Tio Tech A - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)
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☒ | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
Cayman Islands |
||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |
Unter den Linden 21 10117 Berlin Germany |
10117 | |
(Address of principal executive offices) |
(Zip Code) |
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 |
TIOAU |
The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC | ||
Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 par value |
TIOA |
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 |
TIOAW |
The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
Auditor Firm ID: 688 |
Auditor Name: Marcum LLP |
Auditor Location: Costa Mesa, CA |
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||
Non-accelerated filer |
☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☒ | |||
Emerging growth company | ☒ |
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Item 1. |
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Item 1A. |
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Item 1B. |
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Item 2. |
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Item 3. |
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Item 4. |
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Item 5. |
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Item 6. |
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Item 7. |
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
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Item 7A. |
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Item 8. |
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Item 9. |
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure |
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Item 9A. |
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Item 9B. |
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Item 10. |
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Item 11. |
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Item 12. |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters |
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Item 13. |
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence |
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Item 14. |
41 | |||||
43 | ||||||
Item 15. |
43 | |||||
Item 16. |
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report on Form 10-K”) constitute “forward-looking statements.” Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “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 Annual Report on Form 10-K may include, for example, statements about:
• | our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses; |
• | our ability to complete our initial business combination; |
• | our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses; |
• | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
• | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination; |
• | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
• | our pool of prospective target businesses; |
• | our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the continuing uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; |
• | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
• | our public securities’ liquidity and trading; |
• | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
• | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; |
• | our financial performance; or |
• | the lack of a market for our securities. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under Part I, Item 1A., “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
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PART I
References in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “we,” “us,” “our,” “company” or “our company” are to Tio Tech A. References to our “management” or our “management team” are to our executive officers and directors, and references to our “sponsor” are to Tio Tech SPAC Holdings GmbH, a German limited liability company. References to “HelloFresh” are to HelloFresh SE, a societas europea affiliated with our sponsor.
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.
Our company is led by a highly experienced and complementary team of entrepreneurs, executives and investment professionals with successful track-record in founding and operating companies with multi-billion-dollar valuations, as well as successful investment and transactional execution experience. Our company will be led by our management team, board of directors and an investment advisory board. In addition, our management team will be supported by our affiliate investment advisor, Fuse Venture Partners.
Expiration of Completion Period
On April 11, 2023, we announced that we did not expect to consummate an initial business combination before our mandatory completion date of April 12, 2023. Due to our inability to consummate an initial business combination within the period required by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we are redeeming our public shares pro rata, less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses, in accordance with the provisions of our amended and restated articles memorandum and articles of association for a per share redemption price of approximately $10.19. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless.
Our Management Team
Our management team is led by Dominik Richter, Chairman of our board of directors, Roman Kirsch, our Chief Executive Officer, and Spyro Korsanos, our Chief Financial Officer. Roman Kirsch also serves as a director. Our management team is further supported by our affiliate investment advisor.
Dominik Richter is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of HelloFresh SE, a Frankfurt listed e-commerce food solutions company. Founded in 2011, the company had raised over $300 million in total funding by 2017 and was backed by high-profile investors such as Insight Venture Partners, Baillie Gifford and QIA, among others. In October 2017, the company successfully completed its initial public offering and continued to execute on its global growth and operations across 3 continents and 14 different countries. In his function as the Chief Executive Officer of HelloFresh, Mr. Richter was also able to successfully complement organic growth with strategic acquisitions, including the acquisition of Factor75 in 2020 and the acquisition of GreenChef in 2018, both of which were based in the United States, as well as a number of smaller M&A transactions. He has invested in many private companies and has been a trusted partner to founders and entrepreneurs. Mr. Richter holds a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics in Accounting and Finance and holds an MBA from a leading German business school WHU–Otto Beisheim School of Management.
Roman Kirsch is a Berlin-based serial entrepreneur and investor in technology and consumer internet space, with experience in founding four companies and investing in more than 20 companies in Europe, where he has been a trusted partner to founders and entrepreneurs. In January 2016, Forbes Magazine US listed Mr. Kirsch in its “30 under 30” Europe list for retail and e-commerce. Companies founded by Mr. Kirsch include Casacanda in 2011, a design and home décor company that was later acquired by Fab.com in 2012, and Lesara in 2013, a vertically integrated fashion retail brand, which was awarded as fastest growing tech company in Europe in 2016 and won the Gartner Price for Retail Innovation in 2018, among others. Lesara filed for bankruptcy in November 2018. From 2013 onwards, Mr. Kirsch started co-founding and investing into digitally native consumer brands through his Rapid
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Pioneers Group. In 2013, he was a founding investor in Amorelie, which became one of the leading love-toys and lingerie companies in Europe before being sold to ProSiebenSat.1 in 2015. Mr. Kirsch was also an early backer of Instagram direct-to-consumer pioneer Fitvia in 2015, which was acquired in 2019 by Frankfurt-listed Dermapharm, and an investor in several rising stars in the European consumer technology space. Mr. Kirsch holds a business degree from the German business school WHU–Otto Beisheim School of Management. He also has a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics in Accounting and Finance.
Spyro Korsanos has over 20 years of experience in the technology and media industry. He is the founding managing partner of Fuse Venture Partners (“Fuse”), an investment advisory firm with offices in London, Berlin and Luxembourg and our affiliate investment advisor. Fuse focuses on direct venture capital and growth investments in the European technology sector. Fuse has advised leading European and global technology investors, including Rocket Internet and SoftBank, and various technology ventures in Europe, such as Delivery Hero and HelloFresh in connection with strategic growth initiatives, corporate development initiatives and M&A. For instance, Mr. Korsanos and Fuse led and managed acquisitions of certain businesses on behalf of Delivery Hero, which represent a significant portion of Delivery Hero’s revenues today. From 2015 to 2020, Mr. Korsanos served as a founding partner of, and founding member of the Investment Advisory Committee of, Global Founders Capital (“GFC”). In such capacity, he reviewed and approved more than 300 technology investments from two of GFC’s Luxembourg-based global Internet technology funds, which were the largest Internet venture funds in Europe at the time of their close. Investments covered all funding stages from pre-seed to late-stage funding across multiple continents. Mr. Korsanos was recognized as a “TMT M&A Rising Star” at the TMT Finance Awards in London in 2017. Mr. Korsanos holds an MBA from INSEAD (France) and a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Economics degrees from the University of Sydney.
Our Independent Directors
The following individuals serve on our board of directors as independent directors.
Manuel Stotz is the founder, Chief Executive Officer and portfolio manager of Kingsway Capital, a London-based investment firm founded in 2015, focused on long-term investments in high-quality franchises in branded consumer goods and consumer internet, in both frontier and emerging markets. He started his career at Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and was a portfolio manager at London-based THS Partners in 2013 before founding Kingsway. Mr. Stotz holds a degree in Economics from the London School of Economics. He serves on the board of the Sohn Conference Foundation London and was the founder of the London School of Economics “Pass The Torch” scholarship program.
Jonathan Teklu is an experienced entrepreneur and an active investor. After Mr. Teklu sold his online media company Global Leads Group, where he served as a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, to Holtzbrinck Digital, he co-founded the investment firm Springstar. As managing partner of Springstar, Mr. Teklu was part of the team investing in and supporting Airbnb’s internationalization in 2011/2012. He has invested in several technology companies, including some of Europe’s most successful startups such as Amorelie, Choco, Delivery Hero, One Football and Trade Republic. Mr. Teklu currently serves as Venture Partner at Creandum, a leading European early-stage venture fund, and as an advisor, the first investor and a member of the board of directors of The Collective, a leading Co-Living developer and operator. German, with Ethiopian roots, Mr. Teklu was elected as Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum in 2012 and built the Berlin Hub as founding curator. In 2016, Mr. Teklu was featured on Forbes magazine’s “30 under 30” list. He holds a business degree from WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management.
