Northern Star Investment Corp. III - Quarter Report: 2021 December (Form 10-Q)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, anon-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company”, and “emerging growth company” in the Exchange Act.

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

The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination although it intends to focus on target businesses in the media, technology, online sectors. 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, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity through December 31, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation, its initial public offering (“Initial Public Offering”), which is described below, and subsequent to the Initial Public Offering, identifying a target company for a Business Combination. The Company believes it will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will on cash and cash equivalents in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering.

Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on March 4, 2021, an amount of $400,000,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Warrants was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”), located in the United States and held as cash items or invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of paragraph (d) 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 assets held in the Trust Account, as described below.

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

The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and in accordance with the instructions to and Article 8 of Regulation of the SEC. Certain information or footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC for interim financial reporting. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes necessary for a complete presentation of financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements include all adjustments, consisting of a normal recurring nature, which are necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, operating results and cash flows for the periods presented.

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

For issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional capital at the time of issuance. For issued or modified warrants that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter. Changes in the estimated fair value of the warrants are recognized as a gain or loss on the statement of operations.

On March 27, 2020, the CARES Act was enacted in response to pandemic. Under ASC 740, the effects of changes in tax rates and laws are recognized in the period which the new legislation is enacted. The CARES Act made various tax law changes including among other things (i) increasing the limitation under Section 163(j) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “IRC”) for 2019 and 2020 to permit additional expensing of interest (ii) enacting a technical correction so that qualified improvement property can be immediately expensed under IRC Section 168(k), (iii) making modifications to the federal net operating loss rules including permitting federal net operating losses incurred in 2018, 2019, and 2020 to be carried back to the five preceding taxable years in order to generate a refund of previously paid income taxes and (iv) enhancing the recoverability of alternative minimum tax credits.

The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”. For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as liabilities, the derivative instruments is initially recorded at its fair value on the grant date and is then at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statement of operations. The classification of derivative instruments for the three months ended December 31, 2021, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is evaluated at the end of each reporting period. Derivative liabilities are classified in the balance sheet as current or based on whether or not settlement or conversion of the instruments could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date.

In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity” which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. ASU2020-06 removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception and it also simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. ASU2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact, if any, that would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Pursuant to the Initial Public Offering, the Company sold 40,000,000 Units, which includes a partial exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 5,000,000 Units, at a price of $10.00 per Unit. it consists of one share of Class A common stock and of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share

On November 30, 2020, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note (the “Promissory Note”) to the Sponsor pursuant to which the Company could borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $150,000. The Promissory Note was bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) June 30, 2021, (ii) the completion of the Initial Public Offering and (iii) the date on which the Company determined not to proceed with the Initial Public Offering. As of March 4, 2021, there was $150,000 outstanding under the Promissory Note. The Company repaid in full the Promissory Note on March 9, 2021.

The Company granted the underwriter a option from the effective date of the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 5,250,000 additional Units, at the Initial Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. As a result of the underwriter’s election to partially exercise the over-allotment option to purchase an additional 5,000,000 Public Shares, a total of 250,000 Public Shares remained available for purchase at a price of $10.00 per Public Share. The underwriters elected not to exercise the over-allotment option to purchase such additional 250,000 Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit. The over-allotment option expired on April 18, 2021.

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

 — The Company is authorized to issue up to 125,000,000 shares of Class A, $0.0001 par value common stock. Holders of the Company’s Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. At December 31, 2021, there were no shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding, excluding 40,000,000 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption which are presented as temporary equity.

The Company is authorized to issue 25,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B common stock are entitled to o. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, there were 10,000,000 and 10,062,500 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding respectively.

The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of a Business Combination on a basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the Initial Public Offering and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering, net of conversions, plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination, any private placement-equivalent securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination, any private placement equivalent securities issued to the initial stockholders or their affiliates upon conversion of loans made to the Company). Holders of Founder Shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time.

		Private Placement				Public				Warrant Liabilities
Fair value as of September 30, 2021		$	9,652,500			$	6,600,000			$	16,252,500
Change in fair value			(1,072,500	)			(733,333	)			(1,805,833	)
Fair value as of December 31, 2021		$	8,580,000			$	5,866,667			$	14,446,667

This Quarterly Report includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Exchange Act that are not historical facts, and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected and projected. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this Form10-Qincluding, without limitation, statements in this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding the Company’s financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Words such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “seek” and variations and similar words and expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance, but reflect management’s current beliefs, based on information currently available. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements. For information identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Risk Factors section of the Company’s Annual Report on Form filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Company’s securities filings can be accessed on the EDGAR section of the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as expressly required by applicable securities law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities through December 31, 2021 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for the Initial Public Offering, described below, and, after our Initial Public Offering, identifying a target company for a Business Combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our Business Combination. We generate income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held in the Trust Account. We incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.

We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2021. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any assets.

We account for the Warrants in accordance with the guidance contained in 7F under which the Warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, we classify the Warrants as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the Warrants to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject tore-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our statements of operations. The Private Placement Warrants and the Public Warrants for periods where no observable traded price was available are valued using a Monte Carlo simulation. For periods subsequent to the detachment of the Public Warrants from the Units, the Public Warrant quoted market price was used as the fair value as of each relevant date.

Net income (loss) per common share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the period. The Company applies the method in calculating earnings per share. Accretion associated with the redeemable shares of Class A common stock is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.

In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU with Conversion and Other Options and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity” simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. ASU2020-06removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception and it also simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. ASU2020-06is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact, if any, that ASU2020-06would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2021, as such term is defined in Rules and the Exchange Act. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer have concluded that during the period covered by this report, our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules and the Exchange Act) were not effective due to a material weakness in internal controls over financial reporting related to the Company’s accounting for complex financial instruments. To address this material weakness, management has devoted, and plans to continue to devote, significant effort and resources to the remediation and improvement of its internal control over financial reporting. We are monitoring our processes to ensure proper identification and appropriate application of applicable accounting requirements. These processes include timely evaluation of relevant accounting guidance to better understand the nuances of the complex accounting standards that apply to our financial statements. We are also ensuring enhanced access to accounting literature, research materials and documents and are monitoring our processes to ensure increased communication among our personnel and third-party professionals with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications.

On March 4, 2021, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 40,000,000 Units, inclusive of 5,000,000 Units sold to the underwriters upon the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their over-allotment option, at a price of $10.00 per Unit, generating total gross proceeds of $400,000,000. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. acted as the book-running manager of the Initial Public Offering. The securities in the offering were registered under the Securities Act on registration statements on The Securities and Exchange Commission declared the registration statements effective on March 1, 2021.

For a description of the use of the proceeds generated in our Initial Public Offering, see Part I, Item 2 of this

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