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ScION Tech Growth I - 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

 

OR

 

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: 001-39808

 

SCION TECH GROWTH I

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

Cayman Islands   N/A
(State or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization
  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
     
10 Queen St Place, 2nd Floor
London,
United Kingdom
  EC4R 1BE
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)   (Zip Code)

 

+44 20 73 98 0200

(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-third of one redeemable warrant   SCOAU   The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value   SCOA   The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Redeemable warrants, each warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share, each at an exercise price of $11.50 per share   SCOAW   The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

 

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 (Section 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 the 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 the ordinary shares held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $561,025,621.46 as of June 30, 2021.

 

As of March 31, 2022, there were 57,500,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001, issued and outstanding, and 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, issued and outstanding.

 

Auditor Firm id: Auditor Name: Marcum LLP Auditor Location: New York, New York PCAOB ID Number: 688

 

Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents 

 

    Page
PART I   1
Item 1. Business 1
Item 1A. Risk Factors 6
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 39
Item 2. Properties 39
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 39
Item 4. Safety Disclosures 39
     
PART II   40
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Shareholders’ equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 40
Item 6. [Reserved] 41
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 41
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 47
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 47
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure 48
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 48
Item 9B. Other Information 49
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 49
     
PART III   50
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 50
Item 11. Executive Compensation 56
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters 58
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence 59
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 60
     
PART IV   61
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 61

 

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

Certain statements in this annual report on Form 10-K (this “Form 10-K”) may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. 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,” “intend,” “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 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;
     
  the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) on our ability to consummate an initial business combination;
     
  the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition 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.

 

The forward-looking statements contained in this 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 the section of this Form 10-K entitled “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

 

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PART I

 

References in this report to “we,” “us” or the “Company” refer to ScION Tech Growth I. References to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, and references to the “Sponsor” refer to ScION 1 Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.

 

Item 1. Business.

 

Introduction

 

We are a 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 (the “business combination”). We intend to focus our search on technology-enabled businesses that offer specific technology solutions, broader technology software and services in the financial services sector. We expect to favor potential target businesses with certain industry and business characteristics, including long term growth prospects, high barriers to entry, opportunities for consolidation, robust recurring revenues, sustainable operating margins and lucrative free cash flow dynamics. We intend to focus on businesses where we believe our background and experience can assist in executing an accelerated plan to create value for our shareholders in the public markets. We have reviewed, and continue to review, a number of opportunities to enter into a business combination, but we are not able to determine at this time whether we will complete a business combination with any of the target businesses that we have reviewed or with any other target business. We also have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenue to date. Based on our business activities, the Company is a “shell company” as defined under the Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) because we have no operations and nominal assets consisting almost entirely of cash.

 

On December 21, 2020, we consummated our initial public offering (the “initial public offering”) of 57,500,000 units (the “units”), including the issuance of 7,500,000 units as a result of the underwriters’ exercise of their over-allotment option in full. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share for $11.50 per share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $575 million.

 

Simultaneously with the consummation of the initial public offering, we completed the private sale (the “private placement”) of an aggregate of 9,000,000 warrants (the “private placement warrants”) to ScION 1 Sponsor LLC (the “Sponsor”) at a purchase price of $1.50 per private placement warrant, generating gross proceeds of $13.5 million.

 

Prior to the consummation of the initial public offering, on October 7, 2020, we issued an aggregate of 14,375,000 shares (the “founder shares”) of our Class B ordinary shares to the Sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 in cash. Up to 1,875,000 founder shares were subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised. In connection with the underwriters’ full exercise of their over-allotment option on December 21, 2020, the 1,875,000 shares were no longer subject to forfeiture, resulting in the Sponsor holding 14,375,000 founder shares.

 

A total of $575,000,000, comprised of $563,500,000 of the proceeds from the initial public offering (which amount includes $20,125,000 of the underwriters’ deferred discount) and $11,500,000 of the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants, was placed in a U.S.-based trust account (the “trust account”) at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.

 

The funds held in the trust account are invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations until the earlier of: (i) the consummation of an initial business combination or (ii) the distribution of the trust account.

 

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On December 16, 2020, we entered into a forward purchase agreement pursuant to which OrION Capital Structure Solutions UK Limited (“OrION”), an affiliate of the Sponsor, committed that it will purchase from the Company 10,000,000 forward purchase units, or at its option up to an aggregate maximum of 30,000,000 forward purchase units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, or a forward purchase share, and one-third of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share for $10.00 per unit, or an aggregate amount of $100,000,000, or at the purchaser’s option up to an aggregate amount of $300,000,000, in a private placement that will close concurrently with the closing of the Company’s initial business combination. The proceeds from the sale of these forward purchase units, together with the amounts available to the Company from the Trust Account (after giving effect to any redemptions of public shares) and any other equity or debt financing obtained by the Company in connection with the business combination, will be used to satisfy the cash requirements of the business combination, including funding the purchase price and paying expenses and retaining specified amounts to be used by the post-business combination company for working capital or other purposes. The forward purchase shares will be identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in the initial public offering, except that they will be subject to transfer restrictions and registration rights. The forward purchase warrants will have the same terms as the private placement warrants so long as they are held by the purchaser or its permitted assignees and transferees.

 

As of December 31, 2021, there was $575,190,452 in cash and securities held in the trust account, which includes interest income available to us of $190,452. $283,409 of cash is held outside the trust account, available for working capital needs. The Company is a Cayman Islands exempted company and is presently not subject to income taxes or income tax filing requirements in the Cayman Islands or the United States.

 

Effecting Our Initial Business Combination

 

General

 

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash held in the trust account, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into), 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 apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account 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.

 

Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination

 

While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry, we intend to focus our search on global technology, software and FinTech opportunities businesses. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (as amended on December 16, 2020, our “amended and restated memorandum and articles of association”) prohibits us from entering into a business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

 

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The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) 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, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not 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 the particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects.

 

We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or is otherwise not required to register as an investment company under 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 our initial 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 transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests 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, provided that in the event that 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 and we will treat the transactions together as our initial business combination for purposes of seeking shareholder approval or conducting a tender offer, as applicable.

 

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 available for us to 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.

 

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 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 that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm stating that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

 

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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 public 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 our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. The amount in the trust account is approximately $10.00 per public share as of December 31, 2021. 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 underwriters. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. The Sponsor, our 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 held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.

 

Submission of our Initial Business Combination to a Shareholder Vote

 

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 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 the initial public offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. In addition, our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of the initial business combination.

 

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 Nasdaq 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 held 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 nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.

 

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. 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.

 

The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the initial 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 warrant holders 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. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or 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.

 

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Conduct of Redemptions Pursuant to Tender Offer Rules

 

If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), 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 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 under 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 the initial public offering without our prior consent (the “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 the initial public 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 the initial public offering without our prior consent, 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.

 

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 twenty four (24) months from the closing of our initial public offering, or December 21, 2022, to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination by December 21, 2022, 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the 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 by December 21, 2022.

 

Competition

 

In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other special purpose acquisition companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess similar or greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our issued and outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.

 

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Employees

 

We currently have three officers: Andrea Pignataro, Mathew J. Cestar and Kunal Gullapalli. 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 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.

 

Available Information

 

We are required to file Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q with the SEC on a regular basis, and are required to disclose certain material events in a Current Report on Form 8-K. The SEC maintains an Internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The SEC’s Internet website is located at www.sec.gov. In addition, the Company will provide copies of these documents without charge upon request from us in writing at 10 Queen St Place, 2nd Floor, London, EC4R 1BE, United Kingdom or by telephone at +44 20 73 98 0200.

 

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 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.

 

Risk Factor Summary

 

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 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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

In evaluating a prospective target business for our initial business combination, our management will rely on the availability of all of the funds from the sale of the forward purchase units to be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination. If the sale of the forward purchase units does not close, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our 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.

 

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.

 

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. These material weaknesses could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately in a timely manner.

 

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.”

 

6

 

 

The requirement that we complete our initial business combination by December 21, 2022 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.

 

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) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.

 

We may not be able to complete our initial business combination by December 21, 2022, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.

 

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, executive 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 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.

  

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.

 

OrION has committed to purchase at least $100,000,000 of forward purchase units and has the right to purchase up to $200,000,000 of additional forward purchase units concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination, but has no obligation to purchase any or all of such additional amount. Our ability to consummate our initial business combination may be adversely impacted if OrION declines to exercise this right.

 

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.

 

Nasdaq 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.

 

You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.

 

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 are unable to 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 the 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 until December 21, 2022, 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.

 

7

 

 

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 us.

 

Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination.

 

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.

 

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 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.

 

Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks

 

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.

 

In evaluating a prospective target business for our initial business combination, our management will rely on the availability of all the funds from the sale of the forward purchase units to be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination. If the sale of the forward purchase units fails to close, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination.

 

In connection with the consummation of the initial public offering, we entered into a forward purchase agreement with OrION pursuant to which OrION has committed that it will purchase from us 10,000,000 forward purchase units, or at its option up to an aggregate maximum of 30,000,000 forward purchase units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, or a forward purchase share, and one-third of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share for $10.00 per unit, or an aggregate amount of $100,000,000, or at OrION’s option up to an aggregate amount of $300,000,000, in a private placement that will close concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The proceeds from the sale of these forward purchase units, together with the amounts available to us from the trust account (after giving effect to any redemptions of public shares) and any other equity or debt financing obtained by us in connection with the business combination, will be used to satisfy the cash requirements of the business combination, including funding the purchase price and paying expenses and retaining specified amounts to be used by the post-business combination company for working capital or other purposes. The forward purchase shares will be identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in the initial public offering, except that they will be subject to transfer restrictions and registration rights, as described herein. The forward purchase warrants will have the same terms as the private placement warrants so long as they are held by or its permitted assignees and transferees.

 

8

 

 

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.

 

Members of our management team and board of directors have significant experience as board members, officers or executives of other companies. As a result, certain of those persons have been, may be, or may become, involved in proceedings, investigations and litigation relating to the business affairs of the companies with which they were, are, or may in the future be, affiliated. This may have an adverse effect on us, which may impede our ability to consummate an initial business combination.

