Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Corp. - Annual Report: 2021 (Form 10-K)
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM
10-K
(Mark One)
| ☒ | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021
| ☐ | 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:
001-40268
ROCKET INTERNET GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Cayman Islands |
||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I. R .S. EmployerIdentification No.) |
Boundary Hall Cricket Square Grand Cayman |
KY1-1102 | |
(Address of principal executive offices) |
(Zip Code) |
(345)
815-5716
(
Registrant’s
telephone number, including area code) Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class |
Trading Symbol(s) |
Name of each exchange on which registered | ||
Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, $0.0001 par value, and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant |
RKTAU |
The New York Stock Exchange | ||
Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 par value |
RKTA |
The New York Stock Exchange | ||
Redeemable warrants, each warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share, each at an exercise price of $11.50 per share |
RKTAW |
The New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. ☐
Yes
☒ No Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the 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, 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 Rule 12b-2
of the Exchange Act. (Check one): | 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. ☐
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 voting and
non-voting
common equity held by non-affiliates
of the registrant as of June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $258,990,000. As of April 1
4
, 2022, there wereTABLE OF CONTENTS
i
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this Annual Report on Form
10-K
(this “Annual Report on Form 10-K”)
constitute “forward-looking statements.” 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 on Form 10-K
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 the 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; |
| • | our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the continuing uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; |
| • | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
| • | our public securities’ 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. |
| • | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
| • | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | our expectations around the performance of the 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; |
ii
| • | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
| • | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
| • | our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; |
| • | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
| • | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
| • | the lack of a market for our securities; |
| • | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
| • | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
| • | our financial performance following this offering. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form
10-K
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 Part I, Item 1A., “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. iii
PART I
References in this Annual Report on Form affiliated with our sponsor.
10-K
to “we,” “us,” “our,” “company” or “our company” are to Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Corp. References to our “management” or our “management team” are to our executive officers and directors, and references to our “sponsor” are to Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Sponsor GmbH, a German limited liability company. References to “Rocket Internet” are to Rocket Internet SE, a societas europea
ITEM 1. |
BUSINESS. |
Introduction
We are a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Our purpose is to pursue a business strategy of promoting the long-term value of our subsidiaries, associated companies or other investments.
While we may pursue a business combination target in any business or industry, we currently intend to focus on companies in the technology sector that can benefit from the expertise and capabilities of our management team in order to create long-term shareholder value. Our geographic focus is global in nature, but with a particular focus on the vast and underpenetrated business combination opportunity outside the United States. Our management team has a long track record of investing in and adding value to companies within these sectors and geographies.
Our sponsor is an affiliate of Rocket Internet, a successful technology investor. Led by an experienced leadership team, Rocket Internet has incubated and invested in internet and technology companies for more than 14 years, with an extensive track record of more than 300 technology investments. A number of Rocket Internet’s current and previous portfolio companies and investments have listed on public markets in various jurisdictions, including, Zalando, Delivery Hero, Hello Fresh, Jumia and Global Fashion Group. In evaluating prospective business combination targets, we will follow Rocket Internet’s disciplined evaluation process.
Our Management Team
Our management team is well-positioned to take advantage of the investment opportunities in private companies emerging in global technology sectors. Our management team has a long track record of founding, growing, operating and investing in high-growth technology companies as well as sourcing, structuring and executing highly complex investments, mergers and acquisitions. In addition, through our affiliation with Rocket Internet, our management team will seek to capitalize on Rocket Internet’s industry reputation and broader organization, benefitting from Rocket Internet’s
14-year
track record in global technology investing, deep bench of technology focused investment professionals and a global network of founders and management teams. Our management team consists of:
| • | Oliver Samwer, our Chairman and Director, is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rocket Internet; |
| • | Soheil Mirpour, our Chief Executive Officer and Director, is a Member of the Management Board of Rocket Internet; |
| • | Donald E. Stalter Jr., our Chief Financial Officer and Director, manages the North American portfolio of GFC Global Founders Capital GmbH. |
Oliver Samwer
Co-Founder
and Chief Executive Officer of Rocket Internet. Mr. Samwer co-founded
Rocket Internet in 2007, and played an integral role in taking the company public at a valuation of over €4.0 billion in October 2014. Under Mr. Samwer’s leadership, Rocket Internet has invested in more than 300 companies in over 50 countries, providing a range of technology and technology-adjacent services from payments processing to takeaway food delivery. Prior to co-founding
Rocket Internet, Mr. Samwer co-founded Jamba AG (acquired by VeriSign, Inc. in 2004) and Alando.de AG (acquired by eBay Inc. in 1999). In addition to his work at Rocket Internet SE, Mr. Samwer has served in a range of capacities at GFC Global Founders Capital GmbH, Rocket Internet’s venture arm. Mr. Samwer has served as a member of the board of directors of Westwing Group AG since February 2019 and HelloFresh SE since June 2018, and serves as a member of the board of directors of several private companies. Mr. Samwer holds a business degree from WHU—Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar. -1-
Soheil Mirpour
Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes
Donald E. Stalter Jr.
Our management team’s efforts to seek a suitable business combination target will be supported by the expertise and network of relationships of our independent directors. We believe that our access to and affiliation with our independent directors represents a competitive advantage.
Our Relationship with Rocket Internet
Our sponsor is an affiliate of Rocket Internet. Founded in 2007, Rocket Internet is an internet company headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Rocket Internet incubates and invests in internet and technology companies globally.
Rocket Internet is a successful technology investor, with a
14-year
track record in technology investing across all stages of the venture life cycle. Rocket Internet focuses on fast-growing companies with proven business models, turning innovative start-ups
into leaders in their target markets. Its investment team consists of more than 25 technology investors. By applying its long-standing experience in the technology sector, global network of relationships and proven operational practices, Rocket Internet empowers founders to drive growth and innovation in their businesses while improving operating results. Rocket Internet helps entrepreneurs to benchmark and identify strategies for rolling out disruptive business models. It enables growth companies to expand their businesses to traditionally underserved or under-marketed geographies and verticals by bringing insights, experience in operating in these markets and a local network for potential partners. Finally, Rocket Internet and its investment team leverage their deep transactional experience to assist its portfolio companies in their M&A dialogue and additional capital raising in the private and public markets.
Our Business Strategy
Our business strategy aims to identify and complete one or multiple business combinations with targets located anywhere globally, leveraging our investment platform and with the goal of creating long-term value for our shareholders in public markets. We believe that we have a well-differentiated approach across the four major steps of our investment process.
-2-
| • | Identify. e-commerce, the unbundling of horizontal marketplaces, the emergence of vertically integrated direct-to-consumer best-in-class |
| • | Evaluate. in-depth review of each investment candidate in terms of its market size and growth prospects, product market fit, user experience, future product development, defensibility and replicability of the underlying technology as well as its complexity and uniqueness, and the track record of founders and management teams. Our quantitative assessment utilizes a wealth of operating and financial data to analyze the target’s prospects for outperformance in terms of growth, customer metrics, unit economics and valuation. Our analysis benchmarks a target’s potential for geographical expansion, active user growth, customer acquisition and user retention rates, marketing efficiency, pricing, business model, and scalability of cost structures. Furthermore, we carry out a thorough review of a target’s valuation, taking into account the size, timing, valuation, and use of proceeds of recent funding rounds as well as the prospective return on investment. |
| • | Execute. |
| • | Add Value. know-how. Our partnership approach focuses on working with target companies’ existing management to seek ways to improve strategic positioning, including through organic and acquisition-driven growth, buy-and-build |
Business Combination Criteria
Consistent with our strategy, we will seek to identify companies that have compelling growth potential and expect to benefit from being publicly traded and having access to the public capital markets. We currently intend to acquire companies or assets that we believe could have the following attributes, but we may decide to enter into an initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria or guidelines:
| • | Large Underpenetrated Markets: e-commerce, enterprise SaaS, FinTechs, HealthTechs and artificial intelligence. |
-3-
| • | Market-Leading Product Portfolio. |
| • | Compelling Growth Prospects. |
| • | Attractive Value Creation Potential. |
| • | Talented and Experienced Management Teams. |
These attributes 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 and/or other considerations, factors and criteria that from time to time our management may deem relevant, and we may decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines.
Initial Business Combination
The rules of the NYSE and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it likely that our board of directors will be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. However, we may structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-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 of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. 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, shares or other equity securities of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.
-4-
Our Business Combination Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews and inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital planning experience.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event that we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or a valuation or appraisal firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
To the extent members of our management team and our independent directors will directly or indirectly own ordinary shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity, including Rocket Internet and its affiliates, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer. However, we do not believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition to the above, our directors, officers and advisors, Rocket Internet, or its affiliates may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates and the director and officer teams. However, we do not currently expect that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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 with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their capital stock, shares or other equity securities in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses, market and other uncertainties in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, marketing and road show efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
-5-
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 underwriter’s ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or could have negative valuation consequences. Following an initial business combination, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that is held by
non-affiliates
exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible
debt securities during the prior three-year period. Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of
Regulation S-K.
Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates
equals or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates
equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th. Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
General
We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) and the private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, we may use the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account following the closing for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
-6-
While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or region, we currently intend to focus on companies in the technology sector that can benefit from the expertise and capabilities of our management team in order to create long-term shareholder value. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a target business.
We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. In addition, we intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemptions by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our proxy materials or tender offer documents disclosing the initial business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek shareholder approval of such financing. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following consummation of this offering. None of our sponsors, officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Sources of Target Businesses
We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers, technology entrepreneurs, founders and management teams. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the track record and business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of a finder’s fee is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. However, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation by the company prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). In addition, we pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team. Any such payments prior to our initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account. Other than the foregoing, there will be no finder’s fees, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or any affiliate of our sponsor or officers prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is).
-7-
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or from completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event that we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or a valuation or appraisal firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
| • | subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination; and |
| • | cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services. |
Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
-8-
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
Under the NYSE’s listing rules, shareholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
| • | We issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our ordinary shares then issued and outstanding (other than in a public offering); |
| • | Any of our directors, officers or substantial shareholders (as defined by the NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 5% or more; or |
| • | The issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
Permitted Purchases of Our Securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and the NYSE rules. 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. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material
non-public
information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. 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.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder 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 initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
-9-
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants 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 sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our initial shareholders, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the general meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on a negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) of, or
Rule 10b-5
under, the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a
per-share
price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriter. The redemption rights will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares they may hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. However, we may raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of this offering, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
-10-
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct 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 require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with the NYSE’s shareholder approval rules.