Jeronimo Folgueira is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Deezer SA. Mr. Folgueira also served as Chief Executive Officer of Spark Networks SE (NASDAQ: LOV), which was known as Affinitas GmbH prior to the 2017 merger with Spark Networks Inc., from 2015 until 2019, and he was a member of the board of directors of Spark Networks SE until August 2020. Mr. Folgueira led Spark Networks SE through three M&A transactions and listed the business on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2017. Before joining Spark Networks SE, he held several senior management positions in the media and entertainment industries, including as managing director at Betfair plc (now Flutter Entertainment plc) from 2014 to 2015, managing director at Bigpoint S.à r.l from 2011 to 2014, Senior Strategy Executive at RTL Group from 2008 to 2011 and founder and chief executive officer of Helppy Media Spain from 2010 to 2012. Helppy Media Spain filed for bankruptcy in 2012. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from University of Navarra, Spain.
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Investment Advisory Board
In addition to our management team and board of directors, we are supported by the investment advisory board consisting of the following advisors. Our advisors (i) assist us in sourcing and negotiating with potential business combination targets, (ii) provide business insights when we assess potential business combination targets and (iii) upon our request, provide business insights as we work to create additional value in the business or businesses that we acquire. In this regard, our advisors fulfil some of the same functions as our board members; however, they do not owe any fiduciary obligations to us nor do they perform any board or committee functions or have any voting or decision-making capacity on our behalf. They also are not required to devote any specific amount of time to our efforts. While certain of our advisors are shareholders in our sponsor, none of our advisors (other than our affiliate investment advisor) have any employment, consulting fee or other similar compensation arrangements with us.
Victor Jacobsson co-founded Klarna, one of Europe’s most highly valued private fintech companies, providing payment solutions for 90 million consumers across more than 200,000 merchants in 17 countries. Klarna is a Swedish bank that provides online financial services such as “buy now pay later” services for e-commerce sites, payments for online storefronts, direct payments, post purchase payments and more. Over the last eight years, Mr. Jacobsson has also acted as an independent advisor and investor, providing advice to entrepreneurs on operational and strategic matters and assisting investors in assessing and managing private equity investments. Mr. Jacobsson holds a MSc in Business and Economics, majoring in Accounting and Financial Management from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Jan Beckers is the founder and chief investment officer of BIT Capital, an asset manager that manages multiple funds focused on investing in publicly listed technology companies in Europe, the United States and China, with over $1 billion assets under management as of 2020. Mr. Beckers’ “BIT Global Internet Leaders” funds delivered strong net returns in 2020 and outperformed the market. Mr. Beckers is a serial entrepreneur in the internet sector, who has founded company building platforms in three industries: Finleap, in the fintech industry, Heartbeat Labs, in the HealthTech industry, and Hitfox, in the adtech and data industry. He was also the founder of Fyber (Xetra: FBEN:GR). Mr. Beckers was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” in Germany by Ernst & Young in 2014. A fund affiliated with Mr. Beckers is an anchor investor in this offering.
Thomas Griesel co-founded HelloFresh with Mr. Richter in 2011 and is responsible for the international segment of the company. Mr. Griesel previously worked at OC&C Strategy Consultants and started a range of his own businesses. He graduated from WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management with a degree in International Business Administration in 2009, and from the London Business School with a Master’s degree in Management in 2010.
Affiliate Investment Advisor
In addition to our management team, board of directors and investment advisory board, we are supported by Fuse Venture Partners, our affiliate investment advisor. Fuse consists of a team of investment professionals, including Mr. Korsanos, its founding managing partner. Fuse is an investment and advisory firm focused on scale up strategies for ventures and venture investors. Fuse invests in technology ventures and provides strategic, transactional, and operational scaling support. The firm has been engaged by European and global technology investors, including Rocket Internet and SoftBank, and some of Europe’s leading unicorns, including Delivery Hero and HelloFresh, for scaling and corporate development strategy, M&A and helping companies prepare for public markets. Prior to Fuse, Mr. Thadaney was a Principal at Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners in London. Prior to this he advised TMT companies in both Europe and Silicon Valley. The supporting team for Fuse is comprised of more than five individuals with experience in corporate finance, strategy, financial and legal due diligence concentrated in the technology sector. In making investments, Fuse focuses on investing in high-growth Series B/C stage internet technology companies in Europe to help such companies scale through operational initiatives and corporate development strategy, including advising on M&A transactions and strategic partnerships. Mr. Richter and Mr. Kirsch act as advisory board members to Fuse with respect to its investment activities.
We expect to draw upon Fuse’s platform, infrastructure, personnel, network and relationships to aid in the identification, evaluation, diligence and analysis of business combination targets in connection with our initial business combination. We expect Fuse will support us in, among other things:
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• | identifying best-in-class ventures and business model optimizations by leveraging their experience working with diverse business models across the technology sector; |
• | conducting deep-level due diligence on business combination targets and developing an efficient, targeted process to evaluate target companies; |
• | identifying value-creating corporate development and strategic initiatives and operational efficiencies that can be realized by potential target companies; and |
• | providing strategic insight with respect to negotiations with targets, drawing on their experience with structuring mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and partnerships. |
Commencing on April 12, 2021, we have paid and will continue to pay our affiliate investment advisor (i) $15,000 per month by us, from funds held outside the trust account, indirectly through a payment to our sponsor, and (ii) an additional $35,000 per month, directly by the sponsor or certain of its shareholders for its services to us. In the event of a successful business combination, our sponsor or certain of its shareholders will pay our affiliate investment advisor a fee of $1,500,000 less (i) the amounts previously paid by us or the sponsor (or certain of its shareholders) and (ii) in the event the initial business combination is not consummated within 12 months following the date of the Initial Public Offering, $40,000 for every month (or pro-rata portion thereof) after the 12-month anniversary of the Initial Public Offering.
Status as a Public Company
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our Initial Public Offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we have only 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such 24-month period, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month time period.
Our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering. However, if our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors acquire public shares in or after our Initial Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 24-month time period.
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Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.
If funds available to us are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay income taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we expect to request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. However, the proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. Our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriter of the Initial Public Offering will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under
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the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. However, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriter of the Initial Public Offering will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors.
If we file a bankruptcy or winding up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy or winding up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency 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. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of our initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event that we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection
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with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may be amended by a special resolution, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least two-thirds of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company.
Employees
We currently have two officers: Roman Kirsch and Spyro Korsanos. 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.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We have registered our securities under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, this Annual Report contains financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We are required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (as revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
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We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of the Initial Public Offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates is equal to or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30th and (2) our annual revenues were equal to or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year or the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates is equal to or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th.
Available Information
Our internet website address is https://www.tiotechspac.com. We make available, free of charge, annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Reports of beneficial ownership filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act are also available on our website. Information in, or that can be accessed through, this website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
ITEM 1A. | RISK FACTORS. |
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks
We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through our 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.
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB’s Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” management determined that we are no longer within 12 months of our mandatory completion as of the time of filing this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which was April 12, 2023. In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” this and our expected financing needs raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern until the earlier of the consummation of our business combination or the date we are required to liquidate. We intend to complete a business combination before the mandatory completion date.
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We have not been able to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of the Initial Public Offering, will cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we will redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We have not been able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of the Initial Public Offering. As a result, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and other requirements of applicable law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law. In either such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.00 per public share, or less than $10.00 per public share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders are entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we are listed on Nasdaq, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our Initial Public Offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.
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If the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate until the completion of our business combination. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $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. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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 public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. Our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriter of our Initial Public Offering have not and will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors.
