OPAL Fuels Inc. - Quarter Report: 2022 March (Form 10-Q)

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

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

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

As of March 31, 2022, the Company had not yet commenced operations. All activity for the period from January 13, 2021 (inception) through March 31, 2022 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”), which is described below, and, since the closing of the Initial Public Offering, a search for a business combination candidate. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.

Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, approximately $311.2 million of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act, having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.

The Company will provide its holders of the Public Shares (the “Public Shareholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account ($10.00 per share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations). The amount to be distributed to Public Shareholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 6). These Public Shares were recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity, in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” (“ASC 480”). In such case, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation of a Business Combination and a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a

If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or March 25, 2023 (the “Combination Period”), 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 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 the Company to pay its income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

The Business Combination Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby (collectively, the “Business Combination”) were unanimously approved by the boards of directors of the Company and Opal Fuels, and also approved by Opal Holdco, the sole member of Opal Fuels. The Business Combination Agreement provides for, among other things, the following transactions: (i) each outstanding Class B ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company will convert into one Class A ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company; (ii) the Company will change the jurisdiction of its incorporation by deregistering as an exempted company in the Cayman Islands and domesticating to, and continuing as a corporation incorporated under the laws of, the State of Delaware (the “Domestication”) and, in connection with the Domestication, (A) the Company’s name will be changed to “Opal Fuels Inc.” (“New Opal”), (B) each outstanding Class A ordinary share of the Company will become one share of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of New Opal (the “New Opal Class A Common Stock”), (C) each outstanding warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share of the Company will become a warrant to purchase one share of New Opal Class A common stock and (D) New Opal will file its certificate of incorporation and adopt bylaws to serve as its governing documents in connection with the Domestication; and (iii) (A) Opal Fuels will cause its existing limited liability company agreement to be amended and restated, (B) Opal Fuels will cause all of its limited liability company interests existing immediately prior to the closing of the Business Combination (the “Closing”) to be into a number of common units (collectively, the “Opal Units”) based on a equity value for Opal equal to $1,501,870,000, less all principal and accrued interest outstanding immediately after the Closing pursuant to that certain convertible promissory note, dated as of May 1, 2021 (as amended, including that certain First Amendment to Convertible Note, dated November 29, 2021, the “Ares Note”), held by ARCC Beacon LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Ares”), (C) the Company will contribute the (x) the amount of cash in the trust account (the “Trust Account”) established by the Company with the proceeds from its initial public offering as of immediately prior to the Closing (and before, for the avoidance of doubt, giving effect to the exercise of redemption rights by any of the Company’s shareholders (the “Public Share Redemptions”)), minus (y) the aggregate amount of cash required to fund the ACT Share Redemptions and any other obligations to be funded from the Trust Account, plus (z) the aggregate cash proceeds actually received in respect of the PIPE Investment (as defined below) and (E) New Opal will issue to Opal Fuels, and Opal Fuels will in turn distribute to Opal HoldCo and Hillman RNG Investments, LLC (“Hillman”) a number of shares of Class D common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of New Opal (the “New Opal Class D Common Stock”), and distribute to Ares (together with Opal HoldCo and Hillman, collectively, the “Opal Equityholders”) shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of New Opal (the “New Opal Class B Common Stock”) (neither of which will have any economic value but will entitle the holder thereof to five votes per share or one vote per share, respectively), equal to the number of Opal Units held by each of the Opal Equityholders.

The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and Article 8 of Regulation Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal accruals) considered for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2022 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ended December 31, 2022.

The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and notes thereto included in the Annual Report on filed by the Company with the SEC on March 9, 2022.

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 an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to 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.

The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. The Company evaluates all of its financial instruments, including issued share purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to FASB ASC Topic 480 and ASC 815, “Derivatives and Hedging” (“ASC 815”). The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is at the end of each reporting period.

The warrants issued in the Initial Public Offering and the underwriters’ exercise of their overallotment option (the “Public Warrants”) and the Private Placement Warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815. Accordingly, the Company recognizes the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjusts the carrying value of the instruments to fair value at each reporting period for so long as they are outstanding. The initial fair value of the Public Warrants issued in connection with the Public Offering and the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants have been estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation model and subsequently, the fair value of the Private Placement Warrants have been estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation model at each measurement date. The fair value of Public Warrants have subsequently been measured based on the listed market price of such warrants. Derivative warrant liabilities are classified as liabilities as their liquidation is not reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities.

