UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K/A
(Amendment No. 1)
(Mark One)
☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from to
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
ACQUISITION CORP.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Cayman Islands |
001-39281 |
98-1523768 | ||
| (State or other
jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(Commission File Number) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
1601
Bryan Street, Suite 4141 |
75201 | |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (952) 456-5304
Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of Each Class: |
Trading Symbol: |
Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered: | ||
| Units, each consisting of one Class A Ordinary Share, $0.0001 par value, and one-half of one redeemable warrant | SOAC.U | The New York Stock Exchange | ||
| Class A Ordinary Shares included as part of the units | SOAC | The New York Stock Exchange | ||
| Warrants included as part of the units, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A Ordinary Share at an exercise price of $11.50 | SOAC WS | The New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ |
| Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☒ |
| Emerging growth company | ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☒ No ☐
As of June 30, 2020, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the ordinary shares outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing sales price for the ordinary shares on June 30, 2020, as reported on the NYSE, was approximately $291,000,000.
As of March 30, 2021, 30,000,000 Class A ordinary shares (which includes Class A ordinary shares that are underlying the company’s units), par value $0.0001, and 7,500,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001, were issued and outstanding.
Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is filing this Amendment No. 1 to its Annual Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 on Form 10-K/A (the “Amendment”) to amend and restate certain items in its Annual Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 on Form 10-K originally filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 30, 2021 (the “Original 10-K”). We are also restating our financial statements as of May 8, 2020, as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020, as of and for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2020 and as of and for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2020 (the “Affected Periods”) in the accompanying financial statements included in this Annual Report, including describing the restatement and its impact on previously reported amounts.
The restatement results from the Company’s prior accounting for its outstanding warrants issued in connection with its initial public offering in May 2020 as components of equity instead of as derivative liabilities. The warrant agreement governing the warrants includes a provision that provides for potential changes to the settlement amounts dependent upon the characteristics of the holder of the warrant. In addition, the warrant agreement includes a provision that in the event of a tender or exchange offer made to and accepted by holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares of a single class of common stock, all holders of the warrants would be entitled to receive cash for their warrants (the “tender offer provision”). In other words, in the event of a qualifying cash tender offer (which could be outside the control of the Company), all warrant holders would be entitled to cash, while only certain of the holders of the underlying common stock would be entitled to cash.
On April 12, 2021, the Staff of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (“Staff”) issued a statement (the “Staff Statement”) entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies.” In the Staff Statement, the Staff, among other things, highlighted potential accounting implications of certain terms that are common in warrants issued in connection with the initial public offerings of special purpose acquisition companies such as the Company. As a result of the Staff Statement and in light of evolving views as to certain provisions commonly included in warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies, the Company re-evaluated its accounting for its public warrants and private placement warrants issued in connection with the Company’s initial public offering (the “Warrants”), and concluded that the Warrants should be treated as derivative liabilities pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Subtopic 815-40 rather than as components of equity as the Company previously treated the Warrants.
As a result of the above, the Company should have classified its Warrants as derivative liabilities in its previously issued financial statements. Under this accounting treatment, the Company is required to measure the fair value of the Warrants at the end of each reporting period and recognize changes in the fair value from the prior period in the Company’s operating results for the current period. Therefore, the Company is restating in this Amendment its financial statements for the Affected Periods (the “Restatement”).
In connection with the Restatement, the Company’s management reassessed the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and procedures for the Affected Periods. As a result of that reassessment, the Company’s management determined that its disclosure controls and procedures for the Affected Periods were not effective solely as a result of its classification of the Warrants as a component of equity instead of as derivative liabilities. For more information, see Part II, Item 9A, Controls and Procedures included in this Amendment.
The Company has not amended its previously filed Current Report on Form 8-K or Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the periods affected by the restatement. The financial information that has been previously filed or otherwise reported for these periods is superseded by the information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K/A, and the financial statements and related financial information contained in such previously filed reports should no longer be relied upon.
The following items are amended in this Amendment: (i) Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors; (ii) Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; (iii) Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data; (iv) Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures; and (v) Part IV, Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules (including to correct the hyperlinks to certain exhibits contained therein that contained errors in the Original 10-K due to a printer error). Additionally, in accordance with Rule 12b-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Company is including with this Amendment currently dated certifications from our principal executive officer and principal financial officer. These certifications are filed or furnished, as applicable, as Exhibits 31.1, 31.2, 32.1 and 32.2.