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Pursuant to the letter agreement the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of our Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
The securities in which we invest the proceeds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the interest income available for payment of taxes or reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants are held in an interest-bearing trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in direct U.S. Treasury obligations having a maturity of 185 days or less, or in certain money market funds which invest only in direct U.S. Treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. Treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we may withdraw to pay income taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we do not complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income. If the balance of the trust account is reduced as a result of negative interest rates, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
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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 winding up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding up 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 winding up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding up 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 or insolvency laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court 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.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding up 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 winding up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If we are deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we would be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities would be severely restricted and, as a result, we may abandon our efforts to consummate a business combination and liquidate the Company.
On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules (the “SPAC Rule Proposals”) that would, among other items, impose additional disclosure requirements in business combination transactions involving SPACs and private operating companies; amend the financial statement requirements applicable to business combination transactions involving such companies; update and expand guidance regarding the general use of projections in SEC filings, as well as when projections are disclosed in connection with proposed business combination transactions; increase the potential liability of certain participants in proposed business combination transactions; and impact the extent to which SPACs could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), including a proposed rule that would provide SPACs a safe harbor from treatment as an investment company if they satisfy certain conditions that limit a SPAC’s duration, asset composition, business purpose and activities. The SPAC Rule Proposals have not yet been adopted and may be adopted in the proposed form or in a different form that could impose additional regulatory requirements on SPACs.
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As described further above, the SPAC Rule Proposals relate, among other matters, to the circumstances in which SPACs such as the Company could potentially be subject to the Investment Company Act and the regulations thereunder. The SPAC Rule Proposals would provide a safe harbor for such companies from the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, provided that a SPAC satisfies certain criteria, including a limited time period to announce and complete a business combination. Specifically, to comply with the safe harbor, the SPAC Rule Proposals would require a company to file a report on Form 8-K announcing that it has entered into an agreement with a target company for a business combination no later than 18 months after the effective date of its registration statement for its initial public offering (the “IPO Registration Statement”). A SPAC would then be required to complete a business combination no later than 24 months after the effective date of the IPO Registration Statement. Because the SPAC Rule Proposals have not yet been adopted, there is currently uncertainty concerning the applicability of the Investment Company Act to a SPAC, including a company like ours, that has not entered into a definitive agreement within 18 months after the effective date of its IPO Registration Statement or that does not complete its initial business combination within 24 months. As a result, it is possible that a claim could be made that we have been operating as an unregistered investment company. If we are deemed to be an investment company and subject to compliance with and regulation under the Investment Company Act, our activities would be severely restricted. In addition, we would be subject to additional burdensome regulatory requirements and expenses for which we have not allotted funds.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
Our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond 24 months before redemption from our trust account can occur.
The proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that, immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offense and may be liable for a fine and to imprisonment in the Cayman Islands.
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We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse United States federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. holder of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. There can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year (and, in the case of the startup exception, potentially not until after the two taxable years following our current taxable year). However, our actual PFIC status for any taxable year will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, in order to enable the U.S. holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. investors to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million
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as of the prior June 30th, and (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with this Annual Report. However, because we qualify as an emerging growth company, we are not required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. Federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders’ derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder (Cayman) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
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As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
We have identified a material weakness in our disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
We have identified a material weakness in our disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting related to our evaluation and review of complex accounting standards for equity transactions, and we have restated our previously issued audited balance sheet as of April 12, 2021, included in our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on April 23, 2021 and then revised for the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment as filed on Form 8-K on April 26, 2021, and certain of our previously issued financial statements in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2021, filed with the SEC on October 25, 2021. As a result of this material weakness, our management has concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2022.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. We continue to take steps to remediate the material weakness. If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and the price of our securities may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
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Our warrants are now accounted for as derivative liabilities and are recorded at fair value with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our ordinary shares or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial Business Combination.
We issued 11,500,000 warrants as part of the Units offered in our Initial Public Offering, and, concurrently therewith, we issued in a private placement, 5,083,333 Private Placement Warrants. We have accounted for both the warrants underlying the Units offered in our Initial Public Offering and the private placement warrants as warrant liabilities. At each reporting period (1) the accounting treatment of the warrants will be re-evaluated for proper accounting treatment as a liability or equity and (2) the fair value of the liability of the public and private placement warrants will be remeasured and the change in the fair value of the liability will be recorded as other income (expense) in our income statement. For the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2022, we recorded $0 in other expense related to the excess fair value over purchase price of the Private Placement Warrants, and $14,670,299 in other income related to the change in fair value of the warrants.
Changes in the inputs and assumptions for the valuation model we use to determine the fair value of such liability may have a material impact on the estimated fair value of the embedded derivative liability. The share price of our ordinary shares represents the primary underlying variable that impacts the value of the derivative instruments. Additional factors that impact the value of the derivative instruments include the volatility of our stock price, discount rates and stated interest rates. As a result, our condensed financial statements and results of operations will fluctuate quarterly, based on various factors, such as the share price of our ordinary shares, many of which are outside of our control. In addition, we may change the underlying assumptions used in our valuation model, which could in result in significant fluctuations in our results of operations. If our stock price is volatile, we expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses on our warrants, or any other similar derivative instruments 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 a liability, or have any warrants at all, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
Risks Relating to our Sponsor and Management Team
We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our officers and directors and the members of our advisory board. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers, directors and members of our advisory board, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
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.
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors and our agreement with our anchor investors contains 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. These agreements may be amended without shareholder approval (although releasing our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors from the restriction not to transfer the founder shares for 180 days following the date of this prospectus will require the prior written consent of the underwriter). 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.
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Risks Related to Our Securities
The market for our securities may be illiquid, which may adversely affect the price of our securities.
The price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Holders of Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on any appointment of directors we hold prior to our initial business combination.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.
Our sponsor controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our sponsor owns 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Accordingly, our sponsor may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our sponsor purchases any additional Class A ordinary shares in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase its control. Neither our sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers, directors or advisors have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as previously disclosed. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the founder shares, all of which are held by our initial shareholders, will, in a vote to continue the company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands (which requires the approval of at least two thirds of the votes of all ordinary shares), entitle the holders to ten votes for every founder share. This provision of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least two-thirds of the ordinary shares voting in at our general meeting. Furthermore, our board of directors, whose members were appointed by our sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office. If there is an annual general meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment and our sponsor, because of its ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome.
Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
Only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under Nasdaq corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
• | we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of Nasdaq; |
• | we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and |
• | we have a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities. |
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We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.
Our warrant agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement do not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This 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.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send proper notice of such redemption to the warrants holders and provided certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.
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In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met, including that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its 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.
As of December 31, 2022, we have outstanding warrants to purchase 11,500,000 of our Class A ordinary shares as part of our public units and private placement warrants to purchase 5,083,333 of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, if the sponsor makes any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants at the price of $1.50 per warrant. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with our redemption of our warrants.
To the extent we issue ordinary shares to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
Because each unit contains one-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 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 they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants have been issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correcting any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the
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warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision, (ii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, or (iii) to provide for delivery of alternative issuances in the case of a reclassification, reorganization or similar events, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
We have not registered the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We have not registered the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.
If the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption from registration. If holders exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, the number of Class A ordinary shares that they will receive upon such cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum amount of shares equal to 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
In no event will warrants be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
If our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act. In the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available. Exercising the warrants on a cashless basis could have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold than upon a cash exercise.
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In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance in which an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in our Initial Public Offering. In such an instance, our sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (or 65% of our ordinary shares with respect to amendments to the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, under Cayman Islands law which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least two-thirds of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our ordinary shares. Our sponsor, who beneficially owns 20% of our ordinary shares, will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
ITEM 1B. | UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS. |
None.
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ITEM 2. | PROPERTIES. |
We currently utilize office space at Unter den Linden 21, 10117 Berlin, Germany from our sponsor and the members of our management team as our executive offices. We pay our sponsor $15,000 per month from funds held outside the trust account, which is paid to our affiliate investment advisor for identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
ITEM 3. | LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. |
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.