The requirement that we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above will be contained in provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on the NYSE.
If we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with a general meeting, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
| • | conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
| • | file proxy materials with the SEC. |
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive approval pursuant to an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. A quorum for such meeting will be present if the holders of a majority of issued and outstanding shares entitled to vote at the meeting are represented in person or by proxy. Our sponsor, officers and directors will count toward this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open-market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval pursuant to an ordinary resolution,
non-votes
will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 9,375,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 1,562,501, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 25,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreement of our sponsor, officers and directors, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a public shareholder on the record date for the general meeting held to approve the proposed transaction. -11-
If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will:
| • | conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E under the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and |
| • | file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
In the event that we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem 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 shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination. Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemption pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with
Rule 10b5-1
under the Exchange Act to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5
under the Exchange Act. Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined in Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Delivering Share Certificates in Connection with the Exercise of Redemption Rights
We intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/ Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that any beneficial owner on whose behalf a redemption right is being exercised must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
-12-
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC system. The transfer agent will typically charge the broker submitting or tendering shares a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to submit or tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of this offering.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such
24-month
period, 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 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and 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 our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month
time period. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our sponsor or management team acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted
24-month
time period. -13-
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or
pre-initial
business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $1,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, together with any additional financing arrangements that we may enter into prior to the completion of our initial business combination, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay income taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the
per-share
redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. However, the proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share
redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, 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 shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. 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. Our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriter of this offering will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 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 $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. 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. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
-14-
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 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 $10.00 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 indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the
per-share
redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per share. We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. However, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriter of this offering will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to approximately $1,000,000 from the proceeds of this offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors.
If we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency 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 shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders 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 some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
-15-
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or
pre-initial
business combination activity or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of our initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event that we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may be amended by a special resolution, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least two-thirds
of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. Employees
We currently have three executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the initial business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We have registered our securities under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, this Annual Report contains financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We are required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Law. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
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 shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile. -16-
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our Initial Public Offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by
non-affiliates
exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible
debt securities during the prior three-year period. Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation
S-K.
Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates
exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30 or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates
exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30. Available Information
Our internet website address is . We make available, free of charge, annual reports on Form
https://www.rocketgrowthopportunities.com
10-K,
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q,
current reports on Form 8-K,
and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Reports of beneficial ownership filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act are also available on our website. Information in, or that can be accessed through, this website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
-17-
ITEM 1A. |
RISK FACTORS. |
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form
10-K,
before making a decision 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. Summary of Risk Factors
We are a blank check company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. These risks are discussed more fully following this summary. Material risks that may affect our business, operating results and financial condition include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
| • | We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
| • | Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.” |
| • | Certain requirements and terms of our securities may make it difficult for us to enter into our initial business combination with a target or may not allow us to consummate the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure. |
| • | Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, and your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash. |
| • | We may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within the required time period, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate. |
| • | Our search for a business combination may be materially adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets. |
| • | We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments, including our warrant agreement, in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that some of our shareholders or warrant holders may not support. |
| • | If third parties bring claims against us or in certain other circumstances, such as a bankruptcy, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share. |
| • | You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares, potentially at a loss. |
| • | Members of our management team and their respective affiliates may have conflicts of interests that could, as applicable, affect the amount of time allocated to our company, impact the business opportunities presented to us, or raise competitive financial interests or affiliations with one or more of target businesses. |
| • | Past performance by our management team on whom we are dependent, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us or in the future performance of any business we may acquire. |
| • | Management’s flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective acquisition target, along with our management’s financial interest in consummating our initial business combination, may lead management to enter into an acquisition agreement that is not in the best interest of our shareholders. |
-18-
| • | Our initial shareholders control the election of our board of directors until consummation of our initial business combination and hold a substantial interest in our ordinary shares. As a result, they will exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support. |
| • | We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preferred shares or incur substantial debt in connection with our initial business combination, which could dilute your interests, adversely affect our financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us. |
| • | Holders of warrants will not participate in liquidating distributions if we do not complete an initial business combination within the required time period, and the warrants will expire worthless. |
| • | If we are unable to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results. |
| • | We may redeem unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to holders. |
| • | 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. |
| • | We face certain risks if we acquire or operate a business outside of the United States. |
Risks Relating to our Search for, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks
We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB’s Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”)
2014-15,
“Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” management determined that we are within 12 months of our mandatory liquidation as of the time of filing this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15,
“Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” this and our expected financing needs raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern until the earlier of the consummation of our business combination or the date we are required to liquidate, which is March 25, 2023. We intend to complete a business combination before the mandatory liquidation date. Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. In such case, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders 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 shareholder approval. Even if we seek shareholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
-19-
Your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Our sponsor owns 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Our sponsor and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive approval pursuant to an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, including the founder shares. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 9,375,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or 1,562,501, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 25,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive approval pursuant to an ordinary resolution, being the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
-20-
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B ordinary shares results in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, the amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriter will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
one-to-one
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of our Initial Public Offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
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 coronavirus
(COVID-19)
pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets. The
COVID-19
pandemic has resulted in, and a significant outbreak of new variants or other infectious diseases could result in, a widespread health crisis adversely affecting the economies and financial markets worldwide, potentially including the business of any potential target business with which we intend to consummate a business combination. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination at all if concerns relating to COVID-19,
new variants or other infectious diseases restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or make it impossible or impractical to negotiate and consummate a transaction with the target company’s personnel, vendors and service providers in a timely manner, if at all. The extent to which COVID-19
impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which remain uncertain and cannot be predicted. The disruptions posed by COVID-19,
new variants or other public health emergencies, diseases or matters of global concern could materially adversely affect our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination. -21-
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, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of our Initial Public Offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of our Initial Public Offering. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, 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 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and 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 our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and other requirements of applicable law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law. In either such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.00 per public share, or less than $10.00 per public share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. Global or regional conditions may adversely affect our business and our ability to consummate our initial business combination.
Adverse changes in global or regional economic conditions periodically occur, including recession or slowing growth, changes, or uncertainty in fiscal, monetary or trade policy, higher interest rates, tighter credit, inflation, lower capital expenditures by businesses, increases in unemployment and lower consumer confidence and spending. Adverse changes in economic conditions can harm global business and adversely affect our ability to consummate our initial business combination. Such adverse changes could result from geopolitical and security issues, such as armed conflict and civil or military unrest, political instability, human rights concerns and terrorist activity, catastrophic events such as natural disasters and public health issues (including the COVID-19 pandemic), supply chain interruptions, new or revised export, import or doing-business regulations, including trade sanctions and tariffs or other global or regional occurrences.
In particular, in response to Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, and several other countries are imposing far-reaching sanctions and export control restrictions on Russian entities and individuals. This rising conflict and the resulting market volatility could adversely affect global economic, political and market conditions. Additionally, tensions between the United States and China have led to increased tariffs and trade restrictions. The United States has imposed economic sanctions on certain Chinese individuals and entities and restrictions on the export of U.S.-regulated products and technology to certain Chinese technology companies. These and other global and regional conditions may adversely impact our business and our ability to consummate our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. There is no limit on the number of shares our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and the NYSE rules. 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. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such purchases may include a contractual acknowledgment that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights.
In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or 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 initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
-22-
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for submitting or tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed.
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders are entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or
pre-initial
business combination activity; and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss. -23-
The NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our Class A ordinary shares, units and warrants are separately listed on the NYSE. We may not continue to be listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, following our initial public offering, we must maintain a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share. We may not be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time, especially if there are a significant number of redemptions in connection with our initial business combination.
If the NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
over-the-counter
| • | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| • | reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| • | a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a “penny stock,” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
| • | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| • | decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants will qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the NYSE, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we are listed on the NYSE, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our Initial Public Offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
-24-
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined in Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our Initial Public Offering without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open-market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open-market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate until the completion of our business combination. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a
“no-shop”
provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. -25-
In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,000,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the trust account will not be impacted as a result of such increase or decrease. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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.
The market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. 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. These trends may continue into the future.
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. 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.
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. Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, our results of operations and our share price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present within a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write down or write off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be
non-cash
items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing
debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission. -26-
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the
per-share
redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share. 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, 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 shareholders, 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 consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. Our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriter of our Initial Public Offering have not and will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
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 do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, 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 shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 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 $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of our Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. 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. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses. -27-
The securities in which we invest the proceeds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the interest income available for payment of taxes or reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants are held in an interest-bearing trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in direct U.S. Treasury obligations having a maturity of 185 days or less, or in certain money market funds which invest only in direct U.S. Treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. 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 of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we may withdraw to pay income taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their
pro-rata
share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income. If the balance of the trust account is reduced as a result of negative interest rates, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share. 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 shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per 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 $10.00 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, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. 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 shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency 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.
-28-
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders 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 some or all amounts received by our shareholders. 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 shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the
per-share
amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced. If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or insolvency 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 shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the
per-share
amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced. If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, 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; and |
| • | restrictions on the issuance of securities, |
each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us 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 of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our 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.
-29-
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 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule
2a-7
promulgated under the Investment Company Act that 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. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial
business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders 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 do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
If we do not consummate our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond 24 months before redemption from our trust account can occur.
If we do not consummate our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Law. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination.
-30-
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that, immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offense and may be liable for a fine and to imprisonment in the Cayman Islands.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination and our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until the fiscal year that follows the first completed fiscal year after our listing on the NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Law for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to appoint directors and to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. In addition, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders and holders of our private placement warrants may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered on or prior to the closing of our Initial Public Offering, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, holders of our private placement warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the ordinary shares owned by our initial shareholders, holders of our private placement warrants or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
Because we neither are limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have selected any target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Our efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While we may pursue a business combination target in any business or industry, we currently intend to focus on companies in the technology sector that can benefit from the expertise and capabilities of our management team in order to create long-term shareholder value. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prohibits us from effectuating a business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
-31-
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we pay in our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained therein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
one-to-one
-32-
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, initially at a ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination.
one-for-one
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with the redemption of our warrants or Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth therein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares on any initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:
one-to-one
| • | may significantly dilute the equity interest of our public shareholders; |
| • | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
| • | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and |
| • | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants. |
Resources could be expended 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 do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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, consultants 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 do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse United States federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. holder of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. There can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year (and, in the case of the startup exception, potentially not until after the two taxable years following our current taxable year). However, our actual PFIC status for any taxable year will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, in order to enable the U.S. holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. investors to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules.