Except as described above, this Amendment does not amend, update or change any other disclosures in the Original 10-K. In addition, the information contained in this Amendment does not reflect events occurring after the filing of the Original 10-K and does not modify or update the disclosures therein, except as specifically identified above. Among other things, forward-looking statements made in the Original 10-K have not been revised to reflect events, results or developments that occurred or facts that became known to us after the date of the Original 10-K, other than the Restatement, and such forward-looking statements should be read in conjunction with our filings with the SEC, including those subsequent to the filing of the Original 10-K.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
CERTAIN TERMS
Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”), or the context otherwise requires, references to:
| ● | “amended and restated memorandum and articles of association” are to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that the company adopted prior to our initial public offering; |
| ● | “Companies Law” are to the Companies Law (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time; |
| ● | “Founders” are to Scott Leonard and Scott Honour; |
| ● | “founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially issued to our Sponsor in a private placement prior to our initial public offering and the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares will not be “public shares”); |
| ● | “initial shareholders” are to our Sponsor and any other holders of our founder shares prior to our initial public offering (or their permitted transferees); |
| ● | “management” or our “management team” are to our executive officers and directors; |
| ● | “ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares; |
| ● | “private placement warrants” are to the warrants that were issued to our Sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering and upon conversion of working capital loans, if any; |
| ● | “public shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market); |
| ● | “public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our Sponsor and management team to the extent our Sponsor and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that our Sponsor’s and each member of our management team’s status as a “public shareholder” will only exist with respect to such public shares; |
| ● | “Sponsor” is to Sustainable Opportunities Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; and |
| ● | “we,” “us,” “our,” “company,” “SOAC” or “our company” are to Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company. |
ii
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this Report may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this Report may include, for example, statements about our ability to consummate any acquisition or other business combination and any other statements that are not statements of current or historical facts. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various factors, including but not limited to:
| ● | our ability to complete our initial business combination with DeepGreen Metals Inc., or any other initial business combination; |
| ● | our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business; |
| ● | 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 uncertainty resulting from the current COVID-19 pandemic; |
| ● | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities; |
| ● | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
| ● | our ability to maintain the listing on NYSE or to have our securities listed on NYSE or another national securities exchange following our initial business combination |
| ● | the lack of a market for our securities; |
| ● | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
| ● | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or |
| ● | our financial performance. |
Future developments affecting us may not be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “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. These risks and others described under “Risk Factors” may not be exhaustive.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. We caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and developments in the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this Report. In addition, even if our results or operations, financial condition and liquidity, and developments in the industry in which we operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this Report, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.
iii
SUMMARY OF RISK FACTORS
The following is a summary of the principal risks described below in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in this Report. We believe that the risks described in the “Risk Factors” section are material to investors, but other factors not presently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial may also adversely affect us. The following summary should not be considered an exhaustive summary of the material risks facing us, and it should be read in conjunction with the “Risk Factors” section and the other information contained in this Report.
| ● | We are a recently formed company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
| ● | Past performance by our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us, and we may be unable to provide positive returns to shareholders. |
| ● | Our shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our shareholders do not support such a combination. |
| ● | Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash. |
| ● | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor and members of our management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote. |
| ● | The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target. |
| ● | The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure. |
| ● | The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares. |
| ● | Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets. |
| ● | We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of our initial public offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate. |
| ● | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares. |
| ● | If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed. |
iv
| ● | 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. |
| ● | NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions. |
| ● | You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies. |
| ● | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares. |
| ● | Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. |
| ● | If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, 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. |
| ● | Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our share price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment. |
| ● | If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share. |
| ● | Our 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. |
| ● | If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages. |
v
| ITEM 1. | BUSINESS |
Introduction
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to throughout this Report as our initial business combination. We are an emerging growth company and, as such, we are subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
We believe that there are significant, attractive investment opportunities that exist within industries that benefit from strong Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) profiles. While investing in ESG covers a broad range of themes, we are focused on evaluating suitable targets that have existing environmental sustainability practices or that may benefit, both operationally and economically, from our management team’s commitment and expertise in executing such practices. We believe our management team’s experience allows us to evaluate targets in industries such as manufacturing (including auto, building materials), chemicals, services (including waste, environmental, construction), logistics (including transportation, distribution), technology (hardware, software, devices), agriculture (including biofuels) and energy (with focus on renewable generation, utility services, energy efficiency/management), among others. Furthermore, our target universe could include companies undergoing a transition to increase their environmental sustainability profiles, reflecting an opportunity to bring environmentally sustainable practices to companies that may not have historically been focused on environmental sustainability. We believe there is a wide array of companies undergoing this “brown-to-green” transition in our target universe. Companies in our target universe tend to have stable growth rates and would greatly benefit from access to public market capital.
