partner at Messrs Y.C. Wong Advocates & Solicitors since September 2016 and was a legal assistant from May 2013 to August 2016. From August 2010 to April 2013, Mr. Beh served as an associate at Ismail, Khoo & Associates, a law firm. Mr. Beh served as an independent director of Classita Holdings Berhad (formerly known as Caely Holdings Berhad), a public company in Malaysia from December 2020 to May 2022. Mr. Beh served as a treasurer from February 2018 to February 2021 and secretary from February 2016 to February 2018 of the Penang Bar Committee. Mr. Beh received his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from University of Northumbria, Newcastle United Kingdom in 2008.
Hui Liang Wong serves as a member of our Board of Directors. Ms. Wong has extensive experience in project management. Ms. Wong has served as an executive director at Seedset Advisory, a consulting company in Malaysia since May 2018. Ms. Wong has also served as an executive director at Avoras Malaysia Sdn Bhd, an IT service company since October 2020. Ms. Wong served as a contractor at Icon Consulting, a consulting company in Malaysia from May 2019 to December 2019. Ms. Wong received her Bachelor of Information Technology (Management) degree from University of Malaya, Malaysia in 2006. Ms. Wong received her Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management in August 2007.
Kian Huat Lai serves as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Lai has been serving as an executive director at Ni Hsin Group Berhad (formerly known as Ni Hsin Resource Berhad), a public company in Malaysia since December 2020. From April 2018 to November 2020, Mr. Lai served as a non-independent and non-executive director at Classita Holdings Berhad (formerly known as Caely Holdings Berhad), a public company in Malaysia. From November 2017 to June 2018, Mr, Lai served as an independent and non-executive director at Ta Win Holding Berhad, a public company in Malaysia and from February 2016 to July 2017, Mr. Lai served as an independent and non-executive director at Ideal Jacobs (Malaysia) Corporation Berhad, a public company. Mr. Lai studied at Stamford College, Malaysia for General Certificate of education (GCE A Level) from 1985 to 1986. Mr. Lai received his degree in accountancy from the Association of International Accountants, United Kingdom in 1993.
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Number, Terms of Office and Appointment of Officers and Directors
Our Board of Directors consists of five members, three of whom are deemed “independent” under SEC and Nasdaq rules. Our Board of Directors has been divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Kian Huat Lai, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Hui Liang Wong and Hong Shien Beh, will expire at the second annual meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Say Leong Lim and Kelvin Chin, will expire at our third annual meeting of stockholders. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination.
Our officers are appointed by the Board of Directors and serve at the discretion of the Board of Directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our Board of Directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws provide that our directors may consist of a chairman of the Board of Directors, and that our officer may consist of chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, executive vice president(s), vice president(s), secretary, treasurer and such other officers as may be determined by the Board of Directors.
Director Independence
Nasdaq listing standards require that within one year of the listing of our securities on the Nasdaq we have at least three independent directors and 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 had determined that each of Hong Shien Beh, Hui Liang Wong, and Kian Huat Lai is an “independent director” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
We will only enter into a business combination if it is approved by a majority of our independent directors. Additionally, we will only enter into transactions with our officers and directors and their respective affiliates that are on terms no less favorable to us than could be obtained from independent parties. Any related party transactions must be approved by our audit committee and a majority of disinterested directors.
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the Board of Directors consisting of Hong Shien Beh, Hui Liang Wong, and Kian Huat Lai, each of whom is an independent director. Mr. Kian Huat Lai serves as chairman of the audit committee.
The audit committee’s duties, which are specified in our Audit Committee Charter, include, but are not limited to:
● | reviewing and discussing with management and the independent registered public accounting firm the annual audited financial statements, and recommending to the Board of Directors whether the audited financial statements should be included in our Form 10-K; | |
● | discussing with management and the independent registered public accounting firm significant financial reporting issues and judgments made in connection with the preparation of our financial statements; | |
● | discussing with management major risk assessment and risk management policies; | |
● | monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm; | |
● | verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law; | |
● | reviewing and approving all related party transactions; | |
● | inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations; | |
● | pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed; | |
● | appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm; | |
● | determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent registered public accounting firm regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work; | |
● | establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies; and | |
● | approving reimbursement of expenses incurred by our management team in identifying potential target businesses. |
Financial Experts on Audit Committee
The audit committee will at all times be composed exclusively of “independent directors” who are “financially literate” as defined under the Nasdaq listing standards. The Nasdaq listing standards define “financially literate” as being able to read and understand fundamental financial statements, including a company’s balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement.
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In addition, we must certify to Nasdaq that the committee has, and will continue to have, at least one member who has past employment experience in finance or accounting, requisite professional certification in accounting, or other comparable experience or background that results in the individual’s financial sophistication. The Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Kian Huat Lai qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert,” as defined under rules and regulations of the SEC.
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of the Board of Directors consisting of Hong Shien Beh, Hui Liang Wong, and Kian Huat Lai, each of whom is an independent director. Ms. Hui Liang Wong serves as chairman of the compensation committee.
We 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; | |
● | reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other executive officers and reviewing and making recommendations with respect to all non-executive officer compensation; | |
● | 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 executive 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(c)(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. Hong Shien Beh, Hui Liang Wong, and Kian Huat Lai will participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees. In accordance with Rule 5605(c)(1)(A) of the Nasdaq rules, all such directors 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 stockholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of stockholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of stockholders). Our stockholders that wish to nominate a director for election to the Board of Directors 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 stockholders.
Director Compensation
No director has received and will receive cash compensation for serving on our Board of Directors. On October 14, 2021, our Sponsor transferred 15,000 insider shares to Mr. Say Leong Lim, our chief executive officer, 10,000 insider shares to Mr. Cliff (Ming Hang) Chong, our former chief financial officer, and 5,000 insider shares to each of the independent directors, at their original purchase price.
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Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
We may not have a compensation committee in place prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Any executive compensation matters that arise prior to the time we have a compensation committee in place will be determined by our independent directors. None of our directors who currently serve as members of our compensation committee is, or has at any time in the past been, one of our officers or employees. None of our executive officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any other entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our Board of Directors. None of our executive officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the Board of Directors of any other entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our compensation committee.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics that applies to all of our executive officers, directors and employees. The code of ethics codifies the business and ethical principles that govern all aspects of our business.
Conflicts of Interest
Investors should be aware of the following potential conflicts of interest:
● | None of our officers and directors is required to commit their full time to our affairs and, accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in allocating their 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 our company as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Thus, our officers and directors may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. | |
● | Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities, including other blank check companies, engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by our company. | |
● | Unless we consummate our initial business combination, our officers, directors and other insiders will not receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them to the extent that such expenses exceed the amount of available proceeds not deposited in the trust account. | |
● | The insider shares beneficially owned by our officers and directors will be released from escrow only if our initial business combination is successfully completed. Additionally, if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time frame, our officers and directors will not be entitled to receive any amounts held in the trust account with respect to any of their insider shares or private units. Furthermore, GL Sponsor LLC has agreed that the private units will not be sold or transferred by it until after we have completed our initial business combination. For the foregoing reasons, our Board of Directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effect our initial business combination. |
In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:
● | the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity; | |
● | the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and | |
● | it would not be fair to the corporation and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation. |
Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors may have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of corporate opportunity will not apply with respect to any of our officers or directors in circumstances where the application of the doctrine would conflict with any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations they may have. In order to minimize potential conflicts of interest which may arise from multiple affiliations, our officers and directors (other than our independent directors) have agreed to present to us for our consideration, prior to presentation to any other person or entity, any suitable opportunity to acquire a target business, until the earlier of: (1) our consummation of an initial business combination and (2) June 9, 2023 (or up until December 9, 2023 if our time to complete a business combination is extended as described herein). This agreement is, however, subject to any pre-existing fiduciary and contractual obligations such officer or director may from time to time have to another entity. Accordingly, if any of them becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that the pre-existing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers and directors will materially undermine our ability to complete our business combination because in most cases the affiliated companies are closely held entities controlled by the officer or director or the nature of the affiliated company’s business is such that it is unlikely that a conflict will arise.