-33-
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval by special resolution under the Companies Law, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders to pay such taxes. Shareholders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
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 shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
| • | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after 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; |
| • | our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares; |
| • | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
| • | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
| • | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
| • | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
-34-
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial 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, property or asset; or |
| • | dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
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.
-35-
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such 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 us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business. 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 seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination and that our shareholders may not support.
-36-
In order to effectuate a business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least
two-thirds
of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months of the closing of our Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial
business combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination. We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
We have not selected any specific business combination target but intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. As a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
-37-
Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an initial business combination include historical and pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”) 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) (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial 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.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by
non-affiliates
exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile. Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to
non-emerging
growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used. Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of
Regulation S-K.
Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates
equals or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates
equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible. Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
-38-
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on
Form 10-K
for the year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination. Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. Federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Law (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders’ derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
-39-
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders 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 preference shares, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
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.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become more scarce and there may be increased competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination; it 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 preparing for an initial public offering, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available 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 targets companies to demand improved financial terms. As mentioned throughout this section, attractive deals could also become more scarce 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. Together, 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 altogether.
We may engage the underwriter or one of its affiliates to provide additional services to us after our Initial Public Offering, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. The underwriter is entitled to receive deferred commissions that will released from the trust only on a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause the underwriter to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after our Initial Public Offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
-40-
We may engage the underwriter or one of its affiliates to provide additional services to us after our Initial Public Offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing financial advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing. We may pay the underwriter or its affiliates fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with the underwriter or its affiliates and no fees or other compensation for such services will be paid to the underwriter or its affiliates prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless such payment would not be deemed underwriter’s compensation in connection with our Initial Public Offering. The underwriter is also entitled to receive deferred commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The fact that the underwriter or its affiliates’ financial interests are tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
If we are unable to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
On April 12, 2021, the Staff of the SEC issued a statement entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”)” (the “Staff Statement”) informing market participants that certain warrants issued by SPACs may require classification as a liability of the entity measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings. We had previously accounted for our private placement warrants and public warrants as equity. After considering the Staff Statement, we determined that our warrants should be recorded as derivative liabilities on the balance sheet and measured at fair value at issuance (on the date of the consummation of our initial public offering) and at each reporting date, with changes in fair value recognized in the statement of operations in the period of the change. Accordingly, on May 21, 2021, the audit committee of our board of directors (the “audit committee”), based on the recommendation of management, concluded that certain of our previously issued financial statements should be restated to reflect a reclassification of our warrants as liabilities in application of Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) .
815-40,
Derivatives and Hedging, Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity
In addition, in certain of our previously issued financial statements, a portion of our redeemable Class A ordinary shares (the “public shares”) were classified as permanent equity to maintain shareholders’ equity in excess of $5,000,000 on the basis that we will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 immediately prior to or upon such consummation. However, in connection with the preparation of our , to our accounting classification of public shares in light of recent comment letters issued by the Staff of the SEC to certain other special purpose acquisition companies. Upon
Form 10-Q for
the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, management re-evaluated our
application of ASC 480-10-S99,
Accounting For Redeemable Equity Instruments
such re-evaluation, management
determined that the public shares include redemption provisions that require classification of the public shares as temporary equity, regardless of the minimum net tangible asset requirement discussed above. Accordingly, on November 18, 2021, the audit committee, based on the recommendation of management, concluded that certain of our previously issued financial statements should be restated to reflect a reclassification of all of our public shares to permanent equity in application of ASC 480-10-S99.
In light of the above, management concluded that the foregoing reclassifications resulted in a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to our evaluation and review of complex financial instruments.
We continue to take steps to remediate the material weakness. If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and the price of our securities may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
-41-
Risks Relating to our Sponsor and Management Team
Past performance by our management team and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.
Information regarding our management team and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance by our management team and their affiliates and the businesses with which they have been associated, is not a guarantee that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination, that we will be able to provide positive returns to our shareholders, or of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical experiences of our management team and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or as indicative of every prior investment by each of the members of our management team or their affiliates. The market price of our securities may be influenced by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, and our shareholders may experience losses on their investment in our securities.
Involvement of members of our management and companies with which they are affiliated in civil disputes and litigation, governmental investigations or negative publicity unrelated to our business affairs could materially impact our ability to consummate an initial business combination.
Members of our management team and companies with which they are affiliated, including Rocket Internet, have been, and in the future will continue to be, involved in a wide variety of business affairs, including transactions, such as sales and purchases of businesses, and ongoing operations. As a result of such involvement, members of our management and companies with which they are affiliated in have been or may in the future be, involved in civil disputes, litigation, governmental investigations and negative publicity relating to their business affairs. For example, in connection with the delisting of the shares of Rocket Internet from the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2020, several shareholders of Rocket Internet initiated a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the resolutions of the extraordinary general shareholder meeting, which is currently pending. Any such claims, investigations, lawsuits or negative publicity may be detrimental to our reputation and could negatively affect our ability to identify and complete an initial business combination in a material manner and may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in our Initial Public Offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event that we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our officers and directors and the members of our advisory board. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers, directors and members of our advisory board, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or
key-man
insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us. -42-
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. However, the role of our key personnel in the target business cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. 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 our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place, which could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
-43-
Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
We are, and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity, including Rocket Internet and its affiliates, prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer.
In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, the members of our management team have agreed not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act, until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of our Initial Public Offering. We do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect personal or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers. We do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
-44-
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including Rocket Internet. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive 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 and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or a valuation or appraisal 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 sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders, 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 shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
In the event we consummate an initial business combination the nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares may further dilute the implied value of your public shares, and our sponsor is likely to make a substantial profit on its investment in us in the event we consummate an initial business combination, even if the business combination causes the trading price of our ordinary shares to materially decline.
While we are offering our units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit and the amount in our trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share, implying an initial value of $10.00 per public share, our sponsor paid only a nominal aggregate purchase price of $25,000 for the founder shares, or approximately $0.003 per share. As a result, the value of your public shares may be further and significantly diluted in the event we consummate an initial business combination. For example, the following table shows the public shareholders’ and the sponsor’s investment per share compared to the implied value of one of our shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination if at that time we were valued at $267,013,476, which represents the amount we had in the trust account as of December 31, 2021. At that valuation, each of our ordinary shares would have an implied value of $8.00 per share, which is a 20.0% decrease as compared to the initial implied value per public share of $10.00.
| Public shares |
26,700,000 | |||
| Founder shares |
6,675,000 | |||
| |
|
|||
| Total shares |
33,375,000 | |||
| Total funds in trust available for initial business combination (1) |
$ | 267,013,476 | ||
| Implied value per share |
$ | 8.00 | ||
| Public shareholders’ investment per share (2) |
$ | 10.00 | ||
| Sponsor’s investment per share (3) |
$ | 0.003 |
| (1) | Funds held in trust account as of December 31, 2021. Does not take into account other potential impacts on our valuation at the time of the business combination, such as the value of our public and private warrants, the trading price of our public shares, the business combination transaction costs (including payment of $9,345,000 of deferred underwriting commissions), any equity issued or cash paid to the business target’s sellers or other third parties, or the target’s business itself, including its assets, liabilities, management and prospects. |
| (2) | While the public shareholders’ investment is in both the public shares and the public warrants, for purposes of this table no value is ascribed to the public warrants. |
| (3) | Represents the per share price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares. The sponsor’s total investment in us is equal to approximately $7,365,000, which includes the payment of $25,000 for the founder shares and the payment by our sponsor of approximately $7,340,000 for the private placement warrants. |
-45-
While the implied value of our public shares may be diluted, the implied value of $8.00 per share would represent a significant implied profit for our sponsor relative to the initial purchase price of the founder shares. Our sponsor has invested an aggregate of approximately $7,365,000 in us in connection with our Initial Public Offering, which includes the payment of $25,000 for the founder shares and the payment by our sponsor of approximately $7,340,000 for the private placement warrants. At $8.00 per share, the 6,675,000 founder shares would have an aggregate implied value of $53,400,000. As a result, even if the trading price of our ordinary shares significantly declines, our sponsor will stand to make significant profit on its investment in us. In addition, our sponsor could potentially recoup its entire investment in us even if the trading price of our ordinary shares is less than $2.00 per share and even if the private placement warrants are worthless. As a result, our sponsor is likely to make a substantial profit on its investment in us even if we select and consummate an initial business combination that causes the trading price of our ordinary shares to decline, while our public shareholders could lose significant value in their public shares. Our sponsor may therefore be economically incentivized to consummate an initial business combination with a riskier, weaker-performing or less-established target business than would be the case if our sponsor had paid the same per share price for the founder shares as our public shareholders paid for their public shares.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors contain provisions relating to transfer restrictions of our founder shares and private placement warrants, indemnification of the trust account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the trust account. The letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval (although releasing the parties from the restriction not to transfer the founder shares for 180 days following the date of this prospectus will require the prior written consent of the underwriter). It is possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreement. Any such amendments to the letter agreement would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
A majority of our directors and officers currently live, and following our business combination may live, outside the United States and it is possible that 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.
A majority of our directors and officers currently live, and following our business combination may live, outside of the United States and it is possible that 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.
-46-
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 adversely affect us.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
| • | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations; |
| • | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
| • | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
| • | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
| • | exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
| • | tariffs and trade barriers; |
| • | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| • | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
| • | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
| • | challenges in managing and staffing international operations; |
| • | longer payment cycles; |
| • | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
| • | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| • | rates of inflation; |
| • | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| • | cultural and language differences; |
| • | employment regulations; |
| • | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
| • | corruption; |
| • | protection of intellectual property; |
| • | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
-47-
| • | epidemics and pandemics; |
| • | regime changes and political upheaval; |
| • | 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 were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
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 that we acquire a
non-U.S.
target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction. We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the Cayman Islands or 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.
-48-
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 Securities and Exchange Commission, 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 revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.
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.
Risks Related to Our Securities
The market for our securities may be illiquid, which may adversely affect the price of our securities.
The price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Holders of Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on any appointment of directors we hold prior to our initial business combination.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.