ITEM 4. | MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES |
Not applicable.
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PART II
ITEM 5. | MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES. |
Market Information
Our units trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “TIOAU”, our Class A ordinary shares trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “TIOA” and our public warrants trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “TIOAW”.
Holders
As of April 12, 2023, there was 1 holder of record of our units, 1 holder of record of our Class A ordinary shares, 1 holder of record of our Class B ordinary shares and 2 holders of record of our warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
For a description of the use of the proceeds generated in our Initial Public Offering, see Part I, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
ITEM 6. | SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA. |
Not applicable.
ITEM 7. | MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS. |
References in this report (the “Annual Report”) to “we,” “us” or the “Company” refer to Tio Tech A. References to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, references to the “sponsor” refer to Tio Tech SPAC Holdings GmbH. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Annual Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward- looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report includes “forward-looking statements” that are not historical facts and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected and projected. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this Annual Report including, without limitation, statements in this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding the Company’s financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations,
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are forward-looking statements. Words such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “seek” and variations and similar words and expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance, but reflect management’s current beliefs, based on information currently available. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements. For information identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s final prospectus for its Initial Public Offering filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Company’s securities filings can be accessed on the EDGAR section of the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as expressly required by applicable securities law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on February 8, 2021 as a Cayman Islands exempted company and incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses.
On April 11, 2023, we announced that we did not expect to consummate an initial business combination before our completion liquidation date of April 12, 2023. Due to our inability to consummate an initial business combination within the period required by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we are redeeming our public shares pro rata, less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses, in accordance with the provisions of our amended and restated articles memorandum and articles of association for a per share redemption price of approximately $10.19. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless.
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our entire activity since inception has been to prepare for our Initial Public Offering, which was consummated on April 12, 2021 and, after the Initial Public Offering, identifying a target company for a Business Combination.
Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception through December 31, 2022 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for the Initial Public Offering, described below, and, subsequent to the Initial Public Offering, identifying a target company for a Business Combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our Business Combination. We generate non-operating income in the form of income earned on marketable securities held in the Trust Account after the Initial Public Offering and will recognize other income and expense related to the change in fair value of warrant liabilities. We are incurring expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting, and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses in connection with completing a Business Combination.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had net income of $15,771,043, which consisted of $3,861,322 of income earned on investments held in the Trust Account and unrealized gains on the fair value of warrant liabilities of $14,670,299 and bank interest income of $707, offset by operating costs of $1,845,036.
For the period from February 8, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, we had net income of $7,222,425, which consisted of $17,891 of income earned on investments held in the Trust Account and unrealized gains on the fair value of warrant liabilities of $9,066,277, offset by operating costs of $1,112,262 and offering costs allocated to warrants of $749,481.
Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern
On April 12, 2021, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 30,000,000 Units. On April 15, 2021, the Underwriter exercised its over- allotment option in full and purchased an additional 4,500,000 Units, which purchase settled on April 16, 2021, at $10.00 per Unit, generating aggregate gross proceeds of $345,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the sale of 5,083,333 at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, generating total proceeds of $7,625,000.
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Following the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, a total of $345,000,000 was placed in the Trust Account. We incurred $15,383,343 in offering costs, consisting of $5,400,000 of underwriting discount, $9,450,000 of deferred underwriting discount, and $533,343 of other offering costs, of which $749,481 was allocated to warrants and charged to expense.
At December 31, 2022, we had marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $348,879,213. 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 less taxes payable) to complete our initial Business Combination. We may withdraw interest from the Trust Account to pay our taxes. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial Business Combination, the remaining proceeds held in the Trust Account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
At December 31, 2022 we had cash of $5,715 held outside of the Trust Account. 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 initial Business Combination, our sponsor, officers, directors, or their affiliates 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 the initial Business Combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts, but no proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $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. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.
Going Concern
We anticipate that the $5,715 outside of the Trust Account as of December 31, 2022, might not be sufficient to allow us to operate until April 12, 2023, the Combination Period (as defined above), assuming that a business combination is not consummated during that time. Until consummation of our business combination, we will be using the funds not held in the Trust Account, and any additional Working Capital Loans from the initial shareholders, our officers and directors, or their respective affiliates, 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.
We can raise additional capital through Working Capital Loans from the initial shareholders, our officers, directors, or their respective affiliates, or through loans from third parties. None of the sponsor, officers or directors are under any obligation to advance funds to, or to invest in, the Company. If we are unable to raise additional capital, we 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. We cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to the Company on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the issuance date of the financial statements.
Prior to the completion of the initial Business Combination, the Company does not expect to seek loans from parties other than the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor as the Company does 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 the Company’s 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.
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We had until April 12, 2023, or 24 months from the closing of the IPO, to consummate a business combination. We were unable to consummate a business combination by that date, and there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the Company. As of the time of filing this Annual Report on 10-K, we are no longer within 12 months of the mandatory completion date.
Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements
As of December 31, 2022, 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, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities as of December 31, 2022.
The Underwriter is entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $9.45 million, in aggregate. The Underwriter’s deferred commissions will be paid to the Underwriter from the funds held in the Trust Account upon and concurrently with the completion of our initial Business Combination. The deferred underwriting fees will be waived by the Underwriter solely in the event that we do not complete a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
JOBS Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act are allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, the financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an independent registered public accounting firm’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, (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.
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Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and income and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have identified the following critical accounting policies:
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
We account for our 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 are classified as a liability instrument and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including ordinary shares that features redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. Our ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of our balance sheets.
Net Income Per Ordinary Share
We apply the two-class method in calculating earnings per share. Ordinary shares subject to possible redemption which are not currently redeemable and are not redeemable at fair value, have been excluded from the calculation of basic net income per ordinary share since such shares, if redeemed, only participate in their pro rata share of the Trust Account earnings. Our net income is adjusted for the portion of income that is attributable to ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, as these shares only participate in the earnings of the Trust Account and not our income or losses.
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.” For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as liabilities, the derivative instrument is initially recorded at its fair value on the grant date and is then re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statements of operations. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is evaluated at the end of each reporting period.
Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 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. ASU 2020-06 removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it also simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. 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 yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statements.
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Item 7A. | Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk |
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item. As of December 31, 2022, we were not subject to any market or interest rate risk. The net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering, including amounts in the Trust Account, will be invested in U.S. government securities with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds that meet certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, that invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk. However, if the interest rates of the U.S. Treasury obligations become negative, we may have less proceeds held in the Trust Account than initially deposited.
We have not engaged in any hedging activities since our inception, and we do not expect to engage in any hedging activities with respect to the market risk to which we are exposed.
Item 8. | Financial Statements and Supplementary Data |
This information appears following Item 15 of this Annual Report and is included herein by reference.
Item 9. | Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure |
None.
Item 9A. | Controls and Procedures. |
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in Company reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2022. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective due to the material weaknesses related to accounting for complex financial instruments, which was established during the reporting period ended September 30, 2021, and accuracy and completeness of income tax disclosures, which was established during the reporting period ended December 31, 2022.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
(1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of our company,
(2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and
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(3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree or compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2022. In making these assessments, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria, management determined that we did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022.
Management has implemented certain 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. We plan to further improve this process by enhancing access to accounting literature, identification of third-party professionals with whom to consult regarding complex accounting applications and consideration of additional staff with the requisite experience and training to supplement existing accounting professionals. However, the material weakness described above remains not remediated as of December 31, 2022, due to the material weaknesses related to accounting for complex financial instruments and accuracy and completeness of income tax disclosures.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of 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
Other than described above, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
ITEM 9B. | OTHER INFORMATION. |
None.