Offering costs consisted of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the Initial Public Offering that were directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs were allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Initial Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs associated with derivative warrant liabilities were expensed as incurred and presented as expenses in the statements of operations. Offering costs associated with issuance of the Class A ordinary shares were charged against the carrying value of the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering. The Company classifies deferred underwriting commissions as liabilities as their liquidation is not reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities.

Immediately upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company recognized the from initial book value to redemption amount, which approximates fair value. The change in the carrying value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption resulted in charges against additional capital (to the extent available), accumulated deficit, and Class A ordinary shares.

ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company’s management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Company’s only major tax jurisdiction. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.

The Company has two classes of shares, Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Income and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. Net income (loss) per ordinary share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the periods. The Company has not considered the effect of the Public Warrants and the Private Placement to purchase an aggregate of , of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares in the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share, because their exercise is contingent upon future events and their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted net income (loss) per share is the same as basic net income (loss) per share for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and for the period January 13, 2021 (inception) through March 31, 2021. associated with the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.

Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 9).

Each whole Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole share of Class A ordinary shares at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be for cash and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees.

On January 20, 2021, the Sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 for certain expenses on behalf of the Company in exchange for issuance of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”). On February 2, 2021, the Sponsor transferred 35,000 founder shares to each of Arno Harris, Audrey Lee, Brian Goncher and Steven Berkenfeld, the Company’s independent directors. On March 22, 2021, the Company effected a share capitalization resulting in an aggregate of 7,906,250 Founder Shares issued and outstanding. The Sponsor agreed to forfeit up to an aggregate of 1,031,250 Founder Shares to the extent that the option to purchase additional units is not exercised in full by the underwriters, so that the Founder Shares will represent 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. On March 25, 2021, the underwriters partially exercised the over-allotment option to purchase an additional 3,616,305 Units, with the remaining portion of the over-allotment option expiring at the conclusion of the option period. As a result, an aggregate of 127,174 Founder Shares were forfeited by the Sponsor upon the expiration of the over-allotment option.

The Initial Shareholders agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination and (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the closing price of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Public Shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.

On January 20, 2021, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company up to $300,000 pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). The Note was bearing, unsecured and due upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. During the period from January 13, 2021 (inception) through March 31, 2021, the Company borrowed approximately $172,000 under the Note and fully repaid the Note on March 26, 2021.

In addition, the Sponsor, officers and directors, or their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any expenses incurred in connection with activities on the Company’s behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable Business Combinations. The Company’s audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by the Company to the Sponsor, executive officers or directors, or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial Business Combination will be made using funds held outside the Trust Account.

Gross Proceeds		$	311,163,050
Less:
Offering costs allocated to Class A shares subject to possible redemption			(17,138,390	)
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants at issuance			(5,948,230	)
Plus:
Re-measurement on Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption amount			23,086,620
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption		$	311,163,050

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

The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the redemption period.

The estimated fair value of the Private Placement Warrants, and the Public Warrants prior to being separately listed and traded, is determined using Level 3 inputs. Inherent in a Monte Carlo simulation are assumptions related to expected share-price volatility, expected life, risk-free interest rate and dividend yield. The Company estimates the volatility of its warrants based on implied volatility from the Company’s traded warrants and from historical volatility of select peer company’s ordinary shares that matches the expected remaining life of the warrants. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve on the grant date for a maturity similar to the expected remaining life of the warrants. The expected life of the warrants is assumed to be equivalent to their remaining contractual term. The dividend rate is based on the historical rate, which the Company anticipates remaining at zero.

The closing of the PIPE Investment is contingent upon, among other things, the substantially concurrent consummation of the Business Combination. The Subscription Agreements provide that the Company will grant the investors in the PIPE Investment certain customary registration rights.