Our sponsor controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our sponsor owns 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary. Accordingly, our sponsor may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our sponsor purchases any additional Class A ordinary shares in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase its control. Neither our sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the founder shares, all of which are held by our initial shareholders, will, in a vote to continue the company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands (which requires the approval of at least two thirds of the votes of all ordinary shares), entitle the holders to ten votes for every founder share. This provision of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least
two-thirds
of the ordinary shares voting in at our general meeting. Furthermore, our board of directors, whose members were appointed by our sponsor, 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 appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual general meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment and our sponsor, because of its ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination. -49-
Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, the NYSE may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
Only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, the NYSE may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards. Under the NYSE corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
| • | we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of the NYSE; |
| • | we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and |
| • | we have a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities. |
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.
Our warrant agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement do not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
choice-of-forum
-50-
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a
30-trading
day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send proper notice of such redemption to the warrants holders and provided certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption
provided
that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day
period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided
that certain other conditions are met, including that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants. Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
As of December 31, 2021, we have outstanding warrants to purchase 6,675,000 of our Class A ordinary shares as part of our public units and private placement to purchase 4,893,333 of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, if the sponsor makes any working capital loans, up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants at the price of $1.50 per warrant. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with our redemption of our warrants.
To the extent we issue ordinary shares to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
Because each unit contains
one-fourth
of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other special purpose acquisition companies. Each unit contains
one-fourth
of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-fourth
of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a warrant to purchase one whole share. -51-
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants have been issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correcting any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision, (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement, (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, or (iv) to provide for delivery of alternative issuances in the case of a reclassification, reorganization or similar events, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
If (i) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value of our Class A ordinary shares is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively.
We have not registered the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We have not registered the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.
-52-
If the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption from registration. If holders exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, the number of Class A ordinary shares that they will receive upon such cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum amount of shares equal to 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
In no event will warrants be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
If our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act. In the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available. Exercising the warrants on a cashless basis could have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold than upon a cash exercise.
In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance in which an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in our Initial Public Offering. In such an instance, our sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, and you do not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company about which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within 20 business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
-53-
Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our sponsor will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a basis, subject to adjustment for share basis.
one-for-one
sub-divisions,
share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders), including the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one
The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our
pre-business
combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of not less than two-thirds
of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (or 65% of our ordinary shares with respect to amendments to the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions related to
pre-business
combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, under Cayman Islands law which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least two-thirds
of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our ordinary shares. Our sponsor, who beneficially owns 20% of our ordinary shares, will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business
combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or
pre-initial
business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law. -54-
ITEM 1B. |
UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS. |
None.
ITEM 2. |
PROPERTIES. |
We currently utilize office space at Boundary Hall, Cricket Square, Grand Cayman,
KY1-1102,
Cayman Islands made available by our sponsor as our executive offices. We pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations. ITEM 3. |
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. |
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.
ITEM 4. |
MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES |
Not applicable.
-55-
PART II
ITEM 5. |
MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES. |
Market Information
Our units trade on the NYSE under the symbol “RKTAU”, our Class A ordinary shares trade on the NYSE under the symbol “RKTA” and our public warrants trade on the NYSE under the symbol “RKTAW”.
Holders
As of December 31, 2021, there was 1 holder of record of our units, 1 holder of record of our Class A ordinary shares, 1 holder of record of our Class B ordinary shares and 2 holders of record of our warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
For a description of the use of the proceeds generated in our Initial Public Offering, see Part I, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form
10-K.
ITEM 6. |
SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA. |
Not applicable.
-56-
ITEM 7. |
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS. |
References in this report (the “Annual Report”) to “we,” “us” or the “Company” refer to Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Corp. References to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, references to the “sponsor” refer to Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Sponsor GmbH. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Annual Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report includes “forward-looking statements” 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 Annual Report including, 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 final prospectus for its Initial Public Offering 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.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on January 27, 2021 as a Cayman Islands exempted company and incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or region, we currently intend to focus on companies in the technology sector that can benefit from the expertise and capabilities of our management team in order to create long-term shareholder value. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) and the private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing.
We expect 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.
Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net income of approximately $7.15 million, which included a gain from the change in fair value of the warrant liability of approximately $8.4 million and interest income on cash and investments held in Trust Account of $13,476 partially offset by loss from operations of $667,282 and offering cost expense allocated to warrants of $561,706. Our business activities from inception to December 31, 2021 consisted primarily of our formation and completing our IPO, and since the offering, our activity has been limited to identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition targets for a Business Combination.
-57-
Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern Consideration
As of December 31, 2021, we had cash outside our trust account of $904,957, and working capital of $794,387. All remaining cash was held in the trust account and is generally unavailable for our use, prior to an initial business combination.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (excluding deferred underwriting commissions), to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay our taxes, if any. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our income taxes. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
We have determined that we may need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business prior to our initial business combination, including costs of identifying a target
business, undertaking in-depth due diligence
and negotiating an initial business combination. In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. In addition, we intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemptions by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We may also obtain financing prior to the closing of our initial business combination to fund our working capital needs and transaction costs in connection with our search for and completion of our initial business combination. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following consummation of this offering.
Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
-58-
Additionally, the Company is within 12 months of its mandatory liquidation as of the time of filing of this Annual Report on Form
10-K.
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15,
“Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” this raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern until the earlier of the consummation of the Business Combination or the date the Company is required to liquidate, which is March 25, 2023. These financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2021, we did not
have any off-balance sheet arrangements
as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
Commitments and Contractual Obligations
As of December 31, 2021, we did not have any long-term debt, capital or operating lease obligations.
Administrative Support Agreement
Commencing on the date its securities were first listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the Company agreed to pay the Sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of the Company’s management team. Upon completion of the initial Business Combination or the Company’s liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees.
Registration Rights
The holders of the (i) founder shares, which were issued in a private placement prior to the closing of the IPO, (ii) Private Placement Warrants, which were issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of the IPO and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such Private Placement Warrants and (iii) Private Placement Warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans have registration rights to require the Company to register a sale of any of the Company’s securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed on the effective date of the IPO. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company registers 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. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The underwriter had
a 45-day option
from March 22, 2021 to purchase up to an aggregate of 3,750,000 additional Units at the public offering price less the underwriting commissions to cover over-allotments, if any. On March 26, 2021, the underwriter partially exercised its over-allotment option and purchased an additional 1,700,000 Units. As of December 31, 2021, the remaining over-allotment option has expired. Upon consummation of the IPO on March 25, 2021 and settlement of the purchased over-allotment on Mach 30, 2021, the underwriter was paid a cash underwriting fee of 2.0% of the gross proceeds, or $5,340,000 in the aggregate.
The underwriter is entitled to a deferred underwriting discount of 3.5% of the gross proceeds of the IPO and purchased over-allotment, or $9,345,000 in the aggregate. The deferred fee will be payable to the underwriter from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes an initial Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Critical Accounting Policies
We have identified the following critical accounting policies:
This management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our financial statements. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related to fair value of financial instruments and accrued expenses. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
-59-
Except as set forth below, there have been no significant changes in our critical accounting policies as discussed in the final prospectus filed by us with the SEC on March 22, 2021.
Warrant Liabilities
We evaluated the public warrants and private placement warrants in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic
815-40,
“Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity” and concluded that a provision in our warrant agreement related to certain tender or exchange offers precludes the warrants from being accounted for as components of equity. As the warrants meet the definition of a derivative as contemplated in ASC 815, the warrants are recorded as derivative liabilities on the Balance Sheet and measured at fair value at inception (on the date of the IPO) and at each reporting date in accordance with ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement”, with changes in fair value recognized in the Statement of Income in the period of change. Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
All of the Class A Ordinary Shares sold as part of the Units in the Public Offering contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such public shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation, if there is a shareholder vote or tender offer in connection with the Business Combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s charter. In accordance with SEC and its staff’s guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC redemption provisions not solely within the control of the Company require ordinary shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Ordinary liquidation events, which involve the redemption and liquidation of all of the entity’s equity instruments, are excluded from the provisions of ASC 480. Accordingly, at December 31, 2021, all Class A Ordinary Shares subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheets, respectively.
480-10-S99,
We recognize changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable ordinary share to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable ordinary share are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
Net Income Per Ordinary Share
We comply with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, Earnings Per Share. Net income per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. The Company has two classes of shares, Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. At December 31, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into ordinary shares and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted income (loss) per share is the same as basic income (loss) per share for the period presented.
Our statement of income applies the
two-class
method in calculating net income per share. Basic and diluted net income per ordinary share for Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares is calculated by dividing net income attributable to the Company by the weighted average number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding, allocated proportionally to each class of shares.Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued
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):
Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity(“ASU 2020-06”),
which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. The Company early adopted ASU 2020-06
on January 27, 2021 (inception). Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. -60-
Our management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
JOBS Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act are 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 a result, the financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of 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 controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404,
(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 Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the 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 the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our Initial Public Offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier. -61-
ITEM 7A. |
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule
12b-2
of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item. ITEM 8. |
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA. |
This information appears following Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form
10-K
and is incorporated herein by reference. ITEM 9. |
CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE. |
None.
ITEM 9A. |
CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES. |
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls 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 Company reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
As required by Rules
13a-15
and 15d-15
under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2021. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15
(e) and 15d-15
(e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective, due to the previously identified material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, described below. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis.
On April 12, 2021, the Staff of the SEC issued a statement entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”)” (the “Staff Statement”) informing market participants that certain warrants issued by SPACs may require classification as a liability of the entity measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings. We had previously accounted for our private placement warrants and public warrants as equity. After considering the Staff Statement, we determined that our warrants should be recorded as derivative liabilities on the balance sheet and measured at fair value at issuance (on the date of the consummation of our initial public offering) and at each reporting date, with changes in fair value recognized in the statement of operations in the period of the change. Accordingly, on May 21, 2021, the audit committee of our board of directors (the “audit committee”), based on the recommendation of management, concluded that certain of our previously issued financial statements should be restated to reflect a reclassification of our warrants as liabilities in application of Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) .
815-40,
Derivatives and Hedging, Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity
-62-
In addition, in certain of our previously issued financial statements, a portion of our redeemable Class A ordinary shares (the “public shares”) were classified as permanent equity to maintain shareholders’ equity in excess of $5,000,000 on the basis that we will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 immediately prior to or upon such consummation. However, in connection with the preparation of our , to our accounting classification of public shares in light of recent comment letters issued by the Staff of the SEC to certain other special purpose acquisition companies. Upon
Form 10-Q for
the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, management re-evaluated our
application of ASC 480-10-S99,
Accounting For Redeemable Equity Instruments
such re-evaluation, management
determined that the public shares include redemption provisions that require classification of the public shares as temporary equity, regardless of the minimum net tangible asset requirement discussed above. Accordingly, on November 18, 2021, the audit committee, based on the recommendation of management, concluded that certain of our previously issued financial statements should be restated to reflect a reclassification of all of our public shares to permanent equity in application of ASC 480-10-S99.