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PART III
ITEM 10. | DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE. |
Officers and Directors
Our officers and directors are as follows:
Name | Age |
Position | ||||
Dominik Richter |
38 | Chairman, Director | ||||
Roman Kirsch |
34 | Chief Executive Officer, Director | ||||
Spyro Korsanos |
51 | Chief Financial Officer | ||||
Manuel Stotz |
38 | Director | ||||
Jonathan Teklu |
36 | Director | ||||
Jeronimo Folgueira |
41 | Director |
Dominik Richter has been the Chairman of our board of directors since February 2021. Mr. Richter is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of HelloFresh SE, a Frankfurt listed e-commerce food solutions company. Founded in 2011, the company had raised over $300 million in total funding by 2017 and was backed by high-profile investors such as Insight Venture Partners, Baillie Gifford and QIA, among others. In October 2017, the company successfully completed its initial public offering and continued to execute on its global growth and operations across 3 continents and 14 different countries. In his function as the Chief Executive Officer of HelloFresh, Mr. Richter was also able to successfully complement organic growth with strategic acquisitions, including the acquisition of Factor75 in 2020 and the acquisition of GreenChef in 2018, both of which were based in the United States, as well as a number of smaller M&A transactions. He has invested in many private companies and has been a trusted partner to founders and entrepreneurs. Mr. Richter holds a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics in Accounting and Finance and holds an MBA from a leading German business school WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management.
Roman Kirsch has been our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors since February 2021. Mr. Kirsch is a Berlin-based serial entrepreneur and investor in technology and consumer internet space, with experience in founding four companies and investing in more than 20 companies in Europe, where he has been a trusted partner to founders and entrepreneurs. In January 2016, Forbes Magazine US listed Mr. Kirsch in its “30 under 30” Europe list for retail and e-commerce. Companies founded by Mr. Kirsch include Casacanda in 2011, a design and home décor company that was later acquired by Fab.com in 2012, and Lesara in 2013, a vertically integrated fashion retail brand, which was awarded as fastest growing tech company in Europe in 2016 and won the Gartner Price for Retail Innovation in 2018, among others. Lesara filed for bankruptcy in November 2018. From 2013 onwards, Mr. Kirsch started co-founding and investing into digitally native consumer brands through his Rapid Pioneers Group. In 2013, he was a founding investor in Amorelie, which became one of the leading love-toys and lingerie companies in Europe before being sold to ProSiebenSat.1 in 2015. Mr. Kirsch was also an early backer of Instagram direct-to-consumer pioneer Fitvia in 2015, which was acquired in 2019 by Frankfurt-listed Dermapharm, and an investor in several rising stars in the European consumer technology space. Mr. Kirsch holds a business degree from the German business school WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management. He also has a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics in Accounting and Finance.
Spyro Korsanos has been our Chief Financial Officer since February 2021 and is the managing partner of our affiliate investment advisor. He also serves as a board observer. Mr. Korsanos has over 20 years of experience in the technology and media industry. He is the founding managing partner of Fuse Venture Partners (“Fuse”), an investment advisory firm with offices in London, Berlin and Luxembourg and our affiliate investment advisor. Fuse focuses on direct venture capital and growth investments in the European technology sector. Fuse has advised leading European and global technology investors, including Rocket Internet and SoftBank, and various technology ventures in Europe, such as Delivery Hero and HelloFresh in connection with strategic growth initiatives, corporate development initiatives and M&A. For instance, Mr. Korsanos and Fuse led and managed acquisitions of certain businesses on behalf of Delivery Hero, which represent a significant portion of Delivery Hero’s revenues today.
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From 2015 to 2020, Mr. Korsanos served as a founding partner of, and founding member of the Investment Advisory Committee of, Global Founders Capital (“GFC”). In such capacity, he reviewed and approved more than 300 technology investments from two of GFC’s Luxembourg-based global Internet technology funds, which were the largest Internet venture funds in Europe at the time of their close. Investments covered all funding stages from pre-seed to late-stage funding across multiple continents. Mr. Korsanos was recognized as a “TMT M&A Rising Star” at the TMT Finance Awards in London in 2017. Mr. Korsanos holds an MBA from INSEAD (France) and a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Economics degrees from the University of Sydney.
Manuel Stotz has served as a director since April 2021. Mr. Stotz is the founder, Chief Executive Officer and portfolio manager of Kingsway Capital, a London-based investment firm founded in 2015, focused on long-term investments in high-quality franchises in branded consumer goods and consumer internet, in both frontier and emerging markets. He started his career at Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and was a portfolio manager at London-based THS Partners in 2013 before founding Kingsway. Mr. Stotz holds a degree in Economics from the London School of Economics. He serves on the board of the Sohn Conference Foundation London and was the founder of the London School of Economics “Pass The Torch” scholarship program.
Jonathan Teklu has served as a director since April 2021. Mr. Teklu is an experienced entrepreneur and an active investor. After Mr. Teklu sold his online media company Global Leads Group, where he served as a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, to Holtzbrinck Digital, he co-founded the investment firm Springstar. As managing partner of Springstar, Mr. Teklu was part of the team investing in and supporting Airbnb’s internationalization in 2011/2012. He has invested in several technology companies, including some of Europe’s most successful startups such as Amorelie, Choco, Delivery Hero, One Football and Trade Republic. Mr. Teklu currently serves as Venture Partner at Creandum, a leading European early-stage venture fund, and as an advisor, the first investor and a member of the board of directors of The Collective, a leading Co-Living developer and operator. German, with Ethiopian roots, Mr. Teklu was elected as Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum in 2012 and built the Berlin Hub as founding curator. In 2016, Mr. Teklu was featured on Forbes magazine’s “30 under 30” list. He holds a business degree from WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management.
Jeronimo Folgueira is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Deezer SA. Mr. Folgueira also has served as a director since April 2021. Mr. Folgueira served as Chief Executive Officer of Spark Networks SE (NYSE: LOV), which was known as Affinitas GmbH prior to the 2017 merger with Spark Networks Inc., from 2015 until 2019, and he was a member of the board of directors of Spark Networks SE until August 2020. Mr. Folgueira led Spark Networks SE through three M&A transactions and listed the business on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2017. Before joining Spark Networks SE, he held several senior management positions in the media and entertainment industries, including as managing director at Betfair plc (now Flutter Entertainment plc) from 2014 to 2015, managing director at Bigpoint S.à r.l from 2011 to 2014, Senior Strategy Executive at RTL Group from 2008 to 2011 and founder and chief executive officer of Helppy Media Spain from 2010 to 2012. Helppy Media Spain filed for bankruptcy in 2012. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from University of Navarra, Spain.
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. Stotz, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Mr. Teklu and Mr. Folgueira, will expire at the second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Mr. Kirsch and Mr. Richter, will expire at the third annual general meeting.
Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares or by vote of a majority of our directors then in office. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
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Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Director Independence
The rules of Nasdaq require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person who, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, shareholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). Our board of directors has determined that each of Messrs. Stotz, Teklu and Folgueira is an “independent director” as defined in Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Both our audit committee and our compensation committee are composed solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules, the rules of Nasdaq and Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, and the rules of Nasdaq require that the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance 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. The charter of each committee is available on our website.
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Stotz, Teklu and Folgueira serve as members of our audit committee, and Mr. Folgueira chairs the audit committee. Under Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent. Each of Messrs. Stotz, Teklu and Folgueira meets the independent director standard under Nasdaq listing standards and under Rule 10-A-3(b)(1) under the Exchange Act.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mr. Folgueira qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
We adopted an audit committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:
• | assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent auditors; the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent auditors and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
• | pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; reviewing and discussing with the independent auditors all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; |
• | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent auditor’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues; |
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• | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent auditor, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
• | reviewing with management, the independent auditors, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Teklu and Folgueira serve as members of our compensation committee and Mr. Teklu chairs the compensation committee. Under Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent. Each of Messrs. Teklu and Folgueira is independent.
We adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
• | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our chief executive officer’s compensation, evaluating our chief executive officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our chief executive officer based on such evaluation; |
• | reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
• | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
• | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
• | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
• | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
• | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
• | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than (i) the payment by us to our sponsor of $15,000 per month from funds held outside the trust account for up to 24 months, which is paid to our affiliate investment advisor for identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination, (ii) the payment by our sponsor or certain of its shareholders of $35,000 per month to our affiliate investment advisor for up to 24 months, and (iii) the payment by our sponsor or certain of its shareholders of a fee of $1,500,000 in the event of a successful business combination, less (a) the amounts previously paid by us or the sponsor (or certain of its shareholders) and (b) in the event the initial business combination is not consummated within 12 months following the date of the Initial Public Offering, $40,000 for every month (or pro-rata portion thereof) after the 12-month anniversary of the Initial Public Offering, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing shareholders, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.
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The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
We established a nominating and corporate governance committee of the board of directors. The members of our nominating and corporate governance are Messrs. Stotz, Teklu and Folgueira and Mr. Stotz serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee.
We adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
• | identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for appointment at the annual general meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
• | developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
• | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and |
• | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our shareholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
We adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics as an exhibit to our registration statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 333-253369), which was declared effective by the SEC on April 7, 2021. You can review this document by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and the charters of the committees of our board of directors will be provided without charge upon request from us. If we make any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics other than technical, administrative or other non-substantive amendments, or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC or Nasdaq rules, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on our website. The information included on our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our website are intended to be inactive textual references only.
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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 have purchased a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
Except with respect to any public shares they may acquire following our Initial Public Offering (in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination), our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
ITEM 11. | EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION. |
Officer and Director Compensation
None of our officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities were first listed on Nasdaq through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we have paid and will continue to pay our sponsor $15,000 per month from funds held outside the trust account, which is paid to members of our affiliate investment advisor for identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Our sponsor or certain of its shareholders have paid and will continue to pay $35,000 per month to our affiliate investment advisor for up to 24 months, and will pay a fee of $1,500,000 in the event of a successful business combination, less (i) the amounts previously paid by us or the sponsor (or certain of its shareholders), and (ii) in the event the initial Business Combination is not consummated within 12 months following the date of the Initial Public Offering, $40,000 for every month (or pro-rata portion thereof) after the 12-month anniversary of the Initial Public Offering. 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 reviews 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.
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We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
ITEM 12. | SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS. |
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of April 12, 2023, by:
• | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares; |
• | each of our officers and directors; and |
• | all our officers and directors as a group. |
The following table is based on 43,125,000 ordinary shares of outstanding at April 12, 2023, of which 34,500,000 were Class A ordinary shares and 8,625,000 were Class B ordinary shares. Unless otherwise indicated, it is believed that all persons named in the table below have sole voting and investment power with respect to all ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all of our ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned |
Approximate Percentage of Outstanding Ordinary Shares |
||||||
Tio Tech SPAC Holdings GmbH(3) |
8,625,000 | (2) | 20.0 | % | ||||
Ari Zweiman(4) |
2,000,000 | 5.8 | % | |||||
Ravi Mehta(5) |
2,000,000 | 5.8 | % | |||||
Paul J. Glazer(6) |
1,834,814 | 5.3 | % | |||||
Dominik Richter |
— | — | ||||||
Roman Kirsch |
— | — | ||||||
Spyro Korsanos |
— | — | ||||||
Manuel Stotz |
— | — | ||||||
Jonathan Teklu |
— | — | ||||||
Jeronimo Folgueira |
— | — | ||||||
All officers and directors as a group (6 individuals) |
— | — |
* | Less than one percent. |
(1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following is c/o Tio Tech SPAC Holdings GmbH, Unter den Linden 21, 10117 Berlin, Germany. |
(2) | Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. As described in our registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-253369), the Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and certain anti-dilution rights and have no expiration date. |
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(3) | Tio Tech SPAC Holdings GmbH is the record holder of the shares reported herein. The three managing directors of Tio Tech SPAC Holdings GmbH are Dominik Richter, Roman Kirsch and Spyro Korsanos. Under the so-called “rule of three,” if voting and dispositive decisions regarding an entity’s securities are made by two or more individuals, and a voting and dispositive decision requires the approval of a majority of those individuals, then none of the individuals is deemed a beneficial owner of the entity’s securities. Therefore, none of Messrs. Richter, Kirsch or Korsanos exercises voting or dispositive control over any of the securities held by the Sponsor, even those in which he holds any direct or indirect pecuniary interest. Accordingly, none of Messrs. Richter, Kirsch or Korsanos is deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of the founder shares held by Tio Tech SPAC Holdings GmbH. |
(4) | 683 Capital Partners, LP is the record holder of the shares reported herein. 683 Capital Management, LLC is the investment manager of 683 Capital Partners, LP. Mr. Zweiman is the managing member of 683 Capital Management, LLC and thus is deemed to beneficially own the shares held by 683 Capital Partners, LP. The business address for Mr. Zweiman is 3 Columbus Circle, Suite 2205, New York, NY 10019. |
(5) | Steadview Capital Management LLC is the record holder of the shares reported herein. Mr. Mehta serves as Managing Director of Steadview Capital Management LLC and thus is deemed to beneficially own the shares held by Steadview Capital Management LLC. The business address for Mr. Mehta is 30 Berkeley Square, 6th Floor, London, United Kingdom, W1J 6EX. |
(6) | Glazer Capital, LLC, which serves as investment manager to certain funds and managed accounts holding the shares, is the record holder of the shares reported herein. Mr. Glazer is the managing member of Glazer Capital, LLC and thus is deemed to beneficially own the shares held by Glazer Capital, LLC. The business address for Mr. Glazer is 250 West 55th Street, Suite 30A, New York, New York 10019. |
ITEM 13. | CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE. |
On February 10, 2021, our sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration for 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares. Additionally, upon consummation of our initial business combination, our sponsor will transfer up to an aggregate of 255,555 of the founder shares held by our sponsor at the time of the initial business combination to our anchor investors. The founder shares (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder until the earlier to occur of (i) one year after the initial business combination or (ii) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of the 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, the founder shares will be released from the lockup.
Our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,083,000 private placement warrants for a purchase price of $1.50 per whole warrant, or $7,625,000 in the aggregate, in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our Initial Public Offering. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.