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The following table summarizes the current material pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations of our officers and directors:
Individual (1) (2) | Entity | Entity’s Business | Affiliation | |||
Say Leong Lim | LFE Corporation Bhd | Engineering | Independent Director | |||
Aurora Italia International Bhd | Retail | Independent Director | ||||
Everise Concepts PLT | Consultancy | Advisor
| ||||
Newgen PLT | Property | Advisor | ||||
Kelvin Chin | PG Mall Sdn Bhd | e-Commerce marketplace | Financial Controller | |||
Kian Huat Lai | Ni Hsin Group Berhad | Investment Holding | Executive Director | |||
Hui Liang Wong | Seedset Sdn Bhd
|
Consultancy
|
Executive Director | |||
Avoras Malaysia Sdn Bhd | IT Services | Executive Director |
(1) | Each of the entities listed in this table has priority and preference relative to our company with respect to the performance by each individual listed in this table of his obligations and the presentation by each such individual of business opportunities. |
(2) | Each individual listed has a fiduciary duty with respect to each of the listed entities opposite from his name. |
Our insiders, including our officers and directors, have agreed to vote any shares of common stock held by them in favor of our initial business combination. In addition, they have agreed to waive their respective rights to receive any amounts held in the trust account with respect to their insider shares and private shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the required time frame. If they purchase shares of common stock in the open market, however, they would be entitled to receive their pro rata share of the amounts held in the trust account if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the required time frame, but have agreed not to convert such shares in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination.
All ongoing and future transactions between us and any of our officers and directors or their respective affiliates will be on terms believed by us to be no less favorable to us than are available from unaffiliated third parties. Such transactions will require prior approval by our audit committee and a majority of our uninterested “independent” directors, or the members of our Board of Directors who do not have an interest in the transaction, in either case who had access, at our expense, to our attorneys or independent legal counsel. We will not enter into any such transaction unless our audit committee and a majority of our disinterested “independent” directors determine that the terms of such transaction are no less favorable to us than those that would be available to us with respect to such a transaction from unaffiliated third parties.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate our initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our officers, directors or other insiders, unless we have obtained (i) an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that the business combination is fair to our unaffiliated stockholders from a financial point of view and (ii) the approval of a majority of our disinterested and independent directors (if we have any at that time). In no event will our insiders or any of the members of our management team be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other similar compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is).
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Directors and Officers
Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our directors and officers will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, unless they violated their duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived an improper personal benefit from their actions as directors. Notwithstanding the foregoing, as set forth in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation, such indemnification will not extend to any claims our insiders may make to us to cover any loss that they may sustain as a result of their agreement to pay debts and obligations to target businesses or vendors or other entities that are owed money by us for services rendered or contracted for or products sold to us as described elsewhere in this Annual Report. We have entered into indemnity agreements with each of our officers and directors. These agreements require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.
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Our bylaws also will permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit indemnification. We will purchase directors and officers liability insurance that protects our directors and officers against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify the directors and officers.
These provisions may discourage stockholders 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 directors and officers, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these provisions. We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced directors and officers.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Executive Officer and Director Compensation
No executive officer has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date of the IPO prospectus through the completion of our initial business combination with a target business, we will pay to GL Sponsor LLC, a fee of $10,000 per month for providing us with office space and certain office and secretarial services. However, pursuant to the terms of such agreement, we may delay payment of such monthly fee upon a determination by our audit committee that we lack sufficient funds held outside the trust to pay actual or anticipated expenses in connection with our initial business combination. Any such unpaid amount will accrue without interest and be due and payable no later than the date of the consummation of our initial business combination. Other than the $10,000 per month administrative fee, no compensation or fees of any kind, including finder’s fees, consulting fees and other similar fees, will be paid to our insiders or any of the members of our management team, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, such individuals will receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses, performing business due diligence on suitable target businesses and business combinations as well as traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses to examine their operations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us; provided, however, that to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account and the interest income earned on the amounts held in the trust account, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination.
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 stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation. In this event, such compensation will be publicly disclosed at the time of its determination in a Current Report on Form 8-K, as required by the SEC.
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our shares of common stock as of April 10, 2023 based on information obtained from the persons named below, with respect to the beneficial ownership of shares of our common stock by:
● | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of the outstanding shares of common stock; | |
● | each of our executive officers, directors and director nominees that beneficially owns shares of common stock; and | |
● | all our executive officers and directors 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 shares of common stock beneficially owned by them.
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Name and Address of Beneficial Owner | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned(2) | Percentage of Outstanding Shares of common stock | ||||||
Directors and Executive Officers: (1) | ||||||||
Say Leong Lim | 15,000 | * | ||||||
Kelvin Chin | - | - | ||||||
Hong Shien Beh | 5,000 | * | ||||||
Kian Huat Lai | 5,000 | * | ||||||
Hui Liang Wong | 5,000 | * | ||||||
* | ||||||||
All officers and directors as a group (5 individuals) | 30,000 | * | ||||||
5% or Greater Beneficial Owners: | ||||||||
GL Sponsor LLC(3) | 2,835,000 | 19.75 | % |
* | Less than one percent. |
(1) | Unless otherwise indicated, the business address of each of the individuals is 1180 Avenue of the Americas, 8 Floor, New York, NY 10036. |
(2) | Does not include beneficial ownership of any shares of common stock underlying outstanding private rights and private warrants as such shares are not issuable within 60 days of the date of this Annual Report. |
(3) | GL Sponsor LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of the shares reported herein. GL Sponsor LLC is managed by Sally Lim. Sally Lim may be deemed to beneficially own the shares held by our sponsor by virtue of her control of our sponsor. Sally Lim disclaims beneficial ownership of the shares held by our sponsor except to the extent of her pecuniary interest therein. The business address of our sponsor is 1180 Avenue of the Americas, 8 Floor, New York, NY 10036. |
Because of the ownership block held by our insiders, such individuals may be able to effectively exercise influence over all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions other than approval of our initial business combination.
All of the insider shares have be placed in escrow with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as escrow agent. Subject to certain limited exceptions, 50% of these shares will not be transferred, assigned, sold or released from escrow until the earlier of six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination and the date the closing price of our common stock 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 after our initial business combination and the remaining 50% of the insider shares will not be transferred, assigned, sold or released from escrow until six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination or earlier in either case if, subsequent to our initial business combination, we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
During the escrow period, the holders of these shares will not be able to sell or transfer their securities except (1) transfers among the insiders or their respective affiliates or members or to our officers, directors, advisors and employees, (2) transfers to an insider’s affiliates or its members upon its liquidation, (3) transfers to relatives and trusts for estate planning purposes, (4) transfers by virtue of the laws of descent and distribution upon death, (5) transfers pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, or (6) private sales made at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased, in each case where the transferee agrees to the terms of the escrow agreement and forfeiture, as the case may be, as well as the other applicable restrictions and agreements of the holders of the insider shares. If dividends are declared and payable in shares of common stock, such dividends will also be placed in escrow. If we are unable to effect a business combination and liquidate, there will be no liquidation distribution with respect to the insider shares.
Additionally, our private investor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private units or underlying securities (except to the same permitted transferees as the insider shares and provided the transferees agree to the same terms and restrictions as the permitted transferees of the insider shares must agree to, each as described above) until the completion of our initial business combination.
In order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of the IPO, our insiders may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. Each loan would be evidenced by a promissory note. 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. Our stockholders have approved the issuance of the private units upon conversion of such notes, to the extent the holder wishes to so convert such notes at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination. If we do not complete a business combination, any outstanding loans from our insiders or their affiliates, will be repaid only from amounts remaining outside our trust account, if any.
Our sponsor and our officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Registration Rights
The holders of the insider shares, the private units and any units that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans or extension loans (and any securities underlying the private units or units issued upon conversion of the working capital loans or extension loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement requiring us to register such securities for resale. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to two demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act.
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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions
On August 19, 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 2,875,000 shares of our common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share. We refer to these shares throughout this Annual Report as the “insider shares.” The number of insider shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such insider shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after the IPO (not including the shares underlying the private units). On October 14, 2021, our sponsor transferred 15,000 insider shares to our Chief Executive Officer, 10,000 insider shares to our Mr. Cliff (Ming Hong) Chong, our former Chief Financial Officer, and 5,000 insider shares to each of the independent directors at their original purchase price.