In light of the above, management concluded that the foregoing reclassifications resulted in a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to our evaluation and review of complex financial instruments, as further described in Part II, Item 9A., Controls and Procedures, in this Annual Report on Form
10-K.
In light of the material weakness, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. While we have processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements, we plan to enhance our system of evaluating and implementing the accounting standards that apply to our financial statements, including through enhanced analyses by our personnel and third-party professionals with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications. We can offer no assurance that our remediation plan will ultimately have the intended effects.
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.
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
This Annual Report on Form
10-K
does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies. Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules
13a-15(f)
and 15d-15(f)
of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting, except for the events that led to the restatement of our previously issued financial statements, as described above. ITEM 9B. |
OTHER INFORMATION. |
None.
-63-
PART III
ITEM 10. |
DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE. |
Officers and Directors
Our officers and directors are as follows:
Name |
Age |
Position | ||||
| Oliver Samwer |
49 | Chairman, Director | ||||
| Soheil Mirpour |
32 | Chief Executive Officer, Director | ||||
| Donald E. Stalter Jr. |
40 | Chief Financial Officer, Director | ||||
| Marcus Englert |
56 | Director | ||||
| Norbert Lang |
60 | Director | ||||
| Pierre Louette |
59 | Director | ||||
| Aneel Ranadivé |
37 | Director | ||||
Oliver Samwer
Co-Founder
and Chief Executive Officer of Rocket Internet. Mr. Samwer co-founded
Rocket Internet in 2007, and played an integral role in taking the company public at a valuation of over €4.0 billion in October 2014. Under Mr. Samwer’s leadership, Rocket Internet has invested in more than 300 companies in over 50 countries, providing a range of technology and technology-adjacent services from payments processing to takeaway food delivery. Prior to co-founding
Rocket Internet, Mr. Samwer co-founded
Jamba AG (acquired by VeriSign, Inc. in 2004) and Alando.de AG (acquired by eBay Inc. in 1999). In addition to his work at Rocket Internet SE, Mr. Samwer served in a range of capacities at GFC Global Founders Capital GmbH, Rocket Internet’s venture arm. Mr. Samwer has served as a member of the board of directors of Westwing Group AG until February 2019 and HelloFresh SE until June 2018, and serves as a member of the board of directors of several private companies. Mr. Samwer holds a business degree from WHU—Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar. Soheil Mirpour
Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes
Donald E. Stalter Jr.
Marcus Englert
e-Commerce
at TRITON Partners, a position he has held since 2016. In this role, Mr. Englert currently serves as chairman of the board of European Directories Group (EDSA), a leading European local search provider, and as member of the board of Sunweb Group, a leading European online tour operator. He also serves as senior partner and managing director at Texas Atlantic Capital (since 2011), a group of media and ecommerce venture capital funds, and as senior advisor and managing director at Solon Management Consulting GmbH &Co. KG (since 2011). Mr. Englert has held board positions at Rocket Internet SE (chairman of the supervisory board) since 2014 and Zattoo International AG (member of the supervisory board) since 2015. Prior to that, he served as deputy chairman of the supervisory board of Sixt Leasing AG as chairman of the supervisory board of Media Broadcast GmbH (part of TDF Group) and as chairman of the supervisory board of Real Time Technology AG. Prior to that, he held various leading positions in the media industry for more than 12 years. Mr. Englert holds a Master degree in Physics (Dipl. Phys.) from the University of Munich as well as a PhD in nuclear physics from the European Center for Nuclear Research, CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Furthermore, Mr. Englert holds an MBA from the European Institute for Business Affairs, INSEAD, in Fontainebleau, France. -64-
Norbert Lang
Hi-Media
S.A., united-domains AG, GMX & WEB.DE Mail & Media SE, 1&1 Telecommunication Holding SE. Mr. Lang was also a member of the advisory board of Versatel Telefommunications GmbH. Pierre Louette
Echos-Le
Parisien Group, the media branch of the LVMH Group, a role he has held since 2018. In addition, he has been a member of the supervisory board of Rocket Internet SE since 2016 and a member of the audit committee of the Réunion des Musées Nationaux since 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Louette served in several other management positions. He was deputy Chief Executive Officer at Orange group from 2010 to 2018, chairman and chief executive officer at Agence France Presse (AFP) from 2003 to 2010, he co-managed
Europatweb, the internet investment fund created by Bernard Arnault, when he joined LVMH and Group Arnault from 2000 to 2003, held various positions, such as general secretary and executive vice president for communication, at France Televisions from 1995 to 1996 and served as executive advisor on communication and media issues in the French prime minister’s office under Edouard Balladur from 1993 to 1995. Mr. Louette began his career at the National Audit Office (Cour des Comptes). Mr. Louette holds a degree from the Paris Institute of Political Sciences, a law degree from the Sorbonne and is a graduate from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration. Aneel Ranadivé
co-founder
Eduardo Saverin and Tim Draper. From 2009 to 2010, Mr. Ranadivé worked for Nielsen Media Sync in San Francisco. Furthermore, Mr. Ranadivé co-founded
GlanceGuide, a video analytics company acquired by Nielsen, in 2009 and founded BoredAt, an anonymous social network backed by Redpoint Ventures, in 2008. Mr. Ranadivé started his career in investment banking at Bank of America in 2006. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Columbia University, where he graduated in Mathematics in 2006. Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors consists of six members and is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Aneel Ranadivé and Pierre Louette, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Marcus Englert and Norbert Lang, will expire at the second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Oliver Samwer, Soheil Mirpour and Donald E. Stalter Jr., will expire at the third annual general meeting.
Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
-65-
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 officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Director Independence
The rules of the NYSE require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person who, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, shareholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). Our board of directors has determined that each of Marcus Englert, Norbert Lang, Pierre Louette and Aneel Ranadivé is an “independent director” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our board of directors will have three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Both our audit committee and our compensation committee will be composed solely of independent directors. Subject to
phase-in
rules, the rules of the NYSE and Rule 10A-3
under the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, and the rules of the NYSE require that the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Each committee will operate under a charter that will be approved by our board and will have the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee will be available on our website following the closing of this offering. Audit Committee
We established an audit committee of the board of directors. Norbert Lang, Marcus Engler and Pierre Louette serve as members of our audit committee, and Mr. Lang chairs the audit committee. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent. Each of our audit committee members meets the independent director standard under the NYSE listing standards and under under the Exchange Act.
Rule 10-A-3(b)(1)
Each member of the audit committee will be financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mr. Lang will qualify as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
We adopted an audit committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:
| • | assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent auditors; the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent auditors and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
| • | pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; reviewing and discussing with the independent auditors all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; |
-66-
| • | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent auditor’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues; |
| • | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent auditor, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
| • | reviewing with management, the independent auditors, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
Compensation Committee
We established a compensation committee of the board of directors. Pierre Louette, Marcus Englert and Aneel Ranadivé serve as members of our compensation committee. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent. Each of our compensation committee members are independent and Mr. Louette chair 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 based on such evaluation; |
| • | reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
| • | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
| • | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
| • | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
| • | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
| • | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
| • | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than the payment to our sponsor of $10,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and reimbursement of expenses, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing shareholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.
-67-
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent 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 the NYSE and the SEC.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
We established a nominating and corporate governance committee of the board of directors. The members of our nominating and corporate governance are Marcus Englert, Norbert Lang and Aneel Ranadivé and Mr. Englert serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee.
We adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
| • | identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for appointment at the annual general meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
| • | developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
| • | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and |
| • | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our shareholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
We adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics as an exhibit to our registration statement on Form
S-1
(Registration No. 333-252913),
which was declared effective by the SEC on March 22, 2021. You can review this document by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov
. In addition, a copy of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and the charters of the committees of our board of directors will be provided without charge upon request from us. See “Where You Can Find Additional Information.” If we make any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics other than technical, administrative or other non-substantive
amendments, or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC or NYSE rules, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on our website. The information included on our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our website are intended to be inactive textual references only. -68-
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We expect to purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
Except with respect to any public shares they may acquire in this offering or thereafter (in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination), our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
ITEM 11. |
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION. |
Officer and Director Compensation
None of our officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the NYSE through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and officers for their expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
out-of-pocket
out-of-pocket
-69-
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed initial business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed initial business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
In addition, certain of our officers, directors and employees will have personal and financial interests in us as a result of shared profits they are expected to receive from affiliates of our sponsor, including Rocket Internet, following the successful consummation of our initial business combination.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
ITEM 12. |
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS. |
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of April 14, 2022, by:
| • | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares; |
| • | each of our officers and directors; and |
| • | all our officers and directors as a group. |
The following table is based on 26,700,000 Class A ordinary shares and 6,675,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding at April 14, 2022. Unless otherwise indicated, it is believed that all persons named in the table below have sole voting and investment power with respect to all ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all of our ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this Annual Report on Form
10-K.