 

During the course of their careers, members of our management team and board of directors have had significant experience as board members, officers or executives of other companies. As a result of their involvement and positions in these companies, certain persons were, are now, or may in the future become, involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings relating to the business affairs of such companies or transactions entered into by such companies. Any such litigation, investigations or other proceedings may divert our management team’s and board’s attention and resources away from identifying and selecting a target business or businesses for our initial business combination and may negatively affect our reputation, which may impede our ability to complete an 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 initial shareholders owned 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares immediately following the completion of the initial public offering. Our initial shareholders 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 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 21,562,500, or 37.5%, of the 57,500,000 public shares sold in the initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted, the over-allotment option is not exercised and the parties to the letter agreement do not acquire any Class A ordinary shares). 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 an ordinary resolution, being the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.

 

9

 

 

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 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 make us unable to satisfy a minimum cash 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.

 

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 one-to-one 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 underwriters 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.

 

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.

 

10

 

 

The requirement that we complete our initial business combination by December 21, 2022 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 by December 21, 2022. 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 recent coronavirus outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.

 

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has and is continuing to spread throughout China and other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic.” The COVID-19 outbreak has and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 continues to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.

 

In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity in third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.

 

We may not be able to complete our initial business combination by December 21, 2022, 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 by December 21, 2022 after the closing of the 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. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, 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. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law.

 

11

 

 

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the Sponsor, initial shareholders, 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 initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq 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 warrant holders 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.

 

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 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 stock 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 date on which the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination is to be held. 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 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.

 

12

 

 

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 will be 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 by December 21, 2022 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 are unable to complete an initial business combination by December 21, 2022, 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.

 

You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.

 

Since the net proceeds of the 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 will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the completion of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors 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 the 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.

 

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 under 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 the 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.

 

13

 

 

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 are unable to 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 the 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 are unable to 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 the 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 until December 21, 2022, 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.

 

Of the net proceeds of the initial public offering, only $1,000,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that, upon closing of the initial public offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least until December 21, 2022; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. 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, although we do not have any current intention to do so. 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.

 

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 are unable to 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.

 

14

 

 

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, 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.

 

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. Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of the initial public offering 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 are unable to 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, 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 underwriters of the initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“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.

 

15

 

 

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 his obligations or that he 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 or insolvency court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.

 

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public 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 or insolvency 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.

 

16

 

 

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.

 

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 offence and may be liable to a fine of $18,293 and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.

 

We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our shareholders to appoint directors.

 

In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. 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.

 

Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we 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 an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or sector, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business or businesses that can benefit from our management team’s established global relationships and operating experience. Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing strategic investments globally and has done so successfully in a number of sectors, including global technology sectors. 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 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.

 

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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 the initial public offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event 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 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.

 

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 are unable to 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 are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders 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 which is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders 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.

 

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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.

 

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.

 

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, 2021. 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. 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 control 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.

 

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.

 

19

 

 

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 that our shareholders may not support.

 

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 will require a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, being 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 by December 21, 2022 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 in the initial public offering, 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.

 

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 the 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 being 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 initial shareholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of the initial public offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in the initial public offering), 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 by December 21, 2022 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then 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.

 

20

 

 

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 the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and the forward purchase securities. 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 are unable to 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.

 

Our initial shareholders control 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 initial shareholders own 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Accordingly, they 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 initial shareholders purchase any additional Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial shareholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. 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, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our Sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms for three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders to elect 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 meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our initial shareholders, because of their 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.

 

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OrION has committed to purchase at least $100,000,000 of forward purchase units and has the right to purchase up to $200,000,000 of additional forward purchase units concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination, but has no obligation to purchase any or all of such additional amount. Our ability to consummate our initial business combination may be adversely impacted if OrION declines to exercise this right.

 

OrION has the right to purchase up to $200,000,000 of additional forward purchase units concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. If our board of directors determines that additional capital is needed in order to consummate our initial business combination or for other reasons and OrION does not purchase the up to $200,000,000 of additional forward purchase units or such amount as our board of directors has determined may be needed, we may not have sufficient capital to satisfy certain conditions to consummate our initial business combination.

 

Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public 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 are unable to 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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

22

 

 

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;

 

23

 

 

  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;

 

  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.

 

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. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception. Depending on the particular circumstances the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, 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). Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, 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 written request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, including a PFIC annual information statement, 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.

 

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 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 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.

 

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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 Annual Report on Form 10-K to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following the initial public offering, 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.

 

We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of the 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.

 

The net proceeds from the initial public offering and the private placement provided us with $575,000,000 that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $20,125,000 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account).

 

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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.

 

Risks Relating to our Sponsor and Management Team

 

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. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, 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.

 

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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. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, 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.

 

Since our Sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after the initial public offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

 

On October 7, 2020, our Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in exchange for 14,375,000 founder shares.

 

Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the Sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of the initial public offering would be a maximum of 57,500,000 units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after the initial public offering. Up to 1,875,000 founder shares were subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised. In connection with the underwriters’ full exercise of their over-allotment option on December 21, 2020, the 1,875,000 shares were no longer subject to forfeiture. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 9,000,000 warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $13,500,000, or $1.50 per warrant. The private placement warrants will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as December 21, 2022 nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.

 

Our executive 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 executive 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 executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive 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 executive 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. In particular, our officers and directors are actively engaged in ScION Tech Growth II, a special purpose acquisition company that completed its initial public offering in February 2021. ScION Tech Growth II has until February 12, 2023 to complete an initial business combination, and, like us, may pursue an initial business combination target in any businesses or industry, although it is focused on a searching for an initial business combination in the same business and industry as we are: technology-enabled businesses that offer specific technology solutions, broader technology software and services in the financial services sector. Any such companies, businesses or investments, including ScION Tech Growth II, may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination target. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

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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.

 

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 prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. In addition, our Sponsor and our officers and directors may Sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. As a result, our Sponsor, officers and directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other special purpose acquisition company with which they may become involved. In particular, our officers and directors are actively engaged in ScION Tech Growth II, a special purpose acquisition company that completed its initial public offering in February 2021. ScION Tech Growth II has until February 12, 2023 to complete an initial business combination, and, like us, may pursue an initial business combination target in any businesses or industry, although it is focused on a searching for an initial business combination in the same business and industry as we are: technology-enabled businesses that offer specific technology solutions, broader technology software and services in the financial services sector. Any such companies, businesses or ventures, including ScION Tech Growth II, may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination target. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

Our executive 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, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary 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 executive officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we 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.

 

 Our executive officers and directors are actively engaged in ScION Tech Growth II, a special purpose acquisition company that completed its initial public offering in February 2021, and will continue to serve as executive officers and directors of ScION Tech Growth II until the business combination. ScION Tech Growth II has until February 12, 2023 to complete an initial business combination, and, like us, may pursue an initial business combination target in any businesses or industry, although it is focused on a searching for an initial business combination in the same business and industry as we are: technology-enabled businesses that offer specific technology solutions, broader technology software and services in the financial services sector. Any such companies, businesses or investments, including ScION Tech Growth II, may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination target. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

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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. See the section titled “Description of Securities—Certain Differences in Corporate Law—Shareholder Suits” in Exhibit 4.5 hereto for further information on the ability to bring such claims. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.

 

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, executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.

 

In light of the involvement of our Sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. 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 which is a member of FINRA 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, executive 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.

 

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.

 

Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.

 

We may structure our initial business combination 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 interests 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.

 

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Risks Relating to our Securities

 

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 with the SEC;

 

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.

 

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 which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. The initial public offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. 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 by December 21, 2022 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 by December 21, 2022, 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 are unable to 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.

 

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Nasdaq 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.

 

Although after giving effect to the initial public offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in Nasdaq listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in shareholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and 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 Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and our shareholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5.0 million and we would be required to have a minimum of 300 round lot holders of our securities, with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding securities with a market value of at least $2,500. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time. If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

 

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

 

a 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.” Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants 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 Nasdaq, 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.

 

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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 one-to-one 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.

 

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after the initial public offering, there were 442,500,000 and 35,625,000 authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants, the forward purchase warrants, shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares, or shares issued upon the sale of the forward purchase shares. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one 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. Immediately after the initial public offering, there were no preference shares issued and outstanding.

 

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 upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one 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 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:

 

may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in the initial public offering;

 

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.

 

You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares or certain exemptions are available.

 

If the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants 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.

 

We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. 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 our best 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 our best 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.

 

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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.

 

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 our best efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available.

 

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.

 

You may only be able to exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis” under certain circumstances, and if you do so, you will receive fewer Class A ordinary shares from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.

 

The warrant agreement provides that in the following circumstances holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do for cash and will, instead, be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act: (i) if the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the terms of the warrant agreement; (ii) if we have so elected and 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 “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act; and (iii) if we have so elected and we call the public warrants for redemption.

 

If you exercise your public warrants on a cashless basis, you would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our Class A ordinary shares (as defined in the next sentence) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” is the average reported closing price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent or on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, as applicable. As a result, you would receive fewer Class A ordinary shares from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.

 

The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders and holders of our private placement warrants and forward purchase securities 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.

 

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, holders of securities that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans or holders of our forward purchase securities and their permitted transferees may demand that we register such units, shares, warrants or the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants and any other securities of the company acquired by them prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. 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, holders of our working capital loans or holders of our forward purchase securities or their respective permitted transferees are registered.

 

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Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial shareholders 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 concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share 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 (including the forward purchase shares but not the forward purchase warrants), 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 basis.

 

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 185 days following the date of the prospectus will require the prior written consent of the underwriters). While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be 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.

 

Our initial shareholders paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per founder share and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A ordinary shares.

 

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A ordinary share and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A ordinary shares after the initial public offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in the initial public offering. Our initial shareholders acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon closing of the initial public offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 96.6% (or $9.66 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share after the initial public offering of $0.34 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the founder shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A ordinary shares.

 

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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 Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.

 

Our warrants will be 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 to correct any defective provision or 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 the prospectus, (ii) adjusting the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement or (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, 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 of public warrants if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. 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 or shares, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

 

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 will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our 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 of 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 choice-of-forum 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.