Our private investor has purchased an aggregate of 570,000 private units at a price of $10.00 per unit ($5,700,000 in aggregate) in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of the IPO. The private units are identical to the units sold in the IPO. Additionally, our private investor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private units or underlying securities (except to the same permitted transferees as the insider shares and provided the transferees agree to the same terms and restrictions as the permitted transferees of the insider shares must agree to, each as described above) until the completion of our initial business combination.
Ding Jie Lin, a member of our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to an aggregate of $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of the IPO. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we have no borrowing under the Note with Ding Jie Lin. These loans were non-interest bearing, unsecured and were due at the closing of the IPO. The loans have be repaid upon the closing of the IPO out of the offering proceeds not held in the trust account.
In order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of the IPO, our insiders, officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. Each loan would be evidenced by a promissory note. 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. Our stockholders have approved the issuance of the private units upon conversion of such notes, to the extent the holder wishes to so convert such notes at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination. If we do not complete a business combination, any outstanding loans from our insiders or their affiliates, will be repaid only from amounts remaining outside our trust account, if any.
The holders of our insider shares, as well as the holders of the private units and any units our insiders or their affiliates may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans or extension loans made to us (and any securities underlying the private units or units issued upon conversion of the working capital loans or extension loans), will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to the terms of a registration rights agreement entered into with such holders. The holders of a majority of these securities are entitled to make up to two demands that we register such securities. The holders of the majority of the insider shares can elect to exercise these registration rights at any time commencing three months prior to the date on which these shares of common stock are to be released from escrow. The holders of a majority of the private units and any units issued upon conversion of working capital loans or extension loans made to us can elect to exercise these registration rights at any time after we consummate a business combination. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our consummation of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Our sponsor has agreed that, commencing on the date of the IPO prospectus through the earlier of our consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation, it will make available to us certain general and administrative services, including office space, utilities and administrative support, as we may require from time to time. We have agreed to pay $10,000 per month for these services. However, pursuant to the terms of such agreement, we may delay payment of such monthly fee upon a determination by our audit committee that we lack sufficient funds held outside the trust to pay actual or anticipated expenses in connection with our initial business combination. As of December 31, 2021 and 2022, the balance of unpaid amount due to our sponsor was $7,000 and $127,000, respectively. Such unpaid amount accrues without interest and will be due and payable no later than the date of the consummation of our initial business combination. We believe that the fee charged by our sponsor is at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person.
Other than the fees described above, no compensation or fees of any kind, including finder’s fees, consulting fees or other similar compensation, will be paid to our insiders or any of the members of our management team, for services rendered to us prior to, or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, such individuals will receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses, performing business due diligence on suitable target businesses and business combinations as well as traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses to examine their operations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us; provided, however, that to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account and the interest income earned on the amounts held in the trust account, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination.
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After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, Board of Directors, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation. In this event, such compensation will be publicly disclosed at the time of its determination in a Current Report on Form 8-K, as required by the SEC.
All ongoing and future transactions between us and any of our officers and directors or their respective affiliates will be on terms believed by us to be no less favorable to us than are available from unaffiliated third parties. Such transactions will require prior approval by our audit committee and a majority of our uninterested independent directors, in either case who had access, at our expense, to our attorneys or independent legal counsel. We will not enter into any such transaction unless our audit committee and a majority of our disinterested independent directors determine that the terms of such transaction are no less favorable to us than those that would be available to us with respect to such a transaction from unaffiliated third parties.
Related Party Policy
Our Code of Ethics requires us to avoid, wherever possible, all related party transactions that could result in actual or potential conflicts of interests, except under guidelines approved by the Board of Directors (or the audit committee). Related party transactions are defined as transactions in which (1) the aggregate amount involved will or may be expected to exceed $120,000 in any calendar year, (2) we or any of our subsidiaries is a participant, and (3) any (a) executive officer, director or nominee for election as a director, (b) greater than 5% beneficial owner of our shares of common stock, or (c) immediate family member, of the persons referred to in clauses (a) and (b), has or will have a direct or indirect material interest (other than solely as a result of being a director or a less than 10% beneficial owner of another entity). A conflict of interest situation can arise when a person takes actions or has interests that may make it difficult to perform his or her work objectively and effectively. Conflicts of interest may also arise if a person, or a member of his or her family, receives improper personal benefits as a result of his or her position.
We also require each of our directors and executive officers to annually complete a directors’ and officers’ questionnaire that elicits information about related party transactions.
These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate our initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our insiders, officers or directors unless we have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm and the approval of a majority of our disinterested and independent directors (if we have any at that time) that the business combination is fair to our unaffiliated stockholders from a financial point of view. In no event will our insiders, or any of the members of our management team be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other similar compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is).
Director Independence
Nasdaq listing standards require that within one year of the listing of our securities on the Nasdaq we have at least three independent directors and 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 had determined that each of Hong Shien Beh, Hui Liang Wong, and Kian Huat Lai is an “independent director” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
The firm of Friedman LLP, or Friedman (prior to Friedman LLP combining with Marcum LLP effective September 1, 2022) and Marcum LLP, acts as our independent registered public accounting firm. The following is a summary of fees paid to Friedman and Marcum for services rendered.
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Audit Fees. For the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, fees were approximately $78,000 and $65,000, for the services performed in connection with our initial public offering, review of the financial information included in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the respective periods and the audit of our December 31, 2022 and 2021 consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report.
Audit-Related Fees. For the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, Friedman LLP, or Friedman (prior to Friedman LLP combining with Marcum LLP effective September 1, 2022) and Marcum LLP did not render assurance and related services related to the services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards.
Tax Fees. We did not pay Friedman LLP, or Friedman (prior to Friedman LLP combining with Marcum LLP effective September 1, 2022) and Marcum LLP for tax planning and tax advice during the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021.
All Other Fees. For the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, Friedman LLP, or Friedman (prior to Friedman LLP combining with Marcum LLP effective September 1, 2022) and Marcum LLP did not render any services to us other than those set forth above.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed in connection with the effectiveness of our registration statement for our IPO. 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 audit 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).
PART IV
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
The following documents are filed as part of this report or incorporated herein by reference:
(1) | Financial Statements | ||
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - Marcum (PCAOB ID: 688) | F-2 | ||
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - Friedman (PCAOB ID: 711) | F-3 | ||
Consolidated Financial Statements: | |||
Consolidated Balance Sheets | F-4 | ||
Consolidated Statement of Operations | F-5 | ||
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Deficit | F-6 | ||
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows | F-7 | ||
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements | F-8 to F-23 |
(2) | Financial Statements Schedule | ||
All financial statement schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the amounts are immaterial and not required, or the required information is presented in the financial statements and notes beginning on F-1 on this Annual Report. |
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(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 on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. |
* Filed herewith.
** Furnished herewith.
(1) Incorporated by reference to an exhibit to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on December 10, 2021.
(2) Incorporated by reference to an exhibit to the Registrant’s Form S-1 (File No. 333-261222), filed with the SEC on November 19, 2021.
ITEM 16. FORM 10-K SUMMARY
Not applicable.
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GLOBALINK INVESTMENT INC.
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Page | ||
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - Marcum (PCAOB ID: 688) | F-2 | |
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - Friedman (PCAOB ID: 711) | F-3 | |
Consolidated Financial Statements: | ||
Consolidated Balance Sheets | F-4 | |
Consolidated Statements of Operations | F-5 | |
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Deficit | F-6 | |
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows | F-7 | |
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements | F-8 to F-24 |
F-1 |
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of
Globalink Investment Inc
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of Globalink Investment Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ deficit and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1, the Company’s realization of its business plan is dependent upon the completion of a business combination on or before June 9, 2023, unless approvals are obtained to extend the date by an additional six months through December 9, 2023. If the Company is unable to complete a business combination by either the current or extended due date, it will be required to cease all operations and effectuate a mandatory plan of liquidation and dissolution. The Company does not have a plan in place to extend the period of time needed to complete a business combination nor does it have the capital resources needed to conduct a search for viable business combination target or fund operations for any period of time after June 9, 2023. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans with regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that may be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum llp
Marcum llp
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021 (such date takes into account the acquisition of certain assets of Friedman LLP by Marcum LLP effective September 1, 2022)
Costa Mesa, CA
April 17, 2023
F-2 |
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
Globalink Investment Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of Globalink Investment Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ deficit and cash flows for the period from March 24, 2021 (inception), through December 31, 2021 and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
The financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Friedman LLP
We served as the Company’s auditor from 2021 through 2022.