-70-
Class A Ordinary Shares |
Class B Ordinary Shares |
|||||||||||||||
| Name and Address of Beneficial Owners(1) |
Number of Shares Beneficially Owned |
% of Class |
Number of Shares Beneficially Owned (2) |
% of Class |
||||||||||||
| Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Sponsor GmbH (3) |
— | — | 6,675,000 | 100.0 | % | |||||||||||
| Citadel Advisors LLC (4) |
2,023,613 | 7.6 | % | — | — | |||||||||||
| 683 Capital Management, LLC (5) |
1,500,000 | 5.6 | % | — | — | |||||||||||
| PSquared Asset Management AG (6) |
1,467,763 | 5.5 | % | — | — | |||||||||||
| Soheil Mirpour |
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Donald E. Stalter Jr. |
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Oliver Samwer |
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Marcus Englert |
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Pierre Louette |
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Norbert Lang |
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Aneel Ranadivé |
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| All directors and executive officers as a group (7 individuals) |
— | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| * | Less than one percent |
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following is c/o Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Corp., Boundary Hall, Cricket Square, Grand Cayman, KY1-1102, Cayman Islands. |
| (2) | Interests shown consist solely of shares of Class B ordinary shares which are referred to herein as founder shares. Such shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one |
| (3) | Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Sponsor GmbH is the record holder of the shares reported herein. Atrium 122. Europäische VV SE (“Atrium”) is the sole shareholder of Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Sponsor GmbH. Brillant 3087. SE & Co. Verwaltungs KG (“Brillant”), the sole shareholder of Atrium, is controlled by Rocket Internet. Rocket Internet is controlled by Global Founders GmbH (“Global Founders”), which is controlled by Rocata GmbH (“Rocata”). Zerena GmbH (“Zerena”) is the sole shareholder of Rocata. Accordingly, Atrium, Brillant, Rocket Internet, Global Founders, Rocata and Zerena may each be deemed to have voting and dispositive power with respect to the ordinary shares of Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Corp. |
| (4) | Holdings as of December 31, 2021 as reported on Schedule 13G/A filed by Citadel Advisors LLC (“Citadel Advisors”), Citadel Advisors Holdings LP (“CAH”), Citadel GP LLC (“CGP”), Citadel Securities LLC (“Citadel Securities”), Citadel Securities Group LP (“CALC4”), Citadel Securities GP LLC (“CSGP”) and Mr. Kenneth Griffin with respect to the shares owned by Citadel Multi-Strategy Equities Master Fund Ltd., a Cayman Islands company (“CM”), and Citadel Securities. Citadel Advisors is the portfolio manager for CM. CAH is the sole member of Citadel Advisors. CGP is the general partner of CAH. CALC4 is the non-member manager of Citadel Securities. CSGP is the general partner of CALC4. Mr. Griffin is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CGP, and owns a controlling interest in CGP and CSGP. The address of the principal business office of each such person is 131 S. Dearborn Street, 32nd Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60603. |
-71-
| (5) | Holdings as of as of April 1, 2021 as reported on Schedule 13G filed by 683 Capital Management, LLC. 683 Capital Management, LLC, as the investment manager of 683 Capital Partners, LP, may be deemed to have beneficially owned the 1,500,000 Class A ordinary shares beneficially owned by 683 Capital Partners, LP. Ari Zweiman, as the Managing Member of 683 Capital Management, LLC, may be deemed to have beneficially owned the 1,500,000 Class A ordinary shares beneficially owned by 683 Capital Management, LLC. The address of the principal business office of each such person is 3 Columbus Circle, Suite 2205, New York, NY 10019. |
| (6) | Holdings as of December 31, 2021 as reported on Schedule 13G filed by PSquared Asset Management AG. The address of the principal business office of such person is Dufourstrasse 43, Zurich, Switzerland 8008. |
ITEM 13. |
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE. |
On February 1, 2021, the sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain offering costs in consideration for 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the “founder shares”). Up to 937,500 founder shares were subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised. On March 26, 2021, the underwriter partially exercised its over-allotment option to purchase an additional 1,700,000 Units, which purchase settled on March 30, 2021, which resulted in 425,000 Class B ordinary shares no longer being subject to forfeiture. On May 6, 2021, the sponsor forfeited 512,500 founder shares for no consideration as a result of the underwriter not exercising the remainder of the over-allotment option.
Our sponsor has purchased an aggregate of 4,893,333 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.50 per warrant, or $7,340,000 in the aggregate, in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold in our initial public offering except that the private placement warrants, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us (subject to certain exceptions), (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
We currently utilize office space at Boundary Hall, Cricket Square, Grand Cayman,
KY1-1102,
Cayman Islands made available by our sponsor as our executive offices. Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we will pay our sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.
out-of-pocket
Prior to the closing of our initial public offering, our sponsor loaned us funds to be used for a portion of the expenses of our initial public offering. Such loans were repaid and the promissory note evidencing such loans terminated upon the closing of our initial public offering.
-72-
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required on a
non-interest
basis. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. Any of the foregoing payments to our sponsor, repayments of loans from our sponsor or repayments of working capital loans prior to our initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a general meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
We have also entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares and private placement warrants.
Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors will adopt a policy setting forth the policies and procedures for its review and approval or ratification of “related party transactions.” A “related party transaction” is any consummated or proposed transaction or series of transactions: (i) in which the company was or is to be a participant; (ii) the amount of which exceeds (or is reasonably expected to exceed) the lesser of $120,000 or 1% of the average of the company’s total assets at year end for the prior two completed fiscal years in the aggregate over the duration of the transaction (without regard to profit or loss); and (iii) in which a “related party” had, has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. “Related parties” under this policy will include: (i) our directors, nominees for director or officers; (ii) any record or beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities; (iii) any immediate family member of any of the foregoing if the foregoing person is a natural person; and (iv) any other person who maybe a “related person” pursuant to Item 404 of
Regulation S-K
under the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the policy, the audit committee will consider (i) the relevant facts and circumstances of each related party transaction, including if the transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained in arm’s-length
dealings with an unrelated third party, (ii) the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction, (iii) whether the transaction contravenes our code of ethics or other policies, (iv) whether the audit committee believes the relationship underlying the transaction to be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders and (v) the effect that the transaction may have on a director’s status as an independent member of the board and on his or her eligibility to serve on the board’s committees. Management will present to the audit committee each proposed related party transaction, including all relevant facts and circumstances relating thereto. Under the policy, we may consummate related party transactions only if our audit committee approves or ratifies the transaction in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the policy. The policy will not permit any director or officer to participate in the discussion of, or decision concerning, a related person transaction in which he or she is the related party. -73-
ITEM 14. |
PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES. |
Marcum LLP acts as our independent registered public accounting firm. Fees for professional services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm for the period from January 27, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021 include:
For the Period from January 27, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021 |
||||
| Audit Fees (1) |
$ | 46,995 | ||
| Audit-Related Fees (2) |
— | |||
| Tax Fees (3) |
— | |||
| All Other Fees (4) |
||||
| Total Fees |
$ | 46,995 | ||
| (1) | Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with statutory and regulatory filings. |
| (2) | Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our year-end financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultation concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. |
| (3) | Tax Fees. Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. |
| (4) | All Other Fees. All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services. |
Pre-Approval
Policy Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our initial public offering. As a result, the audit committee did not
pre-approve
all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve
all auditing services and permitted non-audit
services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit
services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit). -74-
PART IV
ITEM 15. |
EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES. |
| (a) | The following documents are filed as part of this report: |
| (1) | Financial Statements |
Reference is made to the financial statements of the Company under Item 8 of Part II above.
| (2) | Financial Statement Schedule |
All financial statement schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the amounts are immaterial, not required, or the required information is presented in the financial statements and notes thereto in Item 8 of Part II above.
| (3) | Exhibits |
We hereby file as part of this report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index.
ITEM 16. |
FORM 10-K SUMMARY. |
None.
-75-
| * | Filed herewith. |
| ** | Furnished herewith |
-76-
ROCKET INTERNET GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES CORP. | ||
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS | ||
Page |
||||
F-2 |
||||
Financial Statements |
||||
F-3 |
||||
F-4 |
||||
F-5 |
||||
F-6 |
||||
F-7 |
||||
F-1
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ deficit and cash flows for the period from January 27, 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 January 27, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company’s business plan is dependent on the completion of a business combination and the Company’s cash and working capital as of December 31, 2021, are not sufficient to complete its planned activities. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
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.
West Palm Beach, Florida
April
14
, 2022 F-2
ROCKET INTERNET GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
BALANCE SHEET
DECEMBER 31, 2021 |
||||
| Assets: |
||||
| Current assets |
||||
| Cash |
$ | 904,957 | ||
| Prepaid expenses |
270,569 | |||
| |
|
|||
| Total current assets |
1,175,526 | |||
| Other Assets |
59,835 | |||
| Investments held in Trust Account |
267,013,476 | |||
| |
|
|||
| Total Assets |
$ | 268,248,837 | ||
| Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit |
||||
| Current liabilities |
||||
| Accrued expenses |
$ | 381,140 | ||
| |
|
|||
| Total current liabilities |
381,140 | |||
| Deferred underwriting fee |
9,345,000 | |||
| Warrant liabilities |
8,848,042 | |||
| Total liabilities |
18,574,181 | |||
| |
|
|||
| Commitments and Contingencies |
||||
| Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, 26,700,000 shares at redemption value |
267,013,476 | |||
| |
|
|||
| Shareholders’ Deficit: |
||||
| Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | — | |||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued and outstanding (excluding 26,700,000 shares subject to possible redemption) | — | |||
| Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 6,675,000 shares issued and outstanding | 668 | |||
Additional paid-in capital |
— | |||
| Accumulated deficit | (17,339,489 | ) | ||
| |
|
|||
| Total shareholders’ deficit |
(17,338,821 | ) | ||
| |
|
|||
| Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit |
$ | 268,248,837 | ||
| |
|
|||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
ROCKET INTERNET GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE PERIOD FROM JANUARY 27, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2021
| Formation and operating costs |
$ | 667,282 | ||
| |
|
|||
| Loss from Operations |
(667,282 | ) | ||
| |
|
|||
| Other income (expense): |
||||
| Interest earned on cash and securities held in Trust Account |
13,476 | |||
| Offering costs allocated to warrants |
(561,706 | ) | ||
| Change in fair value of warrant liability |
8,362,639 | |||
| |
|
|||
| Total other income |
7,814,409 | |||
| |
|
|||
| Net income |
$ | 7,147,127 | ||
| |
|
|||
| Weighted average shares outstanding, Class A ordinary shares |
22,180,531 | |||
| |
|
|||
| Basic and diluted net income per ordinary share, Class A ordinary shares |
$ | 0.25 | ||
| |
|
|||
| Weighted average shares outstanding, Class B ordinary shares |
6,503,835 | |||
| |
|
|||
| Basic and diluted net income per ordinary share, Class B ordinary shares |
$ | 0.25 | ||
| |
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
ROCKET INTERNET GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
FOR THE PERIOD FROM JANUARY 27, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2021
Class A Ordinary shares |
Class B Ordinary shares |
Additional Paid-in Capital |
(Accumulated Deficit) |
Total Shareholder’s Deficit |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares |
Amount |
Shares |
Amount |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance as of January 27, 2021 (inception) |
— | $ | — | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor |
— | — | 7,187,500 | 719 | 24,281 | — | 25,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Remeasurement of Class A Ordinary Shares to possible redemption amount |
— | — | — | — | (24,281 | ) | (24,486,667 | ) | (24,510,948 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Forfeiture of Class B Ordinary Shares by Sponsor |
— | (512,500 | ) | (51 | ) | — | 51 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income |
— | — | — | — | — | 7,147,127 | 7,147,127 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
| Balance as of December 31, 2021 |
— |
$ |
— |
6,675,000 |
$ |
668 |
— |
$ |
(17,339,489 |
) |
$ |
(17,338,821 |
) | |||||||||||||||
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
ROCKET INTERNET GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE PERIOD FROM JANUARY 27, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2021
Cash flows from Operating Activities: |
||||
Net income |
$ | 7,147,127 | ||
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities: |
||||
Interest earned on cash and on marketable securities held in Trust Account |
(13,476 | ) | ||
Offering costs allocated to warrants |
561,706 | |||
Change in fair value of warrant liability |
(8,362,639 | ) | ||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
||||
Prepaid expenses |
(270,569 | ) | ||
Other assets |
(59,835 | ) | ||
Accrued expenses |
381,140 |
|||
Net cash used in operating activities |
(616,547 | ) | ||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: |
||||
Investment of cash in Trust Account |
(267,000,000 | ) | ||
Net cash used in investing activities |
(267,000,000 | ) | ||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: |
||||
Proceeds from sale of Units, net of underwriting discounts |
261,660,000 | |||
Proceeds from sale of Private Warrants |
7,340,000 | |||
Proceeds from issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor |
25,000 | |||
Proceeds from issuance of promissory note to Sponsor |
125,491 | |||
Payments on promissory note issued to Sponsor |
(125,491 | ) | ||
Payment of deferred offering costs |
(503,496 | ) | ||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
268,521,504 | |||
Net change in cash |
904,957 | |||
Cash, beginning of period |
— | |||
Cash, end of the period |
$ | 904,957 | ||
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information: |
||||
Initial recognition of ordinary shares subject to possible redemption including overallotment |
$ | 267,000,000 | ||
Deferred underwriter fee charged to additional paid-in capital |
$ | 9,345,000 | ||
Initial recognition of warrant liability |
$ | 17,210,681 | ||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
ROCKET INTERNET GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1 — Organization, Business Operations, Liquidity and Going Concern
Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Corp. (the “Company”) was incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on January 27, 2021 (“Inception”). The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”).