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 opportunity to such other entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, 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. However, we do not believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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We currently maintain our executive offices at Unter den Linden 21, 10117 Berlin, Germany. We currently pay our sponsor $15,000 per month from funds held outside the trust account for up to 24 months, which will be paid to our affiliate investment advisor for identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Commencing on the consummation of our Initial Public Offering through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we have paid and will continue to pay our sponsor $15,000 per month from funds held outside the trust account for up to 24 months, which will be paid to our affiliate investment advisor for identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Our sponsor or certain of its shareholders has paid and will continue to pay $35,000 per month to our affiliate investment advisor for up to 24 months, and will pay a fee of $1,500,000 in the event of a successful business combination, less (i) the amounts previously paid by us or the sponsor (or certain of its shareholders) and (ii) in the event the initial business combination is not consummated within 12 months following the date of the Initial Public Offering, $40,000 for every month (or pro-rata portion thereof) after the 12-month anniversary of the Initial Public Offering. 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 reviews 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.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required on a non-interest basis. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $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. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
Any of the foregoing payments to our sponsor, repayments of loans from our sponsor or repayments of working capital loans prior to our initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a general meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
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We have entered into a registration rights agreement. The holders of the (i) founder shares, which were issued in a private placement prior to the closing of our Initial Public Offering, (ii) private placement warrants, which were issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our Initial Public Offering and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such private placement warrants and (iii) private placement warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed prior to the effective date of our Initial Public Offering. Pursuant to the registration rights agreement and assuming the $1.5 million of working capital loans are converted into private placement warrants, we will be obligated to register up to 14,708,333 Class A ordinary shares and 6,083,333 warrants. The number of Class A ordinary shares includes (i) 8,625,000 Class A ordinary shares to be issued upon conversion of the founder shares, (ii) 5,083,333 Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants and (iii) 1,000,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans. The number of warrants includes 5,083,333 private placement warrants and up to 1,000,000 private placement warrants issuable upon conversion of working capital loans. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Related Party Transactions Policy
The audit committee of our board of directors has adopted a policy setting forth the policies and procedures for its review and approval or ratification of “related party transactions.” A “related party transaction” is any consummated or proposed transaction or series of transactions: (i) in which the company was or is to be a participant; (ii) the amount of which exceeds (or is reasonably expected to exceed) the lesser of $120,000 or 1% of the average of the company’s total assets at year end for the prior two completed fiscal years in the aggregate over the duration of the transaction (without regard to profit or loss); and (iii) in which a “related party” had, has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. “Related parties” under this policy will include: (i) our directors, nominees for director or officers; (ii) any record or beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities; (iii) any immediate family member of any of the foregoing if the foregoing person is a natural person; and (iv) any other person who maybe a “related person” pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the policy, the audit committee will consider (i) the relevant facts and circumstances of each related party transaction, including if the transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained in arm’s-length dealings with an unrelated third party, (ii) the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction, (iii) whether the transaction contravenes our code of ethics or other policies, (iv) whether the audit committee believes the relationship underlying the transaction to be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders and (v) the effect that the transaction may have on a director’s status as an independent member of the board and on his or her eligibility to serve on the board’s committees. Management will present to the audit committee each proposed related party transaction, including all relevant facts and circumstances relating thereto. Under the policy, we may consummate related party transactions only if our audit committee approves or ratifies the transaction in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the policy. The policy does not permit any director or officer to participate in the discussion of, or decision concerning, a related person transaction in which he or she is the related party.
ITEM 14. | PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES. |
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Marcum LLP, or Marcum, for services rendered.
Audit Fees. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from February 8, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were approximately $89,792 and $160,576 for the services Marcum LLP performed in connection with our Initial Public Offering, Forms 10-Q for the respective period and the audit of our December 31, 2022 and 2021 financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and for the Form 10-K for 2021 filed on March 30, 2022.
Audit-Related Fees. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from February 8, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render assurance and related services related to the performance of the audit or review of financial statements.
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Tax Fees. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from February 8, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render services to us for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.
All Other Fees. During the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from February 8, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, there were no fees billed for products and services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm other than those set forth above.
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 AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES. |
(a) | The following documents are filed as part of this Form 10-K: |
(1) | Financial Statements: |
F-2 | ||||
F-3 | ||||
F-4 | ||||
F-5 | ||||
F-6 | ||||
F-7 |
(2) | Financial Statement Schedules: |
None
(3) | Exhibits |
We hereby file as part of this Annual Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of such material can also be obtained from the Public Reference Section of the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, at prescribed rates or on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
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* | Filed herewith. |
** | Furnished herewith |
(1) | Previously filed as an exhibit to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on April 12, 2021 (File No. 001-40317) and incorporated by reference herein. |
ITEM 16. | FORM 10-K SUMMARY. |
None.
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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 Annual Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
TIO TECH A | ||||||
(Registrant) | ||||||
Date: April 18, 2023 | By: | /s/ Roman Kirsch | ||||
Roman Kirsch | ||||||
Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Annual Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Company and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Name |
Position |
Date | ||
/s/ Dominik Richter |
Chairman, Director | April 18, 2023 | ||
Dominik Richter | ||||
/s/ Roman Kirsch |
Chief Executive Officer and Director | April 18, 2023 | ||
Roman Kirsch | (Principal Executive Officer, Director) | |||
/s/ Jeronimo Folgueira |
Director | April 18, 2023 | ||
Jeronimo Folgueira | ||||
/s/ Manuel Stotz |
Director | April 18, 2023 | ||
Manuel Stotz | ||||
/s/ Jonathan Teklu |
Director | April 18, 2023 | ||
Jonathan Teklu | ||||
/s/ Spyro Korsanos |
Chief Financial Officer | April 18, 2023 | ||
Spyro Korsanos |
Table of Contents
Page | ||
F-2 | ||
F-3 | ||
F-4 | ||
F-5 | ||
F-6 | ||
F-7 – F-18 |
December 31, 2022 |
December 31, 2021 |
|||||||
ASSETS |
||||||||
Current assets: |
||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
$ | 5,715 | $ | 763,789 | ||||
Accounts receivable |
35,208 | — | ||||||
Prepaid expenses |
62,223 | 250,593 | ||||||
Total Current Assets |
103,146 | 1,014,382 | ||||||
Prepaid expenses – non-current |
— | 62,223 | ||||||
Investments held in Trust Account |
348,879,213 | 345,017,891 | ||||||
TOTAL ASSETS |
$ |
348,982,359 |
$ |
346,094,496 |
||||
LIABILITIES, CLASS A ORDINARY SHARES SUBJECT TO POSSIBLE REDEMPTION AND SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT |
||||||||
Current liabilities: |
||||||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses |
$ | 1,253,080 | $ | 315,731 | ||||
Due to related party |
90,000 | 156,479 | ||||||
Income Tax Payable |
916,249 |
— |
||||||
Total Current Liabilities |
2,259,329 | 472,210 | ||||||
Warrant liabilities |
410,510 | 15,080,809 | ||||||
Deferred Underwriters’ discount |
9,450,000 | 9,450,000 | ||||||
Total Liabilities |
12,119,839 |
25,003,019 |
||||||
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 6) |
||||||||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, 34,500,000 shares, at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively |
347,962,964 | 345,000,000 | ||||||
Shareholders’ Deficit |
||||||||
Preference shares, $ 0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2022 and 2021 |
— | — | ||||||