 

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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 the outstanding public 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 proper notice of such redemption and provided that 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 substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants or forward purchase warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the Sponsor or OrION, as applicable, or their respective permitted transferees.

 

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.

 

We issued warrants to purchase 19,166,667 of our Class A ordinary shares as part of the units offered and, simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we issued in a private placement an aggregate of 9,000,000 warrants, at $1.50 per warrant. We may also issue up to 10,000,000 forward purchase warrants pursuant to the forward purchase agreement. In addition, if the Sponsor makes any working capital loans, it may convert those loans into up to an additional 1,000,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant. 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-third 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-third 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 the 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-third 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 it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.

 

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General Risk Factors

 

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 the initial public 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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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, including with the law of the jurisdiction of our incorporation. 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.

 

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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 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 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.

 

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Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.

 

On April 12, 2021, the Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance and Acting Chief Accountant of the SEC together issued the SEC Staff Statement. Specifically, the SEC Staff Statement focused on certain settlement terms and provisions related to certain tender offers following a business combination, which terms are similar to those contained in the warrant agreement governing our warrants. As a result of the SEC Staff Statement, we reevaluated the accounting treatment of our 19,166,667 public warrants and 9,000,000 private placement warrants, and determined to classify the warrants as derivative liabilities measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings.

 

As a result, included on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 contained elsewhere in this Annual Report are derivative liabilities related to our warrants. Accounting Standards Codification 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”), provides for the remeasurement of the fair value of such derivatives at each balance sheet date, with a resulting non-cash gain or loss related to the change in the fair value being recognized in earnings in the statement of operations. As a result of the recurring fair value measurement, our financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly, based on factors, which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses on our warrants each reporting period and that the amount of such gains or losses could be material. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our ordinary shares. In addition, potential targets may seek a special purpose acquisition company that does not have warrants that are accounted for as liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.

 

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. These material weaknesses could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.

 

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our management is likewise required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation in those internal controls. 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 on a timely basis.

 

As described elsewhere in this Annual Report, we identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting related to our accounting for complex instruments and relating to the process of recording accounts payable and accrued expenses.

 

As a result of these material weaknesses, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2021.

 

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.”

 

We may not have sufficient liquidity to meet anticipated obligations over the next year from the issuance of these financial statements. In connection with our assessment of “going concern” considerations in accordance with ASC Topic 205-40 Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern, we have until December 21, 2022 to consummate a business combination. It is uncertain that we will be able to consummate a business combination by this time. If a business combination is not consummated by this date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the company. Management has determined that the liquidity condition and mandatory liquidation, should a business combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the company be required to liquidate after December 21, 2022.

 

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

 

None.

 

Item 2. Properties.

 

Our executive offices are located at 10 Queen St Place, 2nd Floor, London, EC4R 1BE, United Kingdom. Our executive offices are provided to us by the Sponsor and we have agreed to pay the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

 

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

 

We are not currently subject to any material legal proceedings, nor, to our knowledge, is any material legal proceeding threatened against us or any of our officers or directors in their corporate capacity.

 

Item 4. Safety Disclosures.

 

Not applicable.

 

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PART II

 

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Shareholders’ equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

 

Market Information

 

Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are traded on Nasdaq under the symbols “SCOAU,” “SCOA” and “SCOAW,” respectively.

 

Holders

 

As of March 31, 2022, there were one holder of record of our units, one holder of record of our Class A ordinary shares and two 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 an 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 conditions subsequent to completion of an initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to an initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we incur any indebtedness, 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.

 

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Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings

 

In October 2020, we issued to the Sponsor an aggregate of 14,375,000 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000. Up to 1,875,000 founder shares were subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised. In connection with the underwriters’ full exercise of their over-allotment option on December 21, 2020, the 1,875,000 shares were no longer subject to forfeiture, resulting in the Sponsor holding 14,375,000 founder shares. The foregoing issuance was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

 

On December 21, 2020, we consummated our initial public offering of 57,500,000 units, including the issuance of 7,500,000 units as a result of the underwriters’ exercise of their over-allotment option in full. The units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating total gross proceeds of $575,000,000. UBS Securities LLC and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. acted as book-running managers. The securities sold in the offering were registered under the Securities Act on registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-251036). The SEC declared the registration statement effective on December 16, 2020.

 

Simultaneously with the consummation of the initial public offering, we consummated the private placement of 9,000,000 private placement warrants to the Sponsor at a purchase price of $1.50 per private placement warrant, generating gross proceeds of $13,500,000. Such securities were issued pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

 

The private placement warrants are the same as the warrants sold as part of the units sold in the initial public offering, except that the private placement warrants are not transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a business combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the private warrants are exercisable on a cashless basis and are non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees.

 

Of the gross proceeds received from the initial public offering and private placement of private placement warrants, $575,000,000 was placed in a trust account.

 

We paid a total of $11,500,000 in underwriting fees and $587,884 for other costs and expenses related to the initial public offering. In addition, the underwriters agreed to defer $20,125,000 in underwriting fees.

 

Item 6. [Reserved].

 

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

 

References to the “Company,” “ScION Tech Growth I,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to ScION Tech Growth I. 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 report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.

 

Overview

 

We are a blank check company incorporated on October 7, 2020 as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry, we intend to focus our search on global technology, software and FinTech opportunities businesses. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of 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 (including the sale of the forward purchase securities and pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of the initial public offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, other securities issuances, or a combination of the foregoing.

 

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The issuance of additional shares in connection with a business combination to the owners of the target or other investors, including the forward purchase securities:

 

may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in the initial public offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares;

 

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 our 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;

 

may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and

 

may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants. Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant debt to bank or other lenders or the owners of a target, it could result in:

 

default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;

 

acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;

 

our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand;

 

our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding;

 

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.

 

We expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete a business combination will be successful.

 

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Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events

 

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for the initial public offering. Following the initial public offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We have generated non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after the initial public offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After the initial public offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of the initial public offering.

 

For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had net income of $8,837,245, which consisted of $1,009,452 in general and administrative expenses and $9,666,167 in unrealized gain on change in fair value of warrants, $180,530 other income earned from investments held in the Trust Account and $46 from bank interest.

 

For the period from October 7, 2020 (Inception) through December 31, 2020, we had net loss of $4,516,882, which consisted of $35,790 in general and administrative expenses and $3,675,000 in unrealized loss on change in fair value of warrants, $9,968 other income earned from investments held in the Trust Account and $816,060 of warrant issuance cost.

 

Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern Considerations

 

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of the initial public offering through receipt of a $25,000 capital contribution from our Sponsor in exchange for the issuance of the founder shares to our Sponsor and $300,000 in loans from our Sponsor, amount which has been paid in full on December 22, 2020.

 

The net proceeds of $575,000,000 from the sale of the units in the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are held in the trust account, which includes the deferred underwriting commissions of $20,125,000, are held in the trust account and are invested or bear interest since January 1, 2021. The proceeds are only invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.

 

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), and the proceeds from the sale of the forward purchase securities 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, if any. 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.

 

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At December 31, 2021, we had cash of $283,409 outside of the trust account and accounts payable and accrued expenses of $353,475. We intend to use the funds held outside the trust account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a 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 $1,500,000 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.

 

We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $500,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $75,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $75,000 for Nasdaq and other regulatory fees; $75,000 for consulting, travel and miscellaneous expenses incurred during the search for a business combination target; and approximately $35,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves. We will also pay our Sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team.

 

These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision 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, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.

 

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 and from the proceeds of the sale of the forward purchase securities 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 the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement units, 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 the initial public 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 are unable to 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.

 

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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. However, the Company is now less than 12 months from its mandatory liquidation date of December 21, 2022 as of the time of filing this Form 10-K. In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with ASC Topic 205-40 Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” the mandatory liquidation as well as our liquidity condition 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, December 21, 2022.

 

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.

 

Contractual Obligations

 

We do not have any long-term debt obligations, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations, purchase obligations or other long-term liabilities, other than an agreement to pay the Sponsor a monthly fee of $10,000 for office space, utilities, secretarial support and administrative services. We began incurring these fees on February 23, 2021 and will continue to incur these fees monthly until the earlier of the completion of an initial business combination and our liquidation.

 

The underwriters of the initial public offering are entitled to a deferred underwriting commission of $0.35 per unit, or $20,125,000 in the aggregate. Subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement, (i) the deferred underwriting commission was placed in the trust account and will be released to the underwriters only upon the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) the deferred underwriting commission will be waived by the underwriters in the event that we do not complete a business combination.

 

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

 

The preparation of the unaudited condensed 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 unaudited condensed financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. We have identified the following as our critical accounting policies:

 

Derivative Financial Instruments

 

The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 815,“Derivatives and Hedging,” (ASC “815”), “Derivatives and Hedging”. Derivative instruments are recorded at fair value on the grant date and re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statements of operations. Derivative assets and liabilities are classified on the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date.

 

Warrant Liabilities

 

We account for our public warrants and private placement warrants (collectively, the “warrants”, which are discussed in Note 3, Note 4 and Note 8 to the financial statements included elsewhere in this Form 10-K) in accordance with ASC Topic 815-40 “Derivatives and Hedging, Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity”, and concluded that a provision in the 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 815-40, the warrants are recorded as derivative liabilities and measured at fair value at inception (on the date of the initial public offering) and at each reporting date in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurement”, with changes in fair value recognized in the Company’s statement of operations.

 

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Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering

 

We comply with the requirements of FASB ASC 340-10-S99-1. Offering costs consisted of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the initial public offering that were directly related to the initial public offering. Offering costs 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 warrant liabilities are expensed as incurred, presented as non-operating expenses in the statement of operations. 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

 

Each of the 57,500,000 units sold in the initial public offering consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant. The public shares contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such public shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation, if there is a shareholder vote or tender offer in connection with the business combination. In accordance with the SEC and its staff’s guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of the Company require ordinary shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Therefore, all Class A ordinary shares have been classified outside of permanent equity.

 

The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable ordinary shares to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable ordinary shares are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.

 

Net Income (Loss) Per Ordinary Share

 

The Company has two classes of shares, which are referred to as Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. On 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 net income per ordinary share is the same as basic net income per ordinary share for the period presented.