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity from
i
nception through December 31, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and its initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering” or “IPO”) which is described below, and identifying a target company for a Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company generates non-operating income
in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering, and non-operating
income or expense from the change in fair value of the warrant liability. The registration statement for the Company’s IPO was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 22, 2021 (the “Effective Date”). On March 25, 2021, the Company consummated the IPO of 25,000,000 units (the “Units”). On March 26, 2021, the underwriter partially exercised its over-allotment option and purchased an additional 1,700,000 Units, which purchase settled on March 30, 2021, at $10.00 per Unit, generating aggregate gross proceeds of $267,000,000, which is discussed in Note 4. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share
and one-fourth of
a redeemable warrant (the “Public Warrants”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company consummated the sale of 4,666,667 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”), at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, in a private placement to Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Sponsor GmbH, a German limited liability company (the “Sponsor”), generating gross proceeds of $7,000,000, which is discussed in Note 5. On March 30, 2021, the Sponsor purchased an additional 226,666 Private Placement Warrants generating gross proceeds of $340,000, which was used to pay the underwriting discount of 2% of the over-allotment gross proceeds.
Transaction costs of the IPO (including the partial exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option) amounted to $15,188,496 consisting of $5,340,000 of underwriting discount, $9,345,000 of deferred underwriting discount, and $503,496 of other offering costs. Of the total transaction costs $561,706 was reclassified to expense as
non-operating
expense in that statement of income with the rest of the offering cost charged to shareholders’ equity. The transaction costs were allocated based on the relative fair value basis, compared to the total offering proceeds, between the fair value of the public warrant liability and the Class A ordinary shares. Following consummation of the IPO on March 25, 2021 and the settlement of the partial exercise of the over-allotment on March 30, 2021, an aggregate of $267,000,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net offering proceeds of the sale of the Units in the IPO and the sale of the Placement Warrants was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) and invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions
under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under
the Investment Company Act that invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, until the earlier of (i) the completion of a Business Combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the public shares if the Company does not complete the initial Business Combination prior to March 25, 2023 (the “Combination Period”) or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial
Business Combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial Business Combination within the Combination Period, the return of the funds held in the Trust Account to the public shareholders as part of redemption of the public shares
. F-7
The Company will provide holders of its Class A ordinary shares (the “public shareholders”) sold in the IPO (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 general meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote 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
at a per-share price, payable
in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in the Trust Account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share 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 underwriter. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and 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 each case to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and other requirements of applicable law. The Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or Business Combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 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 $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriter of the IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). However, the Company has not asked the Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor has the Company independently verified whether the Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and the Company believes that the Sponsor’s only assets are securities of the Company. Therefore, the Company cannot assure that the Sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management is continuing to evaluate the impact of
the COVID-19 pandemic
and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that it could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. Liquidity and Going Concern Consideration
As of December 31, 2021, the Company had approximately $904,957 in its operating bank account and working capital of approximately $794,387.
All remaining cash was held in the trust account and is generally unavailable for our use, prior to an initial business combination. We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (excluding deferred underwriting commissions), to complete our initial business combination.
We have determined that we may need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business prior to our initial business combination, including costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination.
As a result, we may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination.
If we do not complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
The Company is within 12 months of its mandatory liquidation as of the time of filing this
March 25, 2023. 10-K.
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15,
“Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” the mandatory liquidation raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern until the earlier of the consummation of the Business Combination or the date the Company is required to liquidate,F-8
These financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.
Note 2 — Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements is presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
Emerging Growth Company Status
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act of 2012, (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply
to non-emerging growth
companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used. Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. One of the more significant accounting estimates included in these financial statements is the determination of the fair value of the warrant liability. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company did not have any cash equivalents as of December 31, 2021.
F-9
Investments Held in Trust Account
At December 31, 2021, substantially all of the assets held in the Trust Account were held in money market funds which invest in U.S. Treasury securities.
Warrant Liabilities
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 stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC
815-15.
The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed
at the end of each reporting period. The Company accounts for its 11,568,333 ordinary share warrants issued in connection with its Initial Public Offering (6,675,000) and Private Placement (4,893,333) as derivative warrant liabilities in accordance with ASC
815-40.
Accordingly, the Company recognizes the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjusts the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The liabilities are subject to re-measurement
at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in the Company’s statement of income. (see Note 8). Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
The Company complies with the requirements of the 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 are 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 the warrant liability ($561,706) are expensed as incurred, and are presented
ASC 340-10-S99-1. Offering costs
as non-operating expenses
in the statement of income. Offering costs associated with the Class A ordinary shares were charged to shareholders’ equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering. Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
All of the redemption provisions not solely within the control of the Company require ordinary shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Ordinary liquidation events, which involve the redemption and liquidation of all of the entity’s equity instruments, are excluded from the provisions of ASC 480. Accordingly, at December 31, 2021, all Class A Ordinary Shares subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheets, respectively.
26,700,000
Class A Ordinary Shares sold as part of the Units in the Public Offering contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such public shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation, if there is a shareholder vote or tender offer in connection with the Business Combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s charter. In accordance with SEC and its staff’s guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC 480-10-S99,
The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable ordinary share to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable ordinary share are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
As of December 31, 2021, the amount of Class A ordinary shares reflected on the balance sheet are reconciled in the following table:
December 31, 2021 |
||||
Gross proceeds |
$ | 267,000,000 | ||
Less: |
||||
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants |
(9,874,575 | ) | ||
Class A ordinary shares issuance costs |
(14,626,790 | ) | ||
Plus: |
||||
Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value |
24,501,365 | |||
Interest earned on investments held in Trust account |
13,476 | |||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption |
$ |
267,013,476 |
||
F-10
Income Taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes under FASB ASC 740, “Income Taxes” (“ASC 740”). ASC 740 requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for both the expected impact of differences between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities and for the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax loss and tax credit carry forwards. ASC 740 additionally requires a valuation allowance to be established when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of deferred tax assets will not be realized.
FASB 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 more likely than not 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. As of December 31, 2021, there were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.
There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with Cayman income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Company’s financial statements. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months.
Net Income Per Ordinary Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, Earnings Per Share. Net income per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. The Company has two classes of shares, Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. At December 31, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into shares and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted income (loss) per share is the same as basic income (loss) per share for the period presented.
ordinary
The Company’s statement of income applies the
two-class
method in calculating net income per share. Basic and diluted net income per ordinary share for Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares is calculated by dividing net income attributable to the Company by the weighted average number of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares outstanding, allocated proportionally to each class of shares. Accretion of the carrying value of Class A ordinary shares to redemption value is excluded from net income per ordinary share because the redemption value approximates fair value. F-11
Reconciliation of Net Income per Ordinary Share
The Company’s net income is adjusted for the portion of net income that is allocable to each class of ordinary shares. The allocable net income is calculated by multiplying net income by the ratio of weighted average number of shares outstanding attributable to Class A and Class B ordinary shares to the total weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period. Accordingly, basic and diluted income per ordinary share is calculated as follows:
For the period from January 27, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021 |
||||
Net income per share for Class A ordinary shares: |
||||
Net income |
$ | 7,147,127 | ||
Less: Allocation of income to Class B ordinary shares |
1,620,525 | |||
Adjusted net income |
$ | 5,526,602 | ||
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A ordinary shares |
22,180,531 | |||
Basic and diluted net income per share, Class A ordinary shares |
$ | 0.25 | ||
Net income per share for Class B ordinary shares: |
||||
Net income |
$ | 7,147,127 | ||
Less: Allocation of income to Class A ordinary shares |
5,526,602 | |||
Adjusted net income |
$ | 1,620,525 | ||
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B ordinary shares |
6,503,835 | |||
Basic and diluted net income per share, Class B ordinary shares |
$ | 0.25 | ||
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company follows the guidance in ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” for its financial assets and liabilities that
are re-measured and
reported at fair value at each reporting period, and non-financial assets
and liabilities that are re-measured and
reported at fair value at least annually. The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
| Level 1 — | Valuations based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access. Valuation adjustments and block discounts are not being applied. Since valuations are based on quoted prices that are readily and regularly available in an active market, valuation of these securities does not entail a significant degree of judgment. |
F-12
| Level 2 — | Valuations based on (i) quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities, (ii) quoted prices in markets that are not active for identical or similar assets, (iii) inputs other than quoted prices for the assets or liabilities, or (iv) inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by market through correlation or other means. | |
| Level 3 — | Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. | |
See Note 9 for additional information on assets and liabilities measured at fair value.