The Business Combination Agreement contemplates that, at the Closing, each of Opal Fuels, Ares, Hillman, the independent directors of the Company and the Sponsor (collectively, the “New Opal Holders”) will enter into an Investor Rights Agreement (the “Investor Rights Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, (i) the Company and the Sponsor will agree to terminate the Registration and Shareholder Rights Agreement, dated as of March 25, 2021, entered into by them in connection with the Company’s initial public offering, (ii) New Opal will provide the New Opal Holders certain registration rights with respect to certain shares of New Opal Class A common stock held by them or otherwise issuable to them pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, Second A&R LLC Agreement or the certificate of incorporation of New Opal and (iii) the New Opal Holders will agree not to transfer, sell, assign or otherwise dispose of their shares of New Opal Class A common stock for up to 180 days following the Closing, subject to certain exceptions.

non-operating

non-operating

non-cash

For the three months ended March 31, 2022, we had a net income of approximately $3.9 million from changes in the value of derivative warrant liabilities of approximately $5.3 million and a gain on investments held in Trust Account of approximately $25,000 partially offset by approximately $1.4 million in general and administrative costs.

For the period from January 13, 2021 (inception) through March 31, 2021, we had a net loss of approximately $320,000 from changes in the value of derivative warrant liabilities of approximately $271,000, offset by financing costs attributable to the warrant liabilities of approximately $463,000 and approximately $128,000 in general and administrative costs.

As of March 31, 2022, we had approximately $559,000 in our operating bank account and working capital of approximately $1.1 million.

Our liquidity needs up to March 31, 2022 had been satisfied through a payment of $25,000 from the Sponsor to cover certain expenses on behalf of the Company in exchange for the issuance of the Founder Shares (as defined below), a loan under a promissory note from our Sponsor of approximately $172,000 (the “Note”), and the net proceeds from the consummation of the Private Placement not held in the Trust Account. The Note was repaid in full on March 26, 2021. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, our officers, directors and Initial Shareholders may, but are not obligated to, provide the Company with Working Capital Loans. On May 16, 2022, we entered into a non-interest bearing promissory note with the Sponsor for $1,000,000 (see Note 11).

Based on the foregoing, management believes that we will have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity from the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors to meet our needs through the earlier of the consummation of a business combination or one year from this filing. Over this time period, we will be using these funds for paying existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective initial Business Combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination.

 

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COVID-19

We do not have any long-term debt obligations, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations, purchase obligations or long-term liabilities, other than an administrative services agreement to pay our Sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us.

The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement. At any time on or after the date the Company consummates a Business Combination, the holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we will register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the initial Business Combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

45-day

45-day

The underwriters were entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per unit, or approximately $6.2 million in the aggregate, paid upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, $0.35 per unit, or approximately $10.9 million in the aggregate, will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes the Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.

On March 25, 2021, we entered into an agreement that provided that, commencing on the date that our securities were first listed on Nasdaq through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination and the liquidation, we agreed to pay the sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us. We incurred $30,000 and $10,000 in expenses in connection with such services for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and for the period from January 13, 2021 (inception) through March 31, 2021, respectively, which are reflected in the accompanying statements of operations.

We entered into an engagement letter to obtain legal advisory services, pursuant to which our legal counsel agreed to defer the payment of their fees until the closing of the initial Business Combination. As of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Company recorded an aggregate of approximately $4.9 million and $4.0 million, respectively, in connection with such arrangement as deferred legal fees in the accompanying condensed balance sheets.

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. A summary of our significant accounting policies is included in Note 2 to our condensed financial statements in Part I, Item 1 of this

 

22

10-K

See Note 2 to the unaudited condensed financial statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report for a discussion of recent accounting pronouncements.

Sheet Arrangements

off-balance

S-K.

non-emerging

non-emerging

12b-2

13a-15(e)

15d-15(e)

 

23

Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

10-Q

Our principal executive officer and principal financial officer performed additional accounting and financial analyses and other post-closing procedures including consulting with subject matter experts related to the accounting for complex features of the Class A ordinary shares and warrants. The Company’s management has expended, and will continue to expend, a substantial amount of effort and resources for the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to properly identify and evaluate the appropriate accounting technical pronouncements and other literature for all significant or unusual transactions, we have expanded and will continue to improve these processes to ensure that the nuances of such transactions are effectively evaluated in the context of the increasingly complex accounting standards.

PART INFORMATION

S-4,

There have been no material changes from the risk factors previously disclosed in the Company’s most recent form 10-K as filed with the SEC on March 9, 2022.

Ja-Chin

45-day

No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.

10-Q.

 

 

24

There has been no material change in the planned use of the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement as is described in the Company’s final prospectus related to the Initial Public Offering.

 

25

None.

Not applicable.

None.

 

 

26

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 on this 16th day of May, 2022.

 

 

 

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