We believe in the ability of our management team to add significant value to a target company from a commercial, operating, strategic and sustainability perspective. In particular, we intend to identify and acquire a business that could benefit from a hands-on owner with extensive operational experience and the public company expertise our management team possesses, or that relies on the target’s executive and operational expertise but presents potential for an attractive risk-adjusted return profile under our stewardship. Even fundamentally sound companies can often underperform their potential due to underinvestment, a temporary period of dislocation in the markets in which they operate, over-levered capital structures, excessive cost structures, incomplete management teams and/or inappropriate business strategies. Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing such strategies. In addition, our team has significant hands-on experience working with private companies in preparing for and executing an initial public offering and serving as active owners and directors by working closely with these companies to continue their transformations and help create value in the public markets.
Our Founders, Our Board of Directors and Management
Scott Leonard serves as our Chief Executive Officer and on our board of directors. Mr. Leonard has over 15 years of experience leading highly successful business transformations and transitions. Mr. Leonard also has deep expertise over the past eight years driving decarbonization through technology adoption, product lifecycle management and development and industrial demand destruction. Mr. Leonard has held various roles at both public and private companies including Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Restructuring Officer and Independent Director. Previously, Mr. Leonard served as Chief Financial Officer/Chief Restructuring Officer at GenOn Energy from 2017 until 2018, and Chief Executive Officer of GenOn Mid-Atlantic LLC in 2018. From 2014 to 2016, Mr. Leonard was at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE), where he served as the Senior Vice President of Global Commercial Functions for the Enterprise Services business. Prior to that, Mr. Leonard served as Deputy Executive Director, Chief Strategy & Administrative Officer for the Texas Department of Transportation from 2012 to 2014. From 2005 to 2012, Mr. Leonard held positions as Senior Vice President, Performance Improvement and Vice President, Corporate Planning at TXU Corp. and its successor Energy Future Holdings Corp. Mr. Leonard previously served on the board of directors of NRG REMA, LLC and Lonestar II Generation Holdings. Earlier in his career, Mr. Leonard was with McKinsey & Co. as a management consultant and Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette as an investment banker. Mr. Leonard earned a B.S. with Highest Honors from Georgia Tech, and an M.B.A. with Distinction from The Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern.
Scott Honour serves as the Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Honour has over 30 years of private equity investment experience and has been involved in over 100 transactions totaling over $20 billion in transaction value. Mr. Honour is Managing Partner of Northern Pacific Group (“NPG”), a private equity firm, which he co-founded in 2012. Prior to that, Mr. Honour was at The Gores Group, a Los Angeles based private equity firm, for ten years, serving as Senior Managing Director and one of the firm’s top executives. During his time at The Gores Group, the firm raised four funds, totaling $4 billion in aggregate, and made over 35 investments. Mr. Honour also served on the investment committee for The Gores Group. Prior to joining The Gores Group, Mr. Honour was a Managing Director at UBS Investment Bank from 2000 to 2002 and was an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette from 1991 to 2000. Mr. Honour began his career at Trammell Crow Company in 1988. Mr. Honour has served on the board of directors of numerous public and private companies, including Solar Spectrum Holdings LLC, Anthem Sports & Entertainment Inc., 1st Choice Delivery, LLC, United Language Group, Inc., Renters Warehouse LLC, Real Dolmen (REM:BB) and Westwood One, Inc. (formerly Nasdaq: WWON), and is a co-founder of Titan CNG LLC and YapStone Inc. Mr. Honour earned a B.S. and B.A., cum laude, in Business Administration and Economics from Pepperdine University and an M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
1
David Quiram serves as our Chief Financial Officer. Dr. Quiram has over 20