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

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. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 including interim periods within those fiscal years with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact, if any, that ASU 2020-06 would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

 

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.

 

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JOBS Act

 

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, our 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 PCAOB 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.

 

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

 

As a “smaller reporting company,” we are not required to provide the information called for by this Item.

 

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

 

The financial statements required by this item are set forth following Item 15 of this Annual Report on form 10-K and are incorporated herein by reference.

 

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Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

 

None.

 

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.

 

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

 

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports under the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed summarized and reported within time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

 

In connection with the preparation of this Annual Report, as of December 31, 2021, an evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including the CEO and CFO, of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-(e) under the Exchange Act). Based on such evaluation, our CEO and CFO concluded that, as of December 31, 2021, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective, due to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting related to our accounting for complex financial instruments and relating to the process of recording accounts payable and accrued expenses. As a result, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with GAAP. Accordingly, Management believes that the financial statements included in this Annual Report present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented.

 

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

 

Disclosure controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this Report, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management evaluated, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer (our “Certifying Officers”), the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2021, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, our Certifying Officers concluded that, as of December 31, 2021, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective, due to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting related to our accounting for complex instruments and process of recording accounts payable and accrued expenses.

 

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Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting

 

As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15- d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:

 

  (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of our company,

 

  (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and

 

  (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

 

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree or compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2021. In making these assessments, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria, Management determined that we did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, due to material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting related to our accounting for complex financial instruments and process of recording accounts payable and accrued expenses. Management has implemented remediation steps to improve our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, we expanded and improved our review process for complex securities and related accounting standards. The elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, as such as of December 31, 2021, the material weaknesses have not been fully remediated and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.

 

This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of internal controls from our independent registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act.

 

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.

 

Item 9B. Other Information

 

None.

 

Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections

 

Not applicable.

 

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PART III

 

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.

 

Directors and Executive Officers

 

Our officers and directors are as follows:

 

Name   Age   Position
Andrea Pignataro   51   Executive Chairman and Director
Mathew J. Cestar   51   Chief Executive Officer and Director
Kunal Gullapalli   37   Chief Financial Officer
Sheila Hooda   64   Director
John Woyton   43   Director
Kenneth T. Schiciano   59   Director

 

Andrea Pignataro has been our Executive Chairman and Director since October 2020. Mr. Pignataro founded ION Investment Group in 1998 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. We believe that Mr. Pignataro as founder and Chief Executive Officer of ION is appropriately qualified to act as a director of the Company.

 

Mathew J. Cestar has been our Chief Executive Officer and Director since October 2020. Mr. Cestar served as Managing Director of Credit Suisse from 2005 to 2020, and as Co-Head of its EMEA Investment Banking and Capital Markets from 2017 to 2019 with responsibility for Mergers & Acquisitions, Debt & Equity Capital Markets Groups and the EMEA Investment Banking sector and country coverage teams. In his role at Credit Suisse, Mr. Cestar also chaired the Global Credit Products Capital Commitment Committee in London, was a member of Credit Suisse’s Global IBCM Operating Committee, IBCM Business Risk and Controls Committee, and the Corporate Bank Risk and Corporate Bank Oversight Committee. He also coordinated Credit Suisse’s underwriting and capital commitment activities. Mr. Cestar was a member of Credit Suisse UK Conducts and Ethics Board and the EMEA Reputational Risk Committee. Previously, from 2015 to 2017, Mr. Cestar served as Co-Head of Global Leveraged Finance Capital Markets and Co-Head of Global Credit Products in EMEA. Prior to this, from 2013 to 2015, he was Co-Head of the Leveraged Finance and Sponsors Group within the Investment Banking Department, responsible for product origination and relationship management with global private equity firms. In 2008, Mr. Cestar was appointed Head of Leveraged Finance Capital Markets in EMEA, having previously taken on the role of Head of High Yield Capital Markets in the region in 2005. We believe Mr. Cestar is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his career in financial services.

 

Kunal Gullapalli has been our Chief Financial Officer since March 2022. Mr. Gullapalli joined ION Group in September 2018 and, since that date, he is a director of ION Analytics and leads Corporate Development. Since February 2020, Mr. Gullapalli serves as a director of FermION Investment Group. Previously, from August 2010 to August 2012, from August 2014 to December 2016, and from January 17 to August 2018, he worked in private equity investing, as Associate, Senior Associate and Vice President, respectively, at The Carlyle Group. Before that, from July 2007 to July 2010, he worked as an Analyst at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Gullapalli holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

 

Sheila Hooda has served as our Director since December 2020. Ms. Hooda is an experienced independent board director of Fortune 500, private equity portfolio and public companies, committee chair and strategic transformation and turnaround leader with a breadth of global business, strategy, finance, risk & technology expertise. From 2016 to 2020, Ms. Hooda has served on the Board of Virtus Investment Partners. Since 2016 and 2021, she serves on the Boards of Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company and Enact Holdings Inc., respectively. As Chair of the Risk and Nomination Governance Committees, and member of the Audit, Compensation and Finance committees, of other companies, her governance experience has included providing oversight for business transformation, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, divestitures, innovation, board nomination, Chief Executive Officer and Chair succession, strategy, new market entry, capital allocation, special transactions, external auditor selection, and digital, cyber, data privacy and crisis preparedness. She has also overseen talent, culture, diversity and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance. Ms. Hooda is the Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Advisory Partners providing strategic advisory services to firms facing technology, digital, market and regulatory disruption.

 

Ms. Hooda serves on our board of directors due to her qualifications based on her professional experience leading companies, including her extensive experience as an independent board director.

 

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John Woyton has served as our Director since December 2020. Mr. Woyton has more than 18 years of private equity investing experience. Since August 2021, has served as the Fund Head and Managing Director of H.I.G. Technology Partners. From October 2008 to October 2019, Mr. Woyton worked at Advent International, where he was a Partner, Managing Director and Head of the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) team. Advent International is a global private equity firm with approximately $58.4 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2020. Prior to joining Advent International, Mr. Woyton worked as a professional at The Carlyle Group, 3i, and UBS Investment Bank. Mr. Woyton received a Bachelor of Science in Economics, with honours, from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

 

Mr. Woyton is the Chairman of Grupo Primavera (fka Ekon), a leading enterprise of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) software solution provider in Spain following his appointment in October 2019. In addition, since August 2016, Mr. Woyton is the Vice Chair of Little Bleeders Charity, a charity that supports young people with blood disorders. Previously, from March 2014 to September 2019, Mr. Woyton was a non-executive Director in FinancialForce, a SaaS vendor in the professional services automation and financial management sector, and in Unit4, one of Europe’s largest enterprise application vendors. From December 2012 to February 2019, he was a non-executive Director in KMD, a provider of mission critical software and services to pension funds, insurers, banks, and governments across the Nordic region, also being on the M&A Committee and Remuneration and Selection Committee.

 

Mr. Woyton serves on our board of directors due to his qualifications based on his professional experience in technology related investments in companies worldwide and advisory skills consistently deployed on the boards where he had served or currently serves.

 

Kenneth T. Schiciano has served as our Director since December 2020. Mr. Schiciano currently serves as a Managing Director of TA Associates, a private equity firm which he joined in 1988, and headed the North American Technology Group from 2012 to 2019. Mr. Schiciano also currently serves on the boards of several private companies, including Insurity LLC, ION Markets from August 2018 and TierPoint, LLC from March 2016. He formerly served on the boards of Arxan Technologies, and CyOptics, from September 2013 to April 2020, and from March 2012 to June 2013, respectively. Mr. Schiciano holds a B.S. from Duke University, a M.S. from Stanford University and a S.M. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

 

Mr. Schiciano serves on our board of directors due to his qualifications mainly based on his formation and his more than 32 years of private equity investing experience.

 

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

 

Our board of directors consists of five 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 Nasdaq 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 Nasdaq. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Mr. Schiciano, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Ms. Hooda and Mr. Woyton, will expire at the second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Pignataro and Cestar will expire at the third annual general meeting.

 

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.

 

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Committees of the Board of Directors

 

Our board of directors has two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules, the rules of Nasdaq and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Each committee operates under a charter that has been approved by our board and has the composition and responsibilities described below.

 

Audit Committee

 

We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Currently, Ms. Hooda, Mr. Schiciano and Mr. Woyton serve as members of our audit committee, all of whom are independent.

 

Ms. Hooda is the chairperson of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Ms. Hooda qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.

 

We have 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 auditor’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;

 

  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 auditors 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.

 

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Compensation Committee

 

Our board of directors has established a compensation committee of our board of directors. Currently, the members of our compensation committee are Mrs. Hooda and Mr. Schiciano. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

 

  reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our chief executive officer’s compensation, evaluating our chief executive officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our chief executive officer’s based on such evaluation;

 

  reviewing and 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 executive officers and employees;

 

  producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and

 

  reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.

 

The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.

 

Director Nominations

 

We do not have a standing nominating committee though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(2) of the Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by our board of directors. Our board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. The directors that participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Ms. Hooda, Mr. Woyton and Mr. Schiciano. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(1)(A) of the Nasdaq rules, all such directors are independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.

 

The board of directors also considers director candidates recommended for nomination by our shareholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of shareholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of shareholders). Our shareholders that wish to nominate a director for election to our board of directors should follow the procedures set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.

 

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, our 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.

 

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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 Ethics

 

We have adopted a code of ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees (“Code of Ethics”) that complies with the rules and regulations of Nasdaq. The Code of Ethics codifies the business and ethical principles that govern all aspects of our business. A copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

Conflicts of Interest

 

Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:

 

  (i) duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole;

 

  (ii) duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose;

 

  (iii) directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion;

 

  (iv) duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders;

 

  (v) duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and

 

  (vi) duty to exercise independent judgment.

 

In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.

 

As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.