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 coverage of $250,000. The Company has
not
experienced losses on these accounts.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU (“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):
Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity2020-06”),
which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. The Company early adopted ASU 2020-06
on January 27, 2021 (inception). Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. The Company’s management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
Note 3 — Initial Public Offering
Public Units
On March 25, 2021, the Company sold 25,000,000 Units, and on March 26, 2021, the underwriter partially exercised its over-allotment option to purchase an additional 1,700,000 Units, which purchase settled on March 30, 2021, at $10.00 per Unit, generating aggregate gross proceeds of $267,000,000. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share
and one-fourth of
a redeemable warrant (the “Public Warrants”). Public Warrants
Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at any time commencing on the later of one year from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering and 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of the initial Business Combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the sixtieth (60th) business day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption from registration. Notwithstanding the above, if the Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, it will not be required to file or maintain an effective registration statement, and in the event the Company does not so elect, it will use commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering each such warrant for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrant multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The “fair market value” as used in this paragraph shall mean the volume-weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent.
F-13
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $18.00
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may call the warrants for redemption:
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| • | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and |
| • | if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) 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. |
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may call the warrants for redemption:
| • | in whole and not in part; |
| • | at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of Class A ordinary shares to be determined by the redemption date and the “fair market value” of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares; |
| • | if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within the 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; and |
| • | if the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares 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 is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant), the Private Placement Warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants, as described above. |
The “fair market value” of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares for the above purpose shall mean the volume-weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. This redemption feature differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in many other blank check offerings. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the initial shareholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by the initial shareholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, plus interest thereon, available for the funding of the initial Business Combination on the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume-weighted average trading price of the Class A ordinary shares
during the 10-trading day period
starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates the initial Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described under “Redemption of Warrants When the Price Per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $10.00” and under “Redemption of Warrants When the Price Per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $18.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively. F-14
Note 4 — Private Placement
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company’s Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 4,666,667 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $7,000,000, in a private placement. A portion of the proceeds from the private placement was added to the proceeds from the IPO held in the Trust. On March 30, 2021, the Sponsor purchased an additional 226,666 Private Placement Warrants generating gross proceeds of $340,000, which was used to pay the underwriting discount of 2% of the IPO over-allotment gross proceeds.
If the Private Placement Warrants are held by holders other than the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
The Sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they have agreed to: (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares (described in Note 5) and public shares in connection with the completion of the initial Business Combination; (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the public shares if the Company has not consummated an initial Business Combination within the Combination Period or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’
rights or pre-initial Business Combination
activity; (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to their founder shares if the Company fails to complete the initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the IPO, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any public shares they hold if the Company fails to complete the initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame; and (iv) vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after the IPO (including in open-market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of the initial Business Combination.
Note 5 — Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On February 1, 2021, the Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain offering costs in consideration for 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the “founder shares”). Up to 937,500 founder shares were subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised. On March 26, 2021, the underwriter partially exercised its over-allotment option to purchase an additional 1,700,000 Units, which purchase settled on March 30, 2021, which resulted in 425,000 Class B ordinary shares no longer being subject to forfeiture. On May 6, 2021, the Sponsor forfeited 512,500 founder shares for no consideration as a result of the underwriter not exercising the remainder of the over-allotment option.
The initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination; or (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share
sub-divisions,
capitalization of shares, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period
commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date following the completion of the initial Business Combination on which the Company completes a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the public shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of the initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares. F-15
Administrative Support Agreement
Commencing on the date its securities were first listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the Company agreed to pay the Sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of the Company’s management team. Upon completion of the initial Business Combination or the Company’s liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees. For the period ended December 31, 2021, the Company has recorded an aggregate of $92,580 in service fee expense with a balance of $42,580, at December 31, 2021.
Promissory Note — Related Party
On February 1, 2021, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the IPO pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan was
non-interest
bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the completion of the IPO. As of the IPO on March 25, 2021, the Company had borrowed a total of $125,491 amount under the Note, and the Company repaid the said amount in full upon closing of the IPO. Working Capital Loans
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 would repay the Working Capital Loans. In the event that the initial Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into Private Placement Warrants of the post-Business Combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. Through December 31, 2021, the Company made no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Note 6 — Commitments and Contingencies
Underwriting Agreement
The underwriter had
a 45-day option
from March 22, 2021 to purchase up to an aggregate of 3,750,000 additional Units at the public offering price less the underwriting commissions to cover over-allotments, if any. On March 26, 2021, the underwriter partially exercised its over-allotment option and purchased an additional 1,700,000 Units. As of December 31, 2021, the remaining over-allotment option has expired. Upon consummation of the IPO on March 25, 2021 and settlement of the purchased over-allotment on Mach 30, 2021, the underwriter was paid a cash underwriting fee of 2.0% of the gross proceeds, or $5,340,000 in the aggregate.
The underwriter is entitled to a deferred underwriting discount of 3.5% of the gross proceeds of the IPO and purchased over-allotment, or $9,345,000 in the aggregate. The deferred fee will be payable to the underwriter from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes an initial Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Registration Rights
The holders of the (i) founder shares, which were issued in a private placement prior to the closing of the IPO, (ii) Private Placement Warrants, which were issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of the IPO and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such Private Placement Warrants and (iii) Private Placement Warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans have registration rights to require the Company to register a sale of any of the Company’s securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed on the effective date of the IPO. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company registers 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. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
F-16
Note 7 — Shareholders’ Deficit
Preference Shares
Class
A Ordinary Shares
per share. At December 31, 2021, there were no shares issued and outstanding, excluding
26,700,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption which are presented as temporary equity.
Class
B Ordinary Shares
Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the appointment or removal of directors prior to the completion of the initial Business Combination, meaning that holders of Class A ordinary shares will not have the right to appoint any directors until after the completion of the initial Business Combination. On any other matters submitted to a vote of the shareholders, holders of the Class B ordinary shares and holders of the Class A ordinary shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote, except that in a vote to continue the Company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands, holders of Class B ordinary shares will have ten votes per share and holders of Class A ordinary shares will have one vote per share, and except as required by law or the applicable stock exchange rules then in effect.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the initial Business Combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, to adjustment
on a one-for-one basis subject
for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations,
reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial Business Combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders), including the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial Business Combination and any Private Placement Warrants issued to the Sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of Working Capital Loans; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.
F-17
Note 8 — Fair Value Measurements
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at December 31, 2021, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value:
December 31, 2021 |
Quoted Prices In Active Markets (Level 1) |
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) |
Significant Other Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) |
|||||||||||||
Assets: |
||||||||||||||||
Cash and Investments held in Trust Account |
$ | 267,013,476 | $ | 267,013,476 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||
Liabilities: |
||||||||||||||||
Public Warrants Liability |
$ | 5,073,000 | $ | 5,073,000 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||
Private Placement Warrants Liability |
3,775,042 | — | — | 3,775,042 | ||||||||||||
| $ | 8,848,042 | $ | 5,073,000 | $ | — | $ | 3,775,042 | |||||||||
The Warrants are accounted for as liabilities in accordance with
ASC 815-40 and
are presented within the warrant liability on the Balance Sheet. The warrant liability is measured at fair value at inception and on a recurring basis, with changes in fair value presented within change in fair value of warrant liability in the Statement of Income. The Company established the initial fair value of the Public Warrants and Private Warrants on March 25, 2021, the date of the Company’s Initial Public Offering, using a Monte Carlo simulation model. As of December 31, 2021, the fair value for the Private Warrants was estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation model, and the fair value of the Public Warrants by reference to the quoted market price. The Public Warrants have traded on the New York Stock Exchange since May 31, 2021, under the trading symbol RKTAW. The Public and Private Warrants were classified as Level 3 at the initial measurement date, and the Private Warrants were classified as Level 3 as of December 31, 2021 due to the use of unobservable inputs. During the period ended December 31, 2021, the Public Warrants were reclassified from a Level 3 to a Level 1 classification due to use of the observed trading price of the separated Public Warrants.
The following table presents the changes in Level 3 liabilities for the period ended December 31, 2021:
Fair Value at January 27, 2021 (inception) |
$ | — | ||
Initial fair value of public and private warrants issued at IPO |
16,228,167 | |||
Initial fair value of public and private warrants issued at over-allotment option exercise |
982,514 | |||
Change in fair value of public and private warrants |
(1,925,548 | ) | ||
Transfer of public warrants to Level 1 |
(8,811,000 | ) | ||
Fair Value at June 30, 2021 |
6,474,133 | |||
Change in fair value of private warrants |
(2,550,312 | ) | ||
Fair Value at September 31, 2021 |
3,923,821 | |||
Change in fair value of private warrants |
(148,779 | ) | ||
Fair Value at December 31, 2021 |
$ | 3,775,042 | ||
Inherent in a binomial options pricing model are assumptions related to expected share-price volatility, expected life, and risk-free interest rate. The Company estimates the volatility of its ordinary shares based on historical volatility of comparable SPAC warrants that matches the expected remaining life of the Warrants. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury
zero-coupon
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. F-18
The key inputs into the Monte Carlo simulation as of March 25, 2021 and December 31, 2021 were as follows:
Inputs |
(Initial Measurement) March 25, 2021 |
December 31, 2021 |
||||||
| Risk-free interest rate |
1.08 | % | 1.35 | % | ||||
| Expected term remaining (years) |
6.08 | 5.95 | ||||||
| Expected volatility |
24.4 | % | 13.10 | % | ||||
| Share price |
$ | 9.632 | $ | 9.80 | ||||
Note 9 — Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
F-19
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) 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.
Rocket Internet Growth Opportunities Corp | ||||||
Date: April 1 4 , 2022 |
By: |
/s/ Soheil Mirpour | ||||
Soheil Mirpour | ||||||
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 and on the dates indicated.
| Name |
Position |
Date | ||
| /s/ Oliver Samwer Oliver Samwer |
Chairman, Director |
April 1 4 , 2022 | ||
| /s/ Soheil Mirpour Soheil Mirpour |
Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer, Director) |
April 1 4 , 2022 | ||
| /s/ Donald E. Stalter Jr. Donald E. Stalter Jr. |
Chief Financial Officer and Director (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer, Director) |
April 1 4 , 2022 | ||
| /s/ Marcus Englert Marcus Englert |
Director |
April 1 4 , 2022 | ||
| /s/ Norbert Lang Norbert Lang |
Director |
April 1 4 , 2022 | ||
| /s/ Pierre Louette Pierre Louette |
Director |
April 1 4 , 2022 | ||
| /s/ Aneel Ranadivé Aneel Ranadivé |
Director |
April 1 4 , 2022 | ||