New York, New York
March 31, 2022, except for the Note 2, as to which the date is December 5, 2022
F-3 |
GLOBALINK INVESTMENT INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
December 31, | ||||||||
2022 | 2021 | |||||||
ASSETS | ||||||||
CURRENT ASSETS | ||||||||
Cash in escrow account | $ | 81,763 | $ | 812,232 | ||||
Prepaid expenses – current | 207,445 | 217,461 | ||||||
Total current assets | 289,208 | 1,029,693 | ||||||
Prepaid expenses – noncurrent | 202,567 | |||||||
Investments held in Trust Account | 118,408,969 | 116,725,099 | ||||||
TOTAL ASSETS | $ | 118,698,177 | $ | 117,957,359 | ||||
LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE COMMON STOCK AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT | ||||||||
CURRENT LIABILITIES | ||||||||
Accounts payable | $ | 184,130 | $ | 139,550 | ||||
Franchise tax payable | 236,365 | 84,254 | ||||||
Income tax payable | 228,827 | |||||||
Due to affiliate | 127,000 | 7,000 | ||||||
Total current liabilities | 776,322 | 230,804 | ||||||
Deferred tax liability | 79,358 | |||||||
Derivative warrant liabilities | 6,270 | 114,570 | ||||||
Deferred underwriting fee payable | 4,025,000 | 4,025,000 | ||||||
Total Liabilities | 4,886,950 | 4,370,374 | ||||||
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | ||||||||
REDEEMABLE COMMON STOCK | ||||||||
Common stock subject to possible redemption, $ | par value, shares at redemption value at December 31, 2022 and 2021 of $ and $ per share, respectively117,864,419 | 116,725,000 | ||||||
STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT | ||||||||
Common stock, $ | par value; shares authorized; shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2022 and 2021 (excluding shares subject to possible redemption)3,445 | 3,445 | ||||||
Accumulated deficit | (4,056,637 | ) | (3,141,460 | ) | ||||
Total Stockholders’ Deficit | (4,053,192 | ) | (3,138,015 | ) | ||||
LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE COMMON STOCK AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT | $ | 118,698,177 | $ | 117,957,359 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-4 |
GLOBALINK INVESTMENT INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
Year Ended December 31, | For the Period from March 24, 2021 (Inception) Through | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | |||||||
OPERATING EXPENSES | ||||||||
General and administrative | $ | 1,107,632 | $ | 135,649 | ||||
Franchise tax | 152,111 | |||||||
Total operating expenses | (1,259,743 | ) | (135,649 | ) | ||||
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE) | ||||||||
Income on investments held in Trust Account | 1,683,870 | 99 | ||||||
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | 108,300 | 16,530 | ||||||
Transaction costs allocated to private warrant issuance | (611 | ) | ||||||
Total other income, net | 1,792,170 | 16,018 | ||||||
Income (Loss) before provision for income taxes | 532,427 | (119,631 | ) | |||||
Provision for income taxes | (308,185 | ) | ||||||
NET INCOME (LOSS) | $ | 224,242 | $ | (119,631 | ) | |||
Weighted average shares outstanding Common stock – redeemable | 11,500,000 | 875,887 | ||||||
Basic and diluted net income per share, Common stock – redeemable | 0.04 | 16.15 | ||||||
Weighted average shares outstanding Common stock – non-redeemable | 3,445,000 | 2,918,723 | ||||||
Basic and diluted net loss per share, Common stock – non-redeemable | $ | (0.06 | ) | $ | (4.89 | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-5 |
GLOBALINK INVESTMENT INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022 AND FOR THE PERIOD FROM MARCH 24, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2021
Additional | Total | |||||||||||||||||||
Common Stock | Paid-in | Accumulated | Stockholders’ | |||||||||||||||||
Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Deficit | ||||||||||||||||
Balance – March 24, 2021 (Inception) | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||
Issuance of common stock to Sponsor | 2,875,000 | 2,875 | 22,125 | 25,000 | ||||||||||||||||
Proceeds from Initial Public Offering Costs allocated to Public Warrants and rights (net of offering costs) | — | 9,840,620 | 9,840,620 | |||||||||||||||||
Sale of private placement shares units | 570,000 | 570 | 5,673,459 | 5,674,029 | ||||||||||||||||
Remeasurement of redeemable shares to redemption value | — | (15,536,204 | ) | (2,890,729 | ) | (18,426,933 | ) | |||||||||||||
Initial classification of warrants issued in private placement | — | (131,100 | ) | (131,100 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Net loss | — | (119,631 | ) | (119,631 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Balance - December 31, 2021 | 3,445,000 | $ | 3,445 | $ | $ | (3,141,460 | ) | $ | (3,138,015 | ) | ||||||||||
Remeasurement of redeemable shares to redemption value | — | (1,139,419 | ) | (1,139,419 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Net income | — | 224,242 | 224,242 | |||||||||||||||||
Balance - December 31, 2022 | 3,445,000 | $ | 3,445 | $ | $ | (4,056,637 | ) | $ | (4,053,192 | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-6 |
GLOBALINK INVESTMENT INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
Year Ended December 31, | For the Period from March 24, 2021 (Inception) Through December 31, | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | |||||||
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES: | ||||||||
Net income (loss) | $ | 224,242 | $ | (119,631 | ) | |||
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
Interest on investments held in Trust Account | (1,683,870 | ) | (99 | ) | ||||
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities | (108,300 | ) | (16,530 | ) | ||||
Transaction costs related to warrant issuance | 611 | |||||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
Prepaid expenses | 212,583 | (420,028 | ) | |||||
Deferred tax liability | 79,358 | |||||||
Due to affiliate | 120,000 | 7,000 | ||||||
Income tax payable | 228,827 | |||||||
Accounts payable | 44,580 | 139,551 | ||||||
Franchise tax payable | 152,111 | 84,254 | ||||||
Net cash used in operating activities | (730,469 | ) | (324,872 | ) | ||||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||||||
Offering proceed deposited in Trust Account | (116,725,000 | ) | ||||||
Net cash used in investing activities | (116,725,000 | ) | ||||||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||||||
Proceeds from initial public offering, net of underwriting fees of $2,300,000 | 112,700,000 | |||||||
Proceeds from units sold in private placement | 5,700,000 | |||||||
Proceeds from issuance of common stock to Sponsor | 25,000 | |||||||
Payment of offering costs | (562,896 | ) | ||||||
Proceeds from Notes payable – related party | 70,000 | |||||||
Repayment of Notes payable – related party | (70,000 | ) | ||||||
Net cash provided by financing activities | 117,862,104 | |||||||
NET CHANGE IN CASH | (730,469 | ) | 812,232 | |||||
CASH, BEGINNING OF PERIOD | 812,232 | |||||||
CASH, END OF PERIOD | $ | 81,763 | $ | 812,232 | ||||
Non-Cash investing and financing activities: | ||||||||
Remeasurement of Common stock subject to redemption | $ | 1,139,419 | $ | 18,426,933 | ||||
Initial value of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | $ | $ | 116,725,000 | |||||
Deferred underwriting commissions charged to additional paid in capital | $ | $ | 4,025,000 | |||||
Initial classification of warrant liability | $ | $ | 131,100 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
F-7 |
Note 1 – Description of Organization and Business Operations and Liquidity
Globalink Investment Inc. (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on March 24, 2021. The Company is a blank check company formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (the “Business Combination”). On July 27, 2022, Globalink Merger Sub, Inc., a Nevada corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globalink, was formed.