 

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to at least one other entity 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 entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

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Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:

 

Individual   Entity   Entity’s Business   Affiliation
             
Andrea Pignataro   ION   Financial technology   Founder and Chief Executive Officer
    ScION Tech Growth II   Blank check company   Executive Chairman
             
Mathew J. Cestar   ION   Financial technology   Employee
    ScION Tech Growth II   Blank check company   Chief Executive Officer
             
Kunal Gullapalli   ION   Financial technology   Employee
    ScION Tech Growth II   Blank check company   Chief Financial Officer
    ION Analytics   Business information solutions company   Director
             
    FermION Investment Group   Investment Management Company   Director
             
Sheila Hooda   Alpha Advisory Partners   Strategic advisory services   Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer
    Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company   Mutual insurance and financial services company   Chair of the Risk Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
Former Member of the Audit and Investment Committees
    Enact Holdings Inc.   Mortgage insurance provider   Director
Member of the Audit Committee, and Nomination and Governance Committee
    ScION Tech Growth II   Blank check company   Director
             
John Woyton  

H.I.G. Technology Partners

 

Grupo Primavera

 

 

 

 

Enterprise software solution provider

 

Fund Head and Managing Director

 

 

 

Chairman

             
    Little Bleeders Charity   Charity   Vice Chair
    ScION Tech Growth II   Blank check company   Director
             
Kenneth T. Schiciano   TA Associates   Private equity firm   Managing Director of the North American Technology Group
    Insurity LLC   Software firm   Board Member
    ION Markets   Technology and data solutions company   Board Member
    TierPoint, LLC   Information technology and data center services   Board Member
    ScION Tech Growth II   Blank check company   Director

 

In addition, our Sponsor and our officers and directors may Sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition 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 initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

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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 completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event 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 which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm, that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

 

In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares, and they and the other members of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and any shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial business combination.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease making these payments. In addition, the Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket 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 the Sponsor, our officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to the Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.

 

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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 Nasdaq 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. We may elect to make payment of customary fees to members of our board of directors for director service. In addition, our Sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket 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 out-of-pocket 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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters.

 

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of December 31, 2021 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.

 

Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of 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 Form 10-K.

 

The beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares is based on 71,875,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2021, consisting of 57,500,000 Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding and 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding.

 

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1)  Number of
Class A
Ordinary
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
   Approximate
Percentage
of
Outstanding
Class A
Ordinary
Shares
   Number of
Class B
Ordinary
Shares
Beneficially
Owned(2)
   Approximate
Percentage
of
Outstanding
Class B
Ordinary
Shares
 
ScION 1 Sponsor LLC(3)           14,375,000    100%
Andrea Pignataro(3)(4)   76,702    0.11%   14,375,000    100%
Mathew J. Cestar(3)           14,375,000    100%
Kunal Gullapalli                
Sheila Hooda                
John Woyton                
Kenneth T. Schiciano                
All officers and directors as a group (six individuals)           14,375,000    100%

 

(1) Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following is 10 Queen St Place, 2nd Floor, London, EC4R 1BE, United Kingdom.
   
(2) Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment.
   

(3)

 

ScION 1 Sponsor LLC, our Sponsor, is the record holder of such shares. Andrea Pignataro and Mathew Cestar are the managers of ScION 1 Sponsor LLC and share voting and investment discretion with respect to the ordinary shares held of record by ScION 1 Sponsor LLC. Each of Andrea Pignataro and Mathew Cestar disclaims any beneficial ownership of the securities held by ScION 1 Sponsor LLC other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest he may have therein, directly or indirectly.
   

(4)

 

ION Treasury Investments Limited is the record holder of the 76,702 Class A ordinary shares. Andrea Pignataro has voting and investment discretion with respect to the securities held of record by ION Treasury Investments Limited.

 

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 Name and Address of Beneficial Owner  Number of
Class A
Ordinary
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
   Approximate
Percentage of
Outstanding
Class A
Ordinary
Shares
   Number of
Class B
Ordinary
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
   Approximate
Percentage of
Outstanding
Class B
Ordinary
Shares
 
Five Percent Holders                
Aristeia Capital, L.L.C. (1)   3,796,241    6.1160%       —       — 
Empyrean Capital Overseas Master Fund, Ltd.(2)   2,913,000    5.10%        
Bank of Montreal(3)   3,064,149    5.3%        

 

(1) According to a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 14, 2022 on behalf of Aristeria Capital, L.L.C. (“Aristeria”), Aristeria is the investment manager of, and has voting and investment control with respect to the securities described herein held by, one or more private investment funds. The business address of Aristeria is One Greenwich Plaza, 3rd Floor, Greenwich, CT 06830.
(2) According to a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on January 19, 2021 on behalf of Empyrean Capital Overseas Master Fund, Ltd. (“ECOMF”), Empyrean Capital Partners, LP (“ECP”) and Mr. Amos Meron (who serve as the managing member of Empyrean Capital, LLC, the general partner of ECP, with respect to the Class A Ordinary Shares directly held by ECOMF), the address of the business office of such reporting persons is c/o Empyrean Capital Partners, LP, 10250 Constellation Boulevard, Suite 2950, Los Angeles, CA 90067.
(3) According to a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 14, 2022 on behalf of Bank of Montreal, Bank of Montreal is a Bank as defined in Section 3(a)(6) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78c), Broker or dealer registered under Section 15 of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78c) and a parent holding company or control person in accordance with 240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(G). The business address of Bank of Montreal is 100 King Street West, 21st Floor, Toronto, M5X 1A1, Ontario, Canada.

 

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.

 

Founder Shares

 

On October 7, 2020, the Sponsor purchased 14,375,000 founder shares for an aggregate price of $25,000.

 

The founder shares included an aggregate of up to 1,875,000 shares subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment was not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor would own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the initial public offering. In connection with the underwriters’ full exercise of their over-allotment option on December 21, 2020, the 1,875,000 shares were no longer subject to forfeiture, resulting in the Sponsor holding 14,375,000 founder shares.

 

The initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of the initial business combination, or (ii) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after the initial business combination that results in all of the Company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property; except to certain permitted transferees and under certain circumstances (the lock-up). Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (1) the closing price of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, 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 (2) if the Company consummates a transaction after the initial business combination which results in the Company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up.

 

Related Party Loans

 

On October 9, 2020, we issued an unsecured promissory note to the Sponsor (the “Promissory Note”), pursuant to which we could borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000. The Promissory Note was non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the completion of the initial public offering. The Promissory Note was paid in full on December 22, 2020.

 

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 our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If we complete a business combination, we would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. 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 the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into private placement warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.

 

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Administrative Services Agreement

 

We entered into an agreement with the Sponsor whereby, commencing on December 17, 2020 through the earlier of the consummation of a business combination and our liquidation, we agreed to pay the Sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support.

 

For the period from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, the Company incurred $120,000 of administrative services under this arrangement.

 

Forward Purchase Agreement

 

We have entered into a forward purchase agreement pursuant to which OrIOn committed that it will purchase from the Company 10,000,000 forward purchase units, or at its option up to an aggregate maximum of 30,000,000 forward purchase units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, or a forward purchase share, and one-third of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share for $10.00 per unit, or an aggregate amount of $100,000,000, or at the purchaser’s option up to an aggregate amount of $300,000,000, in a private placement that will close concurrently with the closing of the Company’s initial business combination. The proceeds from the sale of these forward purchase units, together with the amounts available to the Company from the Trust Account (after giving effect to any redemptions of public shares) and any other equity or debt financing obtained by the Company in connection with the business combination, will be used to satisfy the cash requirements of the business combination, including funding the purchase price and paying expenses and retaining specified amounts to be used by the post-business combination company for working capital or other purposes. The forward purchase shares will be identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in the initial public offering, except that they will be subject to transfer restrictions and registration rights. The forward purchase warrants will have the same terms as the Private Placement Warrants so long as they are held by the purchaser or its permitted assignees and transferees.

 

Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services.

 

The firm of Marcum LLP acts as our independent registered public accounting firm. The following is a summary of fees paid to Marcum LLP for services rendered.

 

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 Marcum LLP in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Marcum LLP for audit fees, inclusive of required filings with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2021, totaled $88,580. The aggregate fees billed by Marcum LLP for audit fees, inclusive of required filings with the SEC for the period ended December 31, 2020 totaled $45,450.

 

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. For the year ended December 31, 2021 and period ended December 31, 2020, we did not pay Marcum LLP any audit-related fees.

 

Tax Fees. Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. For the year ended December 31, 2021, and period ended December 31, 2020 we did not pay Marcum LLP any tax fees. 

 

All Other Fees. All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services. For the year ended December 31, 2021 and period ended December 31, 2020, we did not pay Marcum LLP any other fees.

 

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).

 

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PART IV

 

Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.

 

(a)The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:

 

1.Financial Statements: See “Index to Financial Statements”

 

(b)Financial Statement Schedules. All schedules are omitted for the reason that the information is included in the financial statements or the notes thereto or that they are not required or are not applicable.

 

(c)Exhibits: The exhibits listed in the Exhibit Index below are filed or incorporated by reference as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

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ScION Tech Growth I

Index to Financial Statements

 

  Page
Report of Marcum LLP Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID: 688) F-2

Financial Statements:

 
Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 F-3

Statements of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from October 7, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020

F-4
Statements of Changes in Shareholders’ Deficit for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from October 7, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 F-5

Statements of Cash Flows for the year ended on December 31, 2021 and for the period from October 7, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020

F-6

Notes to Financial Statements

F-7

 

F-1

 

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of

ScION Tech Growth I

 

Opinion on the Financial Statements

 

We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of ScION Tech Growth I (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ deficit and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the period from October 7, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, 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 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from October 7, 2020 (inception) from December 31, 2020, 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 for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the issuance date of the financial statements. 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 audits. 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 audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits 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 audits 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 audits 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 audits 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 audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

 

/s/ Marcum llp

 

Marcum llp

 

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.