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; 0 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 34,500,000 shares subject to possible redemption) |
— | — | ||||||
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 8,625,000 shares issued and outstanding, at December 31, 2022 and 2021 |
863 | 863 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital |
— | — | ||||||
Accumulated deficit |
(11,101,307 | ) | (23,909,386 | ) | ||||
Total Shareholders’ Deficit |
(11,100,444 |
) |
(23,908,523 |
) | ||||
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT |
$ |
348,982,359 |
$ |
346,094,496 |
||||
Year Ended December 31, |
For the Period from February 8, 2021 (Inception) through December 31, |
|||||||
2022 |
2021 |
|||||||
Formation and operating costs |
$ | 1,845,036 | $ | 1,112,262 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Loss from operations |
(1,845,036) |
(1,112,262 |
) | |||||
Other income: |
||||||||
Income on marketable securities held in trust |
3,861,322 | 17,891 | ||||||
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities |
14,670,299 | 9,066,277 | ||||||
Bank Interest Income |
707 | — | ||||||
Offering cost allocated to warrants |
— | (749,481 | ) | |||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Total other income, net |
18,532,328 | 8,334,687 | ||||||
Net income before provision for income taxes |
|
|
16,687,292 |
|
|
|
— |
|
Provision for income taxes |
|
|
916,249 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
Net income |
$ |
15,771,043 |
$ |
7,222,425 |
||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption outstanding, basic and diluted |
34,500,000 | |
34,448,864 |
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Basic and diluted net income per ordinary share subject to possible redemption |
$ |
0.37 |
$ |
0.17 |
||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Weighted average non-redeemable Class A and Class B ordinary shares outstanding |
8,625,000 | 8,403,462 | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Basic and diluted net income per non-redeemable share |
$ |
0.37 |
$ |
0.17 |
||||
|
|
|
|
Ordinary Shares |
Additional |
Total |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class A |
Class B |
Paid-In |
Accumulated |
Shareholders’ |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares |
Amount |
Shares |
Amount |
Capital |
Deficit |
Deficit |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of February 8, 2021 (Inception) |
— | $ | — | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||||||||||
Issuance of Founder shares on February 10, 2021 |
— | — | 8,625,000 | 863 | 24,137 | — | 25,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Excess cash received on sale of 5,083,333 Private Placement Warrants on April 12, 2021 |
— | — | — | — | 41,602 | — | 41,602 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption |
— | — | — | — | (65,739 | ) | (31,131,811 | ) | (31,197,550 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Net income |
— | — | — | — | — | 7,222,425 | 7,222,425 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2021 |
— |
— |
8,625,000 |
863 |
— |
(23,909,386 |
) |
(23,908,523 |
) | |||||||||||||||||||
Accretion of Class A shares to redemption value |
— | — | — |
— |
— | (2,962,964 | ) | (2,962,964 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Net income |
— | — | — | — | — | 15,771,043 | 15,771,043 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2022 |
— |
$ |
— |
8,625,000 |
$ |
863 |
$ |
— |
$ |
(11,101,307 |
) |
$ |
(11,100,444 |
) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For the Year Ended December 31, |
For the Period from February 8, 2021 (Inception) Through December 31, |
|||||||
2022 |
2021 |
|||||||
Cash flows from operating activities: |
||||||||
Net income |
$ | 15,771,043 | $ | 7,222,425 | ||||
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities: |
||||||||
Interest earned on cash and Investments held in Trust Account |
(3,861,322 | ) | (17,891 | ) | ||||
Offering costs allocated to warrants |
— | 749,481 | ||||||
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities |
(14,670,299 | ) | (9,066,277 | ) | ||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
||||||||
Accounts receivable |
(35,208 | ) | — | |||||
Prepaid assets |
250,593 | (312,816 | ) | |||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses |
937,349 | 315,731 | ||||||
Income tax payable |
|
|
916,249 |
|
|
|
— |
|
Due to related party |
(66,479 | ) | 156,479 | |||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Net cash used in operating activities |
(758,074 |
) |
(952,868 |
) | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: |
||||||||
Investment held in Trust Account |
— | (345,000,000 | ) | |||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Net cash used in investing activities |
— | (345,000,000 |
) | |||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Cash flows from financing activities: |
||||||||
Proceeds from initial public offering, net of underwriters’ discount |
— | 339,600,000 | ||||||
Proceeds from issuance of Private Placement Warrants |
— | 7,625,000 | ||||||
Proceeds from related party |
— | 174,890 | ||||||
Repayment of promissory note—related party |
— | (149,890 | ) | |||||
Payments of offering costs |
— | (533,343 | ) | |||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
— | 346,716,657 |
||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Net change in cash |
(758,074 |
) |
763,789 |
|||||
Cash, beginning of the period |
763,789 | — | ||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Cash, end of the period |
$ |
5,715 |
$ |
763,789 |
||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities |
||||||||
Initial classification of warrant liabilities |
$ | — | $ | 24,147,086 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Initial classification of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption |
$ | — | $ | 345,000,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Accretion of Class A ordinary shares to redemption value |
$ | 2,962,964 | $ | 31,197,550 | ||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
Deferred underwriting commissions charged to additional paid in capital |
$ | — | $ | 9,450,000 | ||||
|
|
|
|
Gross Proceeds |
$ | 345,000,000 |
||
Less: |
||||
Proceeds allocated to public warrants |
( 16,563,688 |
) | ||
Issuance costs related to Class A ordinary shares |
( 14,633,862 |
) | ||
Plus: |
||||
Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value |
31,197,550 |
|||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2021 |
345,000,000 |
|||
Plus: |
||||
Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value |
3,879,213 |
|||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2022 |
$ |
347,962,964 |
2022 |
2021 |
|||||||
Current tax |
$ |
916,249 |
— |
|||||
Deferred tax |
— |
— |
||||||
Total tax liability |
$ |
916,249 |
— |
2022 |
2021 |
|||||||
Satutory federal income tax rate (benefit) |
0.000 |
% |
0.00 |
% | ||||
German tax rate |
5.49 |
% |
0.00 |
% | ||||
Effective tax rate |
5.49 |
% |
0.00 |
% |
For the Year Ended December 31, |
For the Period from February 8, 2021 (inception) to December 31, |
|||||||
2022 |
2021 |
|||||||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption |
||||||||
Numerator: |
||||||||
Net income allocable to Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption |
$ | 12,616,834 | $ | 5,806,087 | ||||
Denominator: |
||||||||
Weighted Average Redeemable Class A ordinary shares, Basic and Diluted |
34,500,000 | 34,448,864 | ||||||
Basic and Diluted net income per share, Redeemable Class A Ordinary shares |
$ | 0.37 | $ | 0.17 | ||||
Class A and Class B non-redeemable ordinary shares |
||||||||
Numerator: |
||||||||
Net income allocable to Class B ordinary shares not subject to redemption |
$ | 3,154,209 | $ | 1,416,338 | ||||
Denominator: |
||||||||
Weighted Average Non-Redeemable Ordinary shares, Basic and Diluted |
8,625,000 | 8,403,462 | ||||||
Basic and diluted net income per share, ordinary shares |
$ | 0.37 | $ | 0.17 | ||||
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. |
• | 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; and |
• | if, and only if, the last reported sale price (the “closing price”) of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted) 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. |
• | in whole and not in part; |
• | at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of Class A ordinary shares to be determined by reference to an agreed table based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of the Class A ordinary shares; |
• | if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted) for 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 (as adjusted), the Private Placement Warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants, as described above. |
December 31, 2022 |
Quoted Priced in Active Markets (Level 1) |
Significant Other Observable Inputs Observable Inputs (Level 2) |
Significant Other Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) |
|||||||||||||
Assets: |
||||||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Securities held in Trust Account |
$ | 348,879,213 | $ | 348,879,213 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||
Liabilities: |
||||||||||||||||
Public warrant liabilities, including over-allotment |
276,000 | 276,000 | — | — | ||||||||||||
Private warrant liabilities |
134,510 | — | — | 134,510 | ||||||||||||
Warrant liabilities |
$ | 410,510 | $ | 276,000 | $ | — | $ | 134,510 | ||||||||
December 31, 2021 |
Quoted Priced in Active Markets (Level 1) |
Significant Other Observable Inputs Observable Inputs (Level 2) |
Significant Other Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) |
|||||||||||||
Assets: |
||||||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Securities held in Trust Account |
$ | 345,017,891 | $ | 345,017,891 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||||
Liabilities: |
||||||||||||||||
Public warrant liabilities, including over-allotment |
10,453,500 | 10,453,500 | — | — | ||||||||||||
Private warrant liabilities |
4,627,309 | — | — | 4,627,309 | ||||||||||||
Warrant liabilities |
$ | 15,080,809 | $ | 10,453,500 | $ | — | $ | 4,627,309 | ||||||||
December 31, 2022 |
December 31, 2021 |
|||||||
Share price |
$ | 10.08 | $ | 9.74 | ||||
Strike price |
$ | 11.50 | $ | 11.50 | ||||
Term (in years) |
0.67 | 5.85 | ||||||
Volatility |
8.4 | % | 14.4 | % | ||||
Risk-free rate |
4.75 | % | 1.34 | % |
Warrant Liability |
||||
Fair Value at December 31, 2021 |
4,627,309 | |||
Change in fair value |
(4,492,799 | ) | ||
Fair Value at December 31, 2022 |
$ | 134,510 | ||
Warrant Liability |
||||
Fair value at December 31, 2020 |
$ | — | ||
Initial value of public and private warrant liabilities |
24,147,086 | |||
Public warrants reclassified to Level 1 |
(16,563,688 | ) | ||
in fair value |
(2,956,089 | ) | ||
Fair Value at December 31, 2021 |
$ | 4,627,309 | ||