The Company is not limited to a particular industry or geographic region for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity through December 31, 2022, relates to the Company’s formation and Initial Public Offering (“IPO”), which is described below and, since the offering, the search for a prospective initial Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income earned on investments from the proceeds derived from the IPO. The registration statement for the Company’s IPO was declared effective on December 6, 2021. On December 9, 2021, the Company consummated the IPO of 100,000,000, which is discussed in Note 3. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end. units (“Units”) at $ per Unit generating gross proceeds of $
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company consummated the sale of 5,175,000, which is described in Note 4. units (“Private Placement Units”) at a price of $ per Private Placement Unit in a private placement to Public Gold Marketing Sdn. Bhd, a Malaysian private limited company, an entity not affiliated with the Company, the sponsor or the underwriters, generating gross proceeds of $
Additionally with the closing of the IPO, the Company granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 15,000,000. Units to cover over-allotment. On December 13, 2021, the underwriters fully exercised the option and purchased additional Units (the “Over-allotment Units”), generating additional gross proceeds of $
Simultaneously with the exercise of the over-allotment, the Company consummated a private sale of an additional 525,000. Since the underwriters’ over-allotment was exercised in full, the sponsor did not forfeit any Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5). Private Placement Units at a price of $ per Private Placement Unit, generating additional gross proceeds of $
Offering costs for the IPO and the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option amounted to $6,887,896, consisting of $2,300,000 of underwriting fees, $4,025,000 of deferred underwriting fees payable (which are held in the Trust Account (defined below)) and $562,896 of other costs. As described in Note 6, the $4,025,000 of deferred underwriting fee payable is contingent upon the consummation of a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Following the closing of the IPO, $116,725,000 ($ per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the IPO and the Private Placement Units was placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) and has been 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 180 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account, as described below.
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Units, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account excluding the deferred underwriting discounts and taxes payable on income earned on the Trust Account at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, the Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. There is no assurance the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.
F-8 |
The Company will provide the holders (the “Public Stockholders”) of the outstanding shares of common stock included in the Units, or the Public Shares with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company. The Public Stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $ per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest then in the Trust Account, net of taxes payable). There will be no redemption rights with respect to the Company’s warrants.
All of the Public Shares contain a redemption feature, which allows for the redemption of such Public Shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation, if there is a stockholder vote or tender offer in connection with the Company’s Business Combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of a company require the Public Shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Given that the Public Shares will be issued with other freestanding instruments (i.e., public warrants and rights), the initial carrying value of common stock classified as temporary equity will be the allocated proceeds determined in accordance with ASC 470-20. The Public Shares are subject to ASC 480-10-S99. If it is probable that the equity instrument will become redeemable, the Company has the option to either (i) accrete changes in the redemption value over the period from the date of issuance (or from the date that it becomes probable that the instrument will become redeemable, if later) to the earliest redemption date of the instrument or (ii) recognize changes in the redemption value immediately as they occur and adjust the carrying amount of the instrument to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. The Company has elected to recognize the changes immediately. While redemptions cannot cause the Company’s net tangible assets to fall below $5,000,001, the Public Shares are redeemable and are classified as such on the consolidated balance sheets until such date that a redemption event takes place.
Redemptions of the Company’s Public Shares may be subject to the satisfaction of conditions, including minimum cash conditions, pursuant to an agreement relating to the Company’s Business Combination. If the Company seeks stockholder approval of the Business Combination, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination, or such other vote as required by law or stock exchange rule. If a stockholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Certificate of Incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the sponsor has agreed to vote its Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the IPO in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each Public Stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the amended and restated certificate of incorporation of the Company (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) provides that a Public Stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of % or more of the common stock sold in the Initial Public Offering, without the prior consent of the Company.
F-9 |
The Company had until March 9, 2023, 15 months from the closing of the IPO to complete a Business Combination. On March 6, 2023, the Company held a special meeting (the “Special Meeting”), during which the stockholders of the Company approved a proposal to amend the Company’s amended and restated certified articles of incorporation which included extending the time in which the Company must complete a Business Combination (the “Extension Amendment Proposal”) and a proposal to amend the Company’s investment management trust agreement, dated as of December 6, 2021 (the “Trust Agreement”), by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee (“Continental”) (the “Trust Amendment Proposal”). The Company will have the option of two (2) three-months extensions, followed by three (3) one-month extensions, or until December 9, 2023, if all extensions are exercised. The Company has exercised the option for a three-month extension and as a result the Company has deposited $390,000 into the Trust Account and now has until June 9, 2023 (“Combination Period”) to complete its Business Combination or exercise an additional extension. If the Company does not complete its Business Combination or exercise an additional extension, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay the Company’s franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish the Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
The Initial Stockholders have agreed to waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Initial Stockholders should acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to deferred underwriting discounts (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be only $ per share held in the Trust Account. In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a 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 amount of funds in the Trust Account. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account or 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”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
F-10 |
Business Combination
On August 3, 2022, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) by and among Tomorrow Crypto Group Inc., a Nevada corporation (“Tomorrow Crypto”), Globalink Merger Sub, Inc., a Nevada corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globalink (“Merger Sub”), GL Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, in its capacity as the representative of the Company’s stockholders from and after the effective time of the Merger (as defined below) (the “Effective Time”) in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement (the “Parent Representative”), and Mingliu Wang, an individual, in his capacity as the representative of Tomorrow Crypto’s stockholders from and after the Effective Time for the stockholders of Tomorrow Crypto as of immediately prior to the Effective Time in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement (the “Seller Representative”). Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, a business combination between Globalink and Tomorrow Crypto through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Tomorrow Crypto, with Tomorrow Crypto surviving the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globalink (the “Merger,” and, together with the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the “Transactions”). Subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein upon the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement (the “Closing”), each share of Tomorrow Crypto common stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time (other than treasury shares or dissenting shares) will be converted into the right to receive shares of Globalink common stock. The total consideration to be paid by Globalink to the stockholders of Tomorrow Crypto in the form of Globalink’s common stock at the Closing will be equal to $210 million, with an earn-out provision permitting the stockholders of Tomorrow Crypto to receive up to million additional shares as and when the business meets certain incremental milestones for the number of ASIC mining machines successfully installed, commissioned and placed in operation. The Merger Agreement is subject to certain customary closing conditions and contains customary representations, warranties, covenants and indemnity provisions. The respective boards of directors of Globalink and Tomorrow Crypto have (i) approved and declared advisable the Merger Agreement, the Merger and the other transactions contemplated thereby (the “Transactions”) and (ii) resolved to recommend approval of the Merger Agreement and related transactions by their respective stockholders.
In accordance with the termination provisions under Section 10.1 of the Merger Agreement, the Merger Agreement was terminated March 8, 2023 (the “Merger Agreement Termination Date”). In conjunction with the termination of the Merger Agreement, the Additional Agreements (as defined in the Merger Agreement) (including the Support Agreements) have also been terminated in accordance with their respective terms as of March 8, 2023, the Merger Agreement Termination Date.
Risks and Uncertainties
As of the date the consolidated financial statements were issued, there was still considerable uncertainty around the expected duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the COVID-19 pandemic could have a negative effect on identifying a target company for a Business Combination, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these consolidated financial statements. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
In February 2022, the Russian Federation and Belarus commenced a military action with the country of Ukraine. As a result of this action, various nations, including the United States, have instituted economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus. Further, the impact of this action and related sanctions on the world economy are not determinable as of the date of these consolidated financial statements and the specific impact on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows is also not determinable as of the date of these consolidated financial statements.
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IR Act”) was signed into federal law. The IR Act provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases of stock by publicly traded U.S. domestic corporations and certain U.S. domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign corporations occurring on or after January 1, 2023. The excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its stockholders from which shares are repurchased. The amount of the excise tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. However, for purposes of calculating the excise tax, repurchasing corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances against the fair market value of stock repurchases during the same taxable year. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the excise tax. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out and prevent the abuse or avoidance of the excise tax.
F-11 |
Any redemption or other repurchase that occurs after December 31, 2022, in connection with a Business Combination, extension vote or otherwise, may be subject to the excise tax. Whether and to what extent the Company would be subject to the excise tax in connection with a Business Combination, extension vote or otherwise would depend on a number of factors, including (i) the fair market value of the redemptions and repurchases in connection with the Business Combination, extension or otherwise, (ii) the structure of a Business Combination, (iii) the nature and amount of any “PIPE” or other equity issuances in connection with a Business Combination (or otherwise issued not in connection with a Business Combination but issued within the same taxable year of a Business Combination) and (iv) the content of regulations and other guidance from the Treasury. In addition, because the excise tax would be payable by the Company and not by the redeeming holder, the mechanics of any required payment of the excise tax have not been determined. The foregoing could cause a reduction in the cash available on hand to complete a Business Combination and in the Company’s ability to complete a Business Combination.
Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had $81,763 of cash held in escrow which is available to meet working capital needs and a working capital deficit of $21,922 (adjusted for amounts available for withdrawal from the Trust Account for tax related obligations).
Until the consummation of a Business Combination, the Company will be using the funds not held in the Trust Account for identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination. The Company will need to raise additional capital through loans or additional investments from its sponsor, stockholders, officers, directors, or third parties. The Company’s officers, directors and sponsor may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion, to meet the Company’s working capital needs. Accordingly, the Company may not be able to obtain additional financing.
If the Business Combination is not consummated, the Company will need to raise additional capital through loans or additional investments from its Sponsor, stockholders, officers, directors, or third parties. The Company’s officers, directors and the Sponsor may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion, to meet the Company’s working capital needs. Accordingly, the Company may not be able to obtain additional financing. If the Company is unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of a potential transaction, and reducing overhead expenses. The Company cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all.
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” the Company has until June 9, 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 and an extension is not requested by the Sponsor, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the Company. Management has determined that the mandatory liquidation, should a Business Combination not occur, and an extension is not requested by the Sponsor, and potential subsequent dissolution as well as liquidity condition noted above 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 June 9, 2023.
Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the accounting and disclosure rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
F-12 |
Principles of Consolidation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiary. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an emerging growth company as defined in Section 102(b)(1) of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), which 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 an emerging growth 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. 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 consolidated financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor 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.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of consolidated 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. Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. One of the more significant accounting estimates included in these consolidated financial statements is the determination of the fair value of the warrant liabilities. Such estimates may be subject to change as more current information becomes available and accordingly the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. 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.
Cash held in escrow
The Company had $81,763 and $812,232 held in escrow on December 31, 2022 and 2021 respectively. This balance will be transferred in whole as soon as practicable to the Company’s operating account.
Investments Held in Trust Account
At December 31, 2022 and 2021, substantially all of the assets held in the Trust Account were held in money market funds which are invested primarily in U.S. Treasury securities. All of the Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities. Trading securities are presented on the consolidated balance sheets at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of investments held in Trust Account are included in interest earned on investments held in Trust Account in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. The fair values of investments held in Trust Account are determined using available market information.
Offering Costs associated with the Initial Public Offering
Offering costs consist principally of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs directly related to the IPO and the over- allotment. Offering costs amounted to $6,887,285 which was charged against additional paid-in capital and $ was charged to the statement of operations for transaction costs in connection with issuance of private warrant upon the completion of the IPO in December 2021.
F-13 |
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation coverage limit. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts.
Fair value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities which qualify as financial instruments under the FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximate the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, primarily due to their short-term nature.
Income Taxes
The Company complies with the accounting and reporting requirements of ASC 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 consolidated 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.
FASB ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the consolidated 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. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2022 and 2021. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties for the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) to December 31, 2021. As of this filing, the Company’s 2021 federal tax return has not been filed and could result in further penalties or additional payment. Additionally, the net operating loss disclosed may be subject to change when the 2021 tax return is filed. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
The Company has identified the United States as its only “major” tax jurisdiction and is subject to taxation. Examinations may include questioning the timing and amount of deductions, the nexus of income among various tax jurisdictions and compliance with federal and state tax laws.
The Company accounts for its common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Shares of common stock subject to mandatory redemption (if any) is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. The Company’s common stock sold in the IPO and as a result of the exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, on December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, shares of common stock subject to possible redemption were presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ deficit section of the Company’s consolidated balance sheets.
Immediately upon the closing of the IPO and the over-allotment, the Company recognized the accretion from the initial book value to redemption amount value. The change in the carrying value of redeemable shares of common stick resulted in charges against additional paid-in capital or accumulated deficit when additional paid-in capital equals zero.
F-14 |
Gross proceeds | $ | |||
Less: | ||||
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants | ) | |||
Common stock issuance costs | ) | |||
Plus: | ||||
Remeasurement of carrying amount to redemption value | ||||
Common stock subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2021 | ||||
Plus: | ||||
Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value | ||||
Common stock subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2022 | $ |
The Company complies with the accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share”. Net (loss) income per common share is computed by dividing net (loss) income by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the period. Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value associated with the redeemable shares of common stock is included in (loss) income per share.
The Company has one authorized class of common shares. Public Warrants (see Note 7) and Private Placement Warrants (see Note 4) to purchase Common Stock at $ per share were issued on December 9, 2021. At December 31, 2022, no Public Warrants or Private Placement Warrants have been exercised. The potential shares of common stock for outstanding Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants to purchase the Company’s stock were excluded from diluted (losses) earnings per share for the year ended December 31, 2022 because they are contingently exercisable, and the contingencies have not yet been met. As a result, diluted net (loss) income per common share is the same as basic net (loss) income per common stock for the period. The table below presents a reconciliation of the numerator and denominator used to compute basic and diluted net (loss) income per share for each class of stock.
For the Year Ended December 31, 2022 | For the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December 31 2021 | |||||||||||||||
Redeemable | Non-redeemable | Redeemable | Non-redeemable | |||||||||||||
Basic and diluted net (loss) income per common stock | ||||||||||||||||
Numerator: | ||||||||||||||||
Allocation of net (loss) income, as adjusted | $ | 432,201 | $ | (210,959 | ) | $ | 14,145,943 | $ | (14,265,574 | ) | ||||||
Denominator: | ||||||||||||||||
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding | 11,500,000 | 3,445,000 | 875,887 | 2,918,723 | ||||||||||||
Basic and diluted net (loss) income per common stock | $ | 0.04 | $ | (0.06 | ) | $ | 16.15 | $ | (4.89 | ) |
F-15 |
Accounting for Warrants
The Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in FASB ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own common stock, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding. We account for the warrants issued in connection with our Initial Public Offering in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815 under which the public warrants meet the criteria for equity treatment and the private warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, we classify the private warrants as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the private 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 consolidated statement of operations. The fair value of the warrants was estimated using a binomial lattice model.
Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-06, Debt — Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) (“ASU 2020-06”) to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-converted method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective January 1, 2022 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 on March 24, 2021 (inception). The adoption of ASU 2020-06 did not have an impact on the Company’s financial statements.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2022.
Note 3 — Initial Public Offering and Over-allotment
Pursuant to the IPO and the over-allotment in December 2021, the Company sold Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one-half (1/2) of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. Each Public right entitles the holder to receive one-tenth (1/10) of one share of common stock at the closing of a Business Combination (see Note 7). Units at a price of $ per Unit. Each Unit consists of one share of common stock, one redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”) and one right (“Public Right”).
Note 4 — Private Placement
On December 9, 2021 and December 13, 2021, simultaneously with the consummation of the IPO and the underwriters’ exercise of their over-allotment option, the Company consummated the issuance and sale (“Private Placement”) of 5,700,000. Each whole Private Placement Unit consists of one share, one warrant (“Private Placement Warrant”) and one right to receive one-tenth (1/10) of one share of common stock at the closing of a Business Combination. Each whole Private Placement Warrant will be exercisable to purchase one-half of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the Private Placement Units were added to the proceeds from the IPO to be held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Units will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law), and the Private Placement Units and all underlying securities will be worthless. Private Placement Units in a private placement transaction at a price of $ per Private Placement Unit, generating gross proceeds of $
F-16 |
Note 5 — Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On August 19, 2021, our sponsor purchased 25,000. The Founder Shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in Note 7. shares (the “Founder Shares”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $ , for an aggregate price of $
The Initial Stockholders have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, that 50% of these shares will not be transferred, assigned, sold or released from escrow until the earlier of six months after the date of the consummation of the Company’s initial Business Combination and the date on which the closing price of our common stock 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 after our initial business combination and the remaining 50% of the Founder Shares will not be transferred, assigned, sold or released from escrow until six months after the date of the consummation of our initial Business Combination, or earlier, in either case, if, subsequent to our initial Business Combination, we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Related Party Loans
On October 7, 2021, Lin Ding Jie, a member of the sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the IPO pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). The Company borrowed $70,000 under the Note, which was repaid at IPO. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had no borrowings under the Note.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the sponsor or an affiliate of the sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company will repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination 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. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into units of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit. The units would be identical to the Private Placement Units. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were no Working Capital Loans outstanding.