 

New York, NY
April 15, 2022

 

F-2

 

 

ScION Tech Growth I

BALANCE SHEETS

 

   December 31,
2021
   December 31,
2020
 
         
Assets        
Current asset        
Cash  $283,409   $1,425,919 
Prepaid assets   461,986    936,986 
Total current assets   745,395    2,362,905 
Securities held in Trust Account   575,190,452    575,009,968 
Total Assets  $575,935,847   $577,372,873 
           
Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit          
Current liabilities:          
Accrued offering costs and expenses  $228,314   $956,417 
Due to related party   125,161    5,162 
Total current liabilities   353,475    961,579 
Warrant liability   20,795,500    30,461,667 
Deferred underwriting discount   20,125,000    20,125,000 
Total liabilities   41,273,975    51,548,246 
           
Commitments (Note 7)   
 
      
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, 57,500,000 shares at redemption value   575,190,452    575,009,968 
           
Shareholders’ Deficit:          
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding   
-
    - 
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding (excluding 57,500,000 shares subject to possible redemption)   
-
    
-
 
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 50,000,000 shares authorized; 14,375,000 shares issued and outstanding   1,438    1,438 
Additional paid-in capital   
-
    
-
 
Accumulated deficit   (40,530,018)   (49,186,779)
Total shareholders’ deficit   (40,528,580)   (49,185,341)
           
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit  $575,935,847   $577,372,873 

 

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

 

F-3

 

 

ScION Tech Growth I

STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

 

   Year ended   Period from
October 7,
2020
(Inception)
through
 
   December 31,
2021
   December 31,
2020
 
         
Formation and operating costs  $1,009,452   $35,790 
Loss from operations   (1,009,452)   (35,790)
           
Other income (expense):          
Transaction costs allocable to warrant liability   
-
    (816,060)
Bank interest income   46    
-
 
Change in fair value of warrants   9,666,167    (3,675,000)
Trust interest income   180,484    9,968 
Total other income (expense)   9,846,697    (4,481,092)
           
Net income (loss)   8,837,245    (4,516,882)
           
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A common stock   57,500,000    6,764,706 
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share, Class A common stock  $0.12   $(0.23)
           
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B common stock   14,375,000    12,720,588 
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share, Class B common stock  $0.12   $(0.23)

 

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

 

F-4

 

 

ScION Tech Growth I

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT

FOR THE PERIOD FROM OCTOBER 7, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020 AND

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021

 

   Class A Ordinary Shares   Class B Ordinary Shares   Additional Paid-in   Accumulated   Total Shareholders’ 
   Shares   Amount   Shares   Amount   Capital   Deficit   Equity 
Balance as of October 7, 2020 (inception)   
         -
   $
       -
    
      -
   $
     -
  $
     -
   $
       -
   $         
Class B ordinary shares issued to Sponsor             14,375,000   $1,438    23,562         25,000 
Excess of cash received over fair value of the Private Placement Warrants                       6,480,000         6,480,000 
Initial classification of FPA liability                       (5,200,000)        (5,200,000)
Re-measurement of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption   -    
-
    -    
-
    (1,303,562)   (44,669,897)   (45,973,459)
                                    
Net loss   -    -    -    -    
-
    (4,516,882)   (4,516,882)
Balance as of December 31, 2020   
-
   $
-
    14,375,000   $1,438   $
-
   $(49,186,779)  $(49,185,341)
Net income        
 
    -    
-
    
-
    8,837,245    8,837,245 
Re-measurement of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption   -    -    -    -    
-
    (180,484)   (180,484)
Balance as of December 31, 2021   
-
   $
-
    14,375,000   $1,438   $
-
   $(40,530,018)  $(40,528,580)

 

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

 

F-5

 

 

ScION Tech Growth I

STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

 

   For the
year ended
December 31,
2021
   For the
period from
October 7,
2020 (Inception)
through
December 31,
2020
 
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:        
Net income (loss)  $8,837,245   $(4,516,882)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:          
Interest earned on treasury securities held in Trust Account   (180,484)   (9,968)
Transaction costs allocable to warrant liability   
-
    816,060 
Change in fair value of warrants   (9,666,167)   3,675,000 
Changes in current assets and current liabilities:          
Prepaid assets   475,000    (936,986)
Due to related party   119,999    5,162 
Accrued offering costs and expenses   (728,103)   956,417 
Net cash used in operating activities   (1,142,510)   (11,197)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:          
Investment held in Trust Account   
-
    (575,000,000)
Net cash used in investing activities   
-
    (575,000,000)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:          
Proceeds from initial public offering, net of underwriters’ fees   
-
    563,500,000 
Proceeds from private placement   
-
    13,500,000 
Proceeds from issuance of founder shares   
-
    25,000 
Proceeds from issuance of promissory note to related party   
-
    222,583 
Repayment of promissory note to related party   
-
    (222,583)
Payments of offering costs   
-
    (587,884)
Net cash provided by financing activities   
-
    576,437,116 
Net Change in Cash   (1,142,510)   1,425,919 
Cash - Beginning   1,425,919    
 
Cash - Ending  $283,409   $1,425,919 
           
Supplemental Disclosure of Non-cash Financing Activities:          
Initial value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption  $
-
   $529,036,509 
Re-measurement of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption  $180,484   $45,973,459 
Deferred underwriting commissions charged to additional paid-in capital  $
-
   $20,125,000 
Initial classification of warrant liability  $
-
   $26,786,667 

 

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

 

F-6

 

 

ScION Tech Growth I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

DECEMBER 31, 2021

 

Note 1 — Organization and Business Operations

 

Organization and General

 

ScION Tech Growth I (the “Company”) was incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on October 7, 2020. 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”). The Company is an “emerging growth company”, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). The Company’s efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic location.

 

The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end. 

 

As of December 31, 2021, the Company had not yet commenced any operations. All activity as of December 31, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (“IPO”) described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the IPO and will recognize changes in the fair value of warrant liability as other income (expense).

 

Financing

 

The registration statement for the Company’s IPO was declared effective on December 16, 2020 (the “Effective Date”). On December 21, 2020, the Company consummated the IPO of 57,500,000 units, including the issuance of 7,500,000 units as a result of the underwriters’ full exercise of the over-allotment option (the “Units” and, with respect to the ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $575,000,000, which is discussed in Note 4.

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company consummated the sale of 9,000,000 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $13,500,000, which is discussed in Note 5.

 

Transaction costs amounted to $32,212,884 consisting of $11,500,000 of underwriting discount, $20,125,000 of deferred underwriting discount, and $587,884 of other offering costs.

 

Trust Account

 

Following the closing of the IPO on December 21, 2020, $575,000,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the IPO and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was placed in a Trust Account, which can only be invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in 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 which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account that may be released to the Company to pay its taxes, if any, the proceeds from the IPO and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will not be released from the Trust Account until the earliest of (i) the completion of the Business Combination, (ii) the redemption of the Company’s Public Shares if the Company is unable to complete the initial Business Combination within 24 months from December 21, 2020 (the “Combination Period”), the closing of the IPO, subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of the Company’s Public Shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.

 

F-7

 

 

Initial Business Combination

 

The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the IPO and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination.

 

The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, the Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully.

 

The Company will provide its public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of the initial Business Combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the initial 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 proposed initial Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The shareholders will be entitled to redeem their shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then on deposit in the Trust Account (initially $10.00 per share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its taxes).

 

The shares of ordinary share subject to redemption will be recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the IPO, in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” In such case, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 and, if the Company seeks shareholder approval, a majority of the issued and outstanding shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination.

 

If the Company is unable to complete the initial 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 earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (less tax payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining shareholders and the Company’s board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law.

 

The Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares 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, (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 the Combination Period, 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.

 

F-8

 

 

Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern Considerations

 

As of December 31, 2021, the Company had cash outside the Trust Account of $283,409 available for working capital needs. All remaining cash held in the Trust Account are generally unavailable for the Company’s use, prior to an initial Business Combination, and is restricted for use either in a Business Combination or to redeem common stock. As of December 31, 2021, none of the amount in the Trust Account was available to be withdrawn as described above.

 

Through December 31, 2021, the Company’s liquidity needs were satisfied through a capital contribution from the Sponsor of $25,000, to cover certain offering costs, for the founder shares (see Note 6), the loan under an unsecured promissory note from the Sponsor of $222,583 (see Note 6), and the net proceeds from the consummation of the Private Placement not held in the Trust Account. The promissory note from the Sponsor was paid in full on December 22, 2020.

 

Until consummation of its Business Combination, the Company will be using the funds not held in the Trust Account, and any additional Working Capital Loans (as defined in Note 6) from the initial stockholders, the Company’s officers and directors, or their respective affiliates (which is described in Note 6), for identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, performing business due diligence on prospective target businesses, traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses, reviewing corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, selecting the target business to acquire and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination.

 

If the Company is unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of potential transaction and reducing overhead expenses. The Company cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all.

 

If the Company’s cash outside the Trust Account is less than the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a Business Combination the Company may have insufficient funds available to operate its business prior to the Business Combination. Moreover, the Company will need to raise additional capital through loans from its Sponsor, officers, directors, or third parties. None of the Sponsor, officers or directors are under any obligation to advance funds to, or to invest in, the Company. If the Company is unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of its business plan, and reducing overhead expenses. The Company cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all.

 

Additionally, the Company is now less than 12 months from its mandatory liquidation date of December 21, 2022 as of the time of filing this Form 10-K. In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with ASC Topic 205-40 Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern, this condition and the Company’s liquidity condition 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, December 21, 2022.

 

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.

 

F-9

 

 

NOTE 2 Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

 

Basis of Presentation

 

The accompanying financial statements are 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 SEC.

 

Emerging Growth Company Status

 

The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (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.

 

Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgement. 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 statements is the determination of the fair value of the Public Warrant, Private Placement Warrant, and Forward Purchase Warrant liabilities. Such estimates may be subject to change as more current information becomes available and accordingly the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.

 

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 and 2020.

 

F-10

 

 

Cash and Securities Held in Trust Account

 

Securities held in Trust Account consist of United States Treasury securities. The Company’s securities held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities. Trading securities are presented on the balance sheets at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of investments held in Trust Account are included in interest earned on Securities held in Trust Account in the accompanying statements of operations. The estimated fair values of securities held in Trust Account are determined using available market information.

 

Warrant Liabilities

 

The Company evaluated the warrants (which are discussed in Note 3, Note 4 and Note 8) in accordance with ASC 815-40 and concluded that a provision in its 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 815-40, the warrants are recorded as derivative liabilities on the balance sheet and measured at fair value at inception (the date of the IPO) and at each reporting date in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurement”, with changes in fair value recognized in the Company’s statement of operations. The measurement of the Public Warrants after the detachment of the Public Warrants from the Units is classified as Level 1 due to the use of an observable market quote in an active market. The subsequent measurements of the Private Placement Warrants and the Forward Purchase Warrants after the detachment of the Public Warrants from the Units are classified as Level 2 due to the use of an observable market quote for a similar asset in an active market. The fair value was initially estimated using a Monte Carlo Simulation approach (see Note 6)

 

Offering Costs

 

The Company complies with the requirements of the ASC 340-10-S99-1 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) Topic 5A - “Expenses of Offering”. Offering costs consist principally of professional and registration fees incurred through the balance sheet date that are related to the IPO. Offering costs are allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the IPO based on a relative fair value basis compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs associated with warrant liabilities were expensed, and offering costs associated with the Class A ordinary share are charged to the shareholders’ equity. As such, in 2020 the Company recorded $31,396,824 of offering costs as a reduction of equity in connection with the sale of the Class A ordinary shares. The Company immediately expensed $816,060 of offering costs in connection with the Public Warrants that were classified as liabilities.

 

Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption

 

The Company accounts for its ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares is classified as shareholders’ equity. The Company’s ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that is considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, ordinary shares subject to possible redemption were presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.

 

F-11

 

 

Income Taxes

 

The Company accounts for income taxes under 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.

 

ASC 740 also clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an enterprise’s financial statements and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position 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. ASC 740 also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim period, disclosure and transition.

 

The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.

 

The Company is a Cayman Islands exempted company and is presently not subject to income taxes or income tax filing requirements in the Cayman Islands or the United States.

 

Net Income (Loss) Per Ordinary Share

 

The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” Net income (loss) 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, which are referred to as Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. The Company has not considered the effect of the warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement in the calculation of diluted net loss per ordinary share, since the exercise of the warrants is contingent upon the occurrence of future events. On 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 net income per ordinary share is the same as basic net income per ordinary share for the period presented.

 

The table below presents a reconciliation of the numerator and denominator used to compute basic and diluted net loss per share for each class of ordinary shares:   

 

   For the Year Ended
December 31, 2021
   For the Period from
October 27, 2020
(Inception) through
December 31, 2020
 
   Class A   Class B   Class A   Class B 
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share:                
Numerator:                
Allocation of net income (loss)  $7,069,796   $1,767,449   $(1,568,125)  $(2,948,757)
                     
Denominator:                    
Weighted-average shares outstanding   57,500,000    14,375,000    6,764,706    12,720,588 
Basic and diluted net income per share  $0.12   $0.12   $(0.23)  $(0.23)

 

F-12

 

 

Fair Value Measurements

 

FASB ASC Topic 820 “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” (“ASC 820”) defines fair value, the methods used to measure fair value and the expanded disclosures about fair value measurements. Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between the buyer and the seller at the measurement date. In determining fair value, the valuation techniques consistent with the market approach, income approach and cost approach shall be used to measure fair value. ASC 820 establishes a fair value hierarchy for inputs, which represent the assumptions used by the buyer and seller in pricing the asset or liability. These inputs are further defined as observable and unobservable inputs. Observable inputs are those that buyer and seller would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Company. Unobservable inputs reflect the Company’s assumptions about the inputs that the buyer and seller would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances.

 

The fair value hierarchy is categorized into three levels based on the inputs as follows:

 

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.

 

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.

 

The fair value of the Company’s certain assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet. The fair values of cash and cash equivalents, prepaid assets, accounts payable and accrued expenses, due to related parties are estimated to approximate the carrying values as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 due to the short maturities of such instruments.

 

Derivative Financial Instruments

 

The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”. Derivative instruments are recorded at fair value on the grant date and re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statements of operations. Derivative assets and liabilities are classified on the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date. The Company has determined the warrants are a derivative instrument.

 

FASB ASC 470-20, “Debt with Conversion and Other Options” addresses the allocation of proceeds from the issuance of convertible debt into its equity and debt components. The Company applies this guidance to allocate the initial public offering proceeds from the units between Class A ordinary shares and warrants, using the residual method by allocating the initial public offering proceeds first to fair value of the warrants and then the Class A ordinary shares.

 

F-13

 

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

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. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, including interim periods within those fiscal years with early adoption permitted.. The Company is currently assessing the impact, if any, that ASU 2020-06 would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

 

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.

 

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. At December 31, 2021, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts.

 

Risks and Uncertainties

 

Management continues 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.

 

Note 3 — Initial Public Offering

 

Pursuant to the IPO, the Company sold 57,500,000 Units, including 7,500,000 Units as a result of the underwriters’ full exercise of the over-allotment option, at a price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination or 12 months from the closing of the IPO, and will expire five years after the completion of the initial Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

 

Warrants 

 

Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed herein. 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 (excluding any issuance of forward purchase securities) 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 Company’s board of directors and in the case of any such issuance to the Company’s initial shareholders or their affiliate, without taking into account any founder shares held by the Company’s 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 (including from such issuances, the IPO and the sale of the forward purchase units), and 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 Company’s Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates its 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 $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described below under “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” and “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price described adjacent to the caption “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

  

F-14

 

 

The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 12 months from the closing of the IPO or 30 days after the completion of its initial Business Combination, and will expire five years after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

 

The Company will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current. No warrant will be exercisable and the Company will not be obligated to issue a Class A ordinary share upon exercise of a warrant unless the Class A ordinary share issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In no event will the Company be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the Class A ordinary share underlying such unit.

 

Redemption of Warrants When the Price per Class A Ordinary Share Equals or Exceeds $18.00

 

Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants: 

 

in whole and not in part;

 

at a price of $0.01 per warrant; upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”); and

   

if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share, subject to adjustment, for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three business days before 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 redeem the outstanding warrants: 

 

in whole and not in part;

 

at a price of $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 shares, based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” (as defined below) of Class A ordinary shares except as otherwise described below; and

   

if, and only if, the closing price of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share, subject to adjustment, for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending three trading days before 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, subject to adjustment, the private placement warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding public warrants, as described above.

 

In addition, 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. Notwithstanding the above, if 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 in effect a registration statement, and in the event the Company does not so elect, it will use its best 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 shares of the Company’s 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 the warrants, multiplied the excess of the “fair market value” over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported closing price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent.

 

F-15

 

 

Note 4 — Private Placement

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 9,000,000 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $13,500,000, in a private placement. The proceeds from the Private Placement Warrants was added to the proceeds from the IPO held in the Trust Account.

 

The Private Placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold in the IPO, except that the Private Placement Warrants, so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by the Company, (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 the Company’s initial Business Combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to certain registration rights.

 

The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor. 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 warrants included in the units being sold in the IPO.

 

The Sponsor has agreed to (i) waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of the initial Business Combination, (ii) waive its redemption rights with respect to its 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 Company’s public shares if the Company has not consummated its 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 its rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to its founder shares if the Company fails to complete its initial Business Combination within the Combination Period, and (iv) vote any founder shares held by the Sponsor 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 October 7, 2020, the Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain offering costs in consideration for 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 (the founder Shares). Up to 1,875,000 founder shares were subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. In connection with the underwriters’ full exercise of their over-allotment option on December 21, 2020, the 1,875,000 shares were no longer subject to forfeiture.

 

The initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination, or (ii) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after the initial Business Combination that results in all of the Company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property; except to certain permitted transferees and under certain circumstances (the “lock-up”). Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (1) the closing price of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, 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 (2) if the Company consummates a transaction after the initial Business Combination which results in the Company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up.

 

F-16

 

 

Promissory Note — Related Party

 

On October 9, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of the IPO. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the closing of the IPO. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of the IPO out of the $1,000,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses As of December 21, 2020, the Company had borrowed $222,583 under the promissory note. The promissory note from the Sponsor was paid in full on December 22, 2020.

 

Due to Related Parties

 

The balance of $125,161 and $5,162 at December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively represents the amount accrued for the administrative support services provided by Sponsor.

  

Related Party Loans 

 

In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended 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 the initial 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 the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.

 

Administrative Service Fee

 

Commencing on the Effective Date of the registration statement, the Company has 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 from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, the Company incurred $120,000 of administrative services under this arrangement. Upon completion of the initial Business Combination or the Company’s liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees.

        

Forward Purchase Agreement

 

On December 16, 2020, the Company entered into a forward purchase agreement pursuant to which an affiliate of the Sponsor committed that it will purchase from the Company 10,000,000 forward purchase units, or at its option up to an aggregate maximum of 30,000,000 forward purchase units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, or a forward purchase share, and one-third of one warrant (the “Forward Purchase Warrants”) to purchase one Class A ordinary share for $10.00 per unit, or an aggregate amount of $100,000,000, or at the purchaser’s option up to an aggregate amount of $300,000,000, in a private placement that will close concurrently with the closing of the Company’s initial Business Combination. The proceeds from the sale of these forward purchase units, together with the amounts available to the Company from the Trust Account (after giving effect to any redemptions of Public Shares) and any other equity or debt financing obtained by the Company in connection with the Business Combination, will be used to satisfy the cash requirements of the Business Combination, including funding the purchase price and paying expenses and retaining specified amounts to be used by the post-Business Combination company for working capital or other purposes. The forward purchase shares will be identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in the IPO, except that they will be subject to transfer restrictions and registration rights. The Forward Purchase Warrants will have the same terms as the Private Placement Warrants so long as they are held by the purchaser or its permitted assignees and transferees.

 

Note 6 — Recurring Fair Value Measurements

 

Cash and Securities Held in Trust Account

 

As of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, investment in the Company’s Trust Account consisted of $789 and $632, respectively, in cash and $575,189,663 and $575,009,336, respectively, in a mutual fund invested in U.S. Treasury Securities and U.S. Treasury Securities. The Company’s securities held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities. Trading securities are presented on the balance sheets at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of investments held in Trust Account are included in interest earned on Securities held in Trust Account in the accompanying statements of operations.

 

F-17

 

 

Recurring Fair Value Measurements

 

The following tables present information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that were measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 and indicate the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques the Company utilized to determine such fair value.