Support Services
The Company has entered into an administrative services agreement pursuant to which the Company will pay the Company’s sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services. Upon completion of its initial Business Combination or our liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, $127,000 and $7,000 respectively, have been accrued under this arrangement and shown under “Due to affiliate” in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.
Note 6 — Commitments and Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Units and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any, will be entitled to registration rights (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion of such shares to shares of common stock) pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed on the date of the prospectus for the IPO. These holders are entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. However, the registration rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the termination of the applicable lock-up period for the securities to be registered. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
F-17 |
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted the underwriters a 45-day option from the final prospectus relating to the IPO to purchase up to additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the IPO price less the underwriting discounts. On December 13, 2021, the underwriters fully exercised the option and purchased additional Units.
The underwriters were paid a cash underwriting discount of $2,300,000 in the aggregate at the closing of the IPO. In addition, the underwriters are entitled to deferred underwriting discounts of $ per Unit, or $4,025,000 from the closing of the IPO and the exercise of the over-allotment option. The deferred discounts will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely if the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement. per Unit on the offering including the Units issued with the underwriter’s exercise of their over-allotment option, or $
Business Combination
On August 3, 2022, Globalink entered into the Merger Agreement by and among Tomorrow Crypto, Merger Sub, GL the Parent Representative, and the Seller Representative. Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, a business combination between Globalink and Tomorrow Crypto through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Tomorrow Crypto, with Tomorrow Crypto surviving the Merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globalink. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein upon the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement (the “Closing”), each share of Tomorrow Crypto common stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time (other than treasury shares or dissenting shares) will be converted into the right to receive shares of Globalink common stock. The total consideration to be paid by Globalink to the stockholders of Tomorrow Crypto in the form of Globalink’s common stock at the Closing will be equal to $210 million, with an earn-out provision permitting the stockholders of Tomorrow Crypto to receive up to million additional shares as and when the business meets certain incremental milestones for the number of ASIC mining machines successfully installed, commissioned and placed in operation. The Merger Agreement is subject to certain customary closing conditions and contains customary representations, warranties, covenants and indemnity provisions. The respective boards of directors of Globalink and Tomorrow Crypto have (i) approved and declared advisable the Merger Agreement, the Merger and the Transactions and (ii) resolved to recommend approval of the Merger Agreement and related transactions by their respective stockholders.
In accordance with the termination provisions under Section 10.1 of the Merger Agreement, the Merger Agreement was terminated March 8, 2023, the Merger Agreement Termination Date. In conjunction with the termination of the Merger Agreement, the Additional Agreements (as defined in the Merger Agreement) (including the Support Agreements) have also been terminated in accordance with their respective terms as of March 8, 2023, the Merger Agreement Termination Date.
Subscription Agreement
In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, Globalink entered into subscription agreements (collectively, the “Subscription Agreements”) with certain accredited investors (the “Subscribers”) pursuant to which the Subscribers have agreed to purchase, and Globalink has agreed to sell to the Subscribers, an aggregate of $16,666,667 (the “PIPE Preferred Shares”). The PIPE Preferred Shares will have a 10% monthly compound dividend and a conversion price of $10.00 per share, subject to certain downward adjustments described therein, and will be both redeemable and subject to forced conversion under certain conditions set forth in the Subscription Agreements. In connection with the purchase of the PIPE Preferred Shares, Globalink will also issue warrants of Globalink (the “PIPE Warrants”, and together with the PIPE Preferred Shares, the “PIPE Securities”) to purchase that number of shares of Globalink common stock equal to the number of shares of Globalink common stock into which the PIPE Preferred Shares are convertible based on the Closing date conversion price. The PIPE Warrants will have a term of five years and an exercise price of $ , subject to certain downward adjustments as set forth in the Subscription Agreements. Holders of the PIPE Securities will be entitled to certain registration rights. The purpose of the sale of the PIPE Securities is to raise additional capital for use in connection with the Merger and to meet the minimum cash requirements provided in the Merger Agreement. The obligations to consummate the transactions contemplated by the Subscription Agreements are conditioned upon, among other things, customary closing conditions and the consummation of the Transactions. shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock with an aggregate face value of $
F-18 |
Globalink Support Agreement
In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, certain stockholders of Globalink, Tomorrow Crypto and Globalink entered into a support agreement (the “Globalink Support Agreement”) pursuant to which the stockholders of Globalink that are parties to the Globalink Support Agreement have agreed to vote all shares of Globalink common stock beneficially owned by them in favor of the Merger and related transactions.
Tomorrow Crypto Support Agreement
In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, stockholders of Tomorrow Crypto, Tomorrow Crypto and Globalink entered into a support agreement (the “Tomorrow Crypto Support Agreement”), pursuant to which the stockholders of Tomorrow Crypto that are parties to the Tomorrow Crypto Support Agreement have agreed to vote all shares of Company Common Stock beneficially owned by them in favor of the Transactions.
Lock-Up Agreements
The Merger Agreement provides that, at or before the Closing, and effective as of the Closing, certain stockholders of Tomorrow Crypto will enter into a Lock-Up Agreement connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, subject to certain customary exceptions, not to offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any of the Lock-Up Shares, enter into a transaction that would have the same effect, or enter into any swap, hedge or other arrangement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Lock-Up Shares or otherwise, publicly disclose the intention to make any offer, sale, pledge or disposition, or to enter into any transaction, swap, hedge or other arrangement, or engage in any Short Sales with respect to the Lock-Up Shares until the date that is six months after the Closing Date (the period from the date of the Merger Agreement until such date, the “Lock-Up Period”).
Note 7 — Stockholders’ Deficit
Common stock
The Company is authorized to issue shares of common stock with a par value of $ per share. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were (excluding shares of common stock subject to possible redemption) shares of common stock issued and outstanding.
Warrants
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had 11,500,000 Public Warrants and 570,000 Private Placement Warrants outstanding.
The Public Warrants are accounted for as equity instruments in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. 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 the completion of an initial Business Combination and will expire five years after the completion of an initial Business Combination, or earlier upon redemption. No Public Warrants will be exercisable for cash unless the Company has an effective and current registration statement covering the common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants and a current prospectus relating to such common stock. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of a Business Combination, Warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise Warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their Warrants on a cashless basis. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
F-19 |
Redemption of warrants when the price per common stock equals or exceeds $16.50
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement 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, which the Company refers to as the “30-day redemption period” and | |
● | if, and only if, the last reported sale price (the “closing price”) of our common stock equals or exceeds $16.50 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities—Warrants”) 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. |
The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, the Company may exercise our redemption right even if the Company is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
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 Private Warrants will be issued substantially in the same form as the Public Warrants, except they (i) will be exercisable either for cash or on a cashless basis at the holder’s option pursuant and (ii) will not be redeemable by the Company, in either case as long as the Private Warrants are held by the initial purchasers or any of their permitted transferees (as prescribed in the Subscription Agreement). Once a Private Warrant is transferred to a holder other than a permitted transferee, it shall be treated as a Public Warrant for all purposes. Due to these terms the Private Warrants are required to be liability classified.
The exercise price and number of common stock issuable on exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, extraordinary dividend or our recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of common stock at a price below their respective exercise prices. 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 the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.
F-20 |
In addition, if the Company issues additional common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of a Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.50 per share of common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company’s board of directors, and in the case of any such issuance to the initial stockholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by them prior to such issuance), (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 consummation of a Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Company’s common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.50 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 165% of the greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) the price at which the Company issues the additional common stock or equity-linked securities.
Rights
Except in cases where the Company is not the surviving company in a Business Combination, each holder of a Public Right will automatically receive one-tenth of one share of common stock upon consummation of a Business Combination, even if the holder of a Public Right converted all shares held by him, her or it in connection with a Business Combination or an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation with respect to its pre-business combination activities. In the event that the Company will not be the surviving company upon completion of a Business Combination, each holder of a Public Right will be required to affirmatively convert his, her or its rights in order to receive the one-tenth of a share underlying each Public Right upon consummation of the Business Combination.
The Company will not issue fractional shares in connection with an exchange of Public Rights. Fractional shares will either be rounded down to the nearest whole share or otherwise addressed in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law. As a result, the holders of the Public Rights must hold rights in multiples of 10 in order to receive shares for all of the holders’ rights upon closing of a Business Combination.
Note 8. Income Tax
The Company’s net deferred tax assets (liabilities) are as follows:
December 31, | ||||||||
2022 | 2021 | |||||||
Deferred tax assets (liabilities) | ||||||||
Net operating loss carryforward | $ | $ | 17,673 | |||||
Startup Costs | 162,545 | 10,793 | ||||||
Accrued interest on investments held in Trust Account | (79,358 | ) | ||||||
Total net deferred tax assets | 83,187 | 28,466 | ||||||
Valuation allowance | (162,545 | ) | (28,466 | ) | ||||
Deferred tax liabilities, net of allowance | $ | (79,358 | ) | $ |
The income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021 consists of the following:
December 31, | For the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | |||||||
Federal | ||||||||
Current | $ | 228,827 | $ | |||||
Deferred | (54,721 | ) | (28,466 | ) | ||||
State | ||||||||
Current | ||||||||
Deferred | ||||||||
Change in valuation allowance | 134,079 | 28,466 | ||||||
Income tax provision | $ | 308,185 | $ |
F-21 |
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had a total of $0 and $84,156, respectively, of U.S. federal net operating loss carryovers available to offset future taxable income. As of this filing, the Company’s 2021 federal tax return has not been filed, and therefore the net operating loss for 2021 may be subject to change. The federal net operating loss can be carried forward indefinitely.
In assessing the realization of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax assets, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. At the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, the valuation allowance was $134,079 and $28,466, respectively.
A reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate is as follows:
December 31, | For the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | |||||||
Statutory federal income tax rate | 21.0 | % | 21.0 | % | ||||
Transaction costs warrants | 0.00 | % | (0.1 | )% | ||||
Delaware franchise tax penalties | 0.78 | % | 0.00 | % | ||||
Change in fair value of warrants | (4.27 | )% | 2.9 | % | ||||
Business combination expenses | 15.19 | % | 0.00 | % | ||||
Change in valuation allowance | 25.18 | % | (23.8 | )% | ||||
Income tax provision | 57.88 | % | 0.0 | % |
The Company’s effective tax rates for the periods presented differ from the expected (statutory) rates due to changes in fair value in warrants, transaction costs associated with warrants and the recording of full valuation allowances on deferred tax assets.
The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction in various state and local jurisdictions and is subject to examination by the various taxing authorities.
Note 9 — Fair Value Measurements
The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
F-22 |
Level 1: Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. An active market for an asset or liability is a market in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.
Level 2: Observable inputs other than Level 1 inputs. Examples of Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities and quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active.
Level 3: Unobservable inputs based on our assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.
At December 31, 2022 and 2021, the assets held in the Trust Account were held in U.S. Treasury Securities. All of the Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities.
The following table presents information about the Company’s 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.
Quoted Prices in Active Markets | Significant Other Observable Inputs | Significant Other Unobservable Inputs | ||||||||||||||
Level | (Level 1) | (Level 2) | (Level 3) | |||||||||||||
December 31, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||
Assets: | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Securities | 1 | $ | 118,408,969 | |||||||||||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||
Warrant Liabilities- Private Warrants | 3 | 6,270 |
Quoted Prices in Active Markets | Significant Other Observable Inputs | Significant Other Unobservable Inputs | ||||||||||||||
Level | (Level 1) | (Level 2) | (Level 3) | |||||||||||||
December 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||
Assets: | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Securities | 1 | $ | 116,725,099 | |||||||||||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||
Warrant Liabilities- Private Warrants | 3 | 114,570 |
The Private Placement Warrants were valued using a binomial lattice model, which is considered to be a Level 3 fair value measurement. One of the more significant inputs is the implied volatility, which is based on the observed prices of the Company’s common stock and publicly-traded warrants. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the estimated fair value of Warrant Liabilities – Private Warrants were determined based on the following significant inputs and are expressed on the basis of each being exercisable for a one-half of one share of common stock:
As of December 31, 2022 | As of December 31, 2021 | |||||||
Exercise price | $ | $ | ||||||
Market price of public stock | $ | $ | ||||||
Term (years) | 0.8 | 4.8 | ||||||
Volatility | 6.9 | % | 9.1 | % | ||||
Risk-free rate | 4.69 | % | 1.22 | % | ||||
Dividend yield | 0.0 | % | 0.0 | % |
F-23 |
The following table presents the changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities for the years ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from March 24, 2021 (inception) through December:
Private Placement Warrants | ||||
Fair value as of January 1, 2022 | $ | 114,570 | ||
Change in valuation inputs or other assumptions | (108,300 | ) | ||
Fair value as of December 31, 2022 | $ | 6,270 |
Private Placement Warrants | ||||
December 9, 2021 (At issuance) | $ | 131,100 | ||
Change in valuation inputs or other assumptions | (16,530 | ) | ||
Fair value as of December 31, 2021 | $ | 114,570 |
NOTE 10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the consolidated 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 consolidated financial statements.
On March 3, 2023, the Company has entered into a promissory note subscription term sheets with Public Gold Marketing Sdn Bhd for an amount of $390,000 for the purpose of extension fees payment as described below. The promissory note bears an interest of 6% per annum and repayable upon consummation of business combination.
On March 6, 2023, the stockholders of the Company approved an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, allowing the Company to extend the date by which the Company must (i) consummate a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination involving the Company and one or more businesses, (ii) cease its operations if it fails to complete such business combination, and (iii) redeem or repurchase 100% of the Company’s outstanding public shares of common stock included as part of the units sold in the Company’s IPO (the “Termination Date”) by up to two (2) three-months extensions, followed by three (3) one-month extensions, to December 9, 2023 (each of which we refer to as an “Extension”, and such later date, the “Extended Deadline”). To obtain each extension, the Company, its sponsor or any of their affiliates or designees must deposit into the Company’s Trust Account with Continental by the deadline applicable prior to the extension, $390,000 for each three-month extension and $130,000 for each one-month extension. In connection with the approval of the Extension Amendment Proposal and the Trust Amendment Proposal at the Special Meeting, holders of of the Company’s shares of common stock (the “Public Shares”) exercised their right to redeem those shares for cash at an approximate price of $per share, for an aggregate of approximately $69.92 million. At the time of the redemption there was $119.01 million in the trust account, an increase from the December 31, 2022 trust account balance of $118.41 million, due to $817.01 thousand in interest earned partially offset by $219.62 thousand withdrawn for tax obligations.
On March 6, 2023, Globalink entered into an amendment to the Trust Agreement, originally entered into by and between the Company and Continental on December 6, 2021 to conform the procedures in the Trust Agreement by which the Company may extend the date on which Continental must liquidate its trust account if the Company has not completed its initial business combination to the procedures in the amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.
On March 6, 2023, Globalink elected to extend the Termination Date by three months until June 9, 2023, and deposited an aggregate of $390,000 into the trust account for its public stockholders. The Extension is first of up to five extensions permitted under the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company.
On March 8, 2023, Globalink sent a notice of termination pursuant to the terms set forth in the Merger Agreement entered on August 3, 2022, with Globalink with Tomorrow Crypto.
On March 23, 2023, the Company has entered into a promissory note subscription term sheets with Public Gold Marketing Sdn Bhd for an amount of $250,000 for the purpose of extension fees payment. The promissory note bears an interest of 6% per annum and repayable upon consummation of business combination.
F-24 |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
GLOBALINK INVESTMENT INC. | ||
Dated: April 17, 2023 | By: | /s/ Say Leong Lim |
Say Leong Lim | ||
Chief Executive Officer |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities indicated on April 17, 2023.
Signatures | Capacity in Which Signed | |
/s/ Say Leong Lim | Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer | |
Say Leong Lim | (Principal Executive Officer) | |
/s/ Kelvin Chin | Chief Financial Officer and Director | |
Kelvin Chin | (Principal Financial Officer and Accounting Officer) | |
/s/ Hong Shien Beh | Director | |
Hong Shien Beh | ||
/s/ Kian Huat Lai | Director | |
Kian Huat Lai | ||
/s/ Hui Liang Wong | Director | |
Hui Liang Wong |
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