 

   December 31,   Quoted
Prices In
Active
Markets
   Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs
   Significant
Other
Unobservable
Inputs
 
   2021   (Level 1)   (Level 2)   (Level 3) 
Assets:                
Cash  $789   $789   $
-
   $
         -
 
U.S. Treasury Securities held in Trust Account   575,189,663    575,189,663    
-
    
-
 
   $575,190,452   $575,190,452   $
-
   $
-
 
Liabilities:                    
Private Placement Warrants   5,373,000    
-
    5,373,000   $
-
 
Public Warrants   11,442,500   $11,442,500    
-
    
-
 
Forward Purchase Warrants   3,980,000    
-
    3,980,000   $
-
 
Warrant Liability  $20,795,500   $11,442,500   $9,353,000   $
-
 

 

  

 

 

December 31,

  

Quoted
Prices In
Active
Markets

  

Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs

  

Significant
Other
Unobservable
Inputs

 
   2020   (Level 1)   (Level 2)   (Level 3) 
Assets:                
Cash  $632   $632   $
              -
   $
-
 
U.S. Treasury Securities held in Trust Account   575,009,336    575,009,336    
-
    
-
 
   $575,009,968   $575,009,968   $
-
   $
-
 
Liabilities:                    
Private Placement Warrants   7,920,000    
-
    
-
   $7,920,000 
Public Warrants   16,675,000    
-
    
-
   $16,675,000 
Forward Purchase Warrants   5,866,667    
-
    
-
   $5,866,667 
Warrant Liability  $30,461,667   $
-
   $
-
   $30,461,667 

 

Warrants

 

The warrants are accounted for as liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40 and are presented within warrant liabilities on the Balance Sheets which includes the Forward Purchase Warrants. The warrant liabilities are measured at fair value at inception and on a recurring basis, with changes in fair value presented within change in fair value of warrant liabilities in the Company’s statement of operations.

 

The mid-point of the Forward Purchase Agreement ($200 million) has been used as an estimate for the purpose of deriving the associated Forward Purchase Warrant liability; this estimate is reassessed at each reporting period.

 

Warrant Liability

 

At December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company’s warrants liability was valued at $20,795,500 and $30,461,667, respectively. Under the guidance in ASC 815-40 the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment. As such, the warrants must be recorded on the balance sheet at fair value. This valuation is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each re-measurement, the warrant valuation will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Company’s statement of operations. 

 

Initial Measurement

 

The Company established the initial fair value for the warrants on December 16, 2020, the date of the Company’s initial public offering, using a Monte Carlo simulation model for the public warrants, and the Black-Sholes Model for Private Placement Warrants and Forward Purchase Warrants based on their relative fair values at the initial measurement date. The Private Placement Warrants and Forward Purchase Warrants were classified as Level 3 at the initial measurement date due to the use of unobservable inputs. They are now Level 2.

 

F-18

 

 

Subsequent Measurement

 

As of December 31, 2021, the public warrants were measured at the observable quoted price in active markets, and the Private Placement Warrants and Forward Purchase Warrants were measured at the observable quoted price in active markets for public warrants.

 

The change in the fair value of the derivative warrant liabilities measured utilizing Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 inputs for the year ended December 31 2021 is summarized as follows:

 

Derivative warrant liabilities at January 1, 2021 - Level 3  $30,461,667 
Transfer of Public Warrants to - Level 1 (February 5, 2021)   (16,675,000)
Transfer of Private Placement Warrants and Forward Purchase Warrants to Level 2  (September 30, 2021)   (13,786,667)
Derivative warrant liabilities at December 31, 2021 - Level 3  $
-
 

 

At December 31, 2020, the Private Placement Warrants and Forward Purchase Warrants were valued at $7,920,000 and $5,866,667, respectively.

 

Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2 and 3 are recognized at the end of the reporting period in which a change in valuation technique or methodology occurs.

 

The key inputs into the Monte Carlo simulation model and Black-Scholes Model, respectively were as follows:

 

Input  December 16,
2020
(Initial
Measurement)
 
Risk-free interest rate   0.47%
Expected term (years)   5.75 
Expected volatility   15.0%
Exercise price  $11.50 

 

Input  December 31,
2020
 
Risk-free interest rate   0.46%
Expected term (years)   5.71 
Expected volatility   15.0%
Exercise price  $11.50 

 

Note 7 — Commitments

 

Registration Rights

 

The holders of (i) the founder shares, (ii) the Private Placement Warrants, the forward purchase securities which will be issued in a private placement concurrently with the closing of the Company’s initial business combination and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such Private Placement Warrants and forward purchase securities and (iii) Private Placement Warrants, Forward Purchase Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans will have registration rights to require the Company to register a sale of any of its securities held by them and any other securities of the Company acquired by them prior to the consummation of the initial business combination pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed on December 16, 2020. The holders of these securities will be 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 Company’s completion of its initial business combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements. The registration rights agreement does not contain liquidating damages or other cash settlement provisions resulting from delays in registering the Company’s securities.

 

F-19

 

 

Underwriting Agreement 

 

The Company granted the underwriters a 45-day option from December 21, 2020 to purchase up to an additional 7,500,000 units to cover over-allotments. On December 21, 2020, the underwriters fully exercised the over-allotment option.

 

On December 21, 2020, the Company paid a fixed underwriting discount of $11,500,000. Additionally, the underwriters will be entitled to a deferred underwriting discount of 3.5% of the gross proceeds of the IPO held in the Trust Account, or $20,125,000, upon the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination.

 

Note 8 — Shareholders’ Equity

 

Preference shares—The Company is authorized to issue 5,000,000 preference shares with a par value of $0.0001 and with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of December 31, 2021, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.

 

Class A Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2021, there were no Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding, excluding 57,500,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption.

 

Class B Ordinary Shares—The Company is authorized to issue 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders are entitled to one vote for each share of Class B ordinary shares. On October 7, 2020, the Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain offering costs in consideration for 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 (the founder shares). Up to 1,875,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. In connection with the underwriters’ full exercise of their over-allotment option on December 21, 2020, the 1,875,000 shares were no longer subject to forfeiture. At December 31, 2021, there were 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding.

 

Holders of the Class A ordinary shares and holders of the Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote, on any other matter submitted to a vote of the Company’s shareholders, including any vote in connection with the Company’s initial Business Combination, except as required by law; provided that only holders of the Class B ordinary shares have the right to appoint directors in any election held prior to or in connection with the completion of the initial Business Combination.

 

The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of the initial Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share 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 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 (including the forward purchase shares but not the forward purchase warrants), 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. 

 

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. The Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.  

 

On March 9, 2022 Alex Triplett resigned as Chief Financial Officer of the Company. On March 15, 2022 the Board of Directors of the Company appointed Kunal Gullapalli to serve as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer.

 

F-20

 

 

Exhibit Index

 

Exhibit Number   Description
     
3.1   Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 001-39808, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21, 2020).
     
4.1   Specimen Unit Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-251036), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 30, 2020).
     
4.2   Specimen Ordinary Share Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-251036), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 30, 2020).
     
4.3   Specimen Warrant Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.3 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-251036), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 30, 2020).
     
4.4   Warrant Agreement by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, dated as of December 16, 2020 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 001-39808, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21, 2020).
     
4.5   Description of Registrant’s Securities
     
10.1   Letter Agreement among the Company, its executive officers, its directors and ScION 1 Sponsor LLC, dated as of December 16, 2020 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 001-39808, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21, 2020).
     
10.2   Investment Management Trust Agreement by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, dated as of December 16, 2020 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 001-39808, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21, 2020).

 

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10.3   Registration Rights Agreement, dated December 16, 2020, by and among the Company, ScION 1 Sponsor LLC and the holders party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K  (File No. 001-39808, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21, 2020).
     
10.4   Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement by and between the Company and ScION 1 Sponsor LLC, dated as of December 16, 2020 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 001-39808, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21, 2020).
     
10.5   Administrative Service Agreement, dated as of August 2, 2018, by and between the Company and ScION 1 Sponsor LLC, dated as of December 16, 2020 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 001-39808, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21, 2020).
     
10.6   Form of Indemnity Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-251036), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 30, 2020).
     
10.7   Promissory Note, dated October 9, 2020, issued to ScION 1 Sponsor LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-251036), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 30, 2020).
     
10.8   Securities Subscription Agreement by and between the Company and ScION 1 Sponsor LLC, dated October 9, 2020 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 to the Company’s Form Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-251036), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 30, 2020).
     
10.9   Forward Purchase Agreement, dated December 16, 2020, by and between the Company and OrION Capital Structure Solutions UK Limited (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K  (File No. 001-39808, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21, 2020).
     
14   Code of Ethics (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 14 of the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-251036), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 30, 2020).
     
24   Power of Attorney (included on signature page of this report).
     
31.1   Certification of the Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).
     
31.2   Certification of the Chief Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).
     
32.1   Certification of the Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and 18 U.S.C. 1350.
     
32.2   Certification of the Chief Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and 18 U.S.C. 1350.
     
101.INS   Inline XBRL Instance Document
     
101.SCH   Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
     
101.CAL   Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
     
101.DEF   Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
     
101.LAB   Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
     
101.PRE   Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
     
104   Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)

  

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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.

 

Date: April 15, 2022

SCION TECH GROWTH I
   
  By: /s/ Mathew J. Cestar
    Name:  Mathew J. Cestar
    Title: Chief Executive Officer and Director

 

POWER OF ATTORNEY

 

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Mathew J. Cestar and Kunal Gullapalli, and each or any one of them, his true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, or his or her substitutes or substitute, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

 

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.

 

 

/s/ Mathew J. Cestar   Chief Executive Officer and Director   April 15, 2022
Mathew J. Cestar   (Principal Executive Officer)    
         
/s/ Kunal Gullapalli   Chief Financial Officer   April 15, 2022
Kunal Gullapalli   (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)    
         
/s/ Andrea Pignataro   Executive Chairman and Director   April 15, 2022
Andrea Pignataro        
         
/s/ Sheila Hooda   Director   April 15, 2022
Sheila Hooda        
         
/s/ John Woyton   Director   April 15, 2022
John Woyton        
         
/s/ Kenneth Schiciano   Director   April 15, 2022
Kenneth Schiciano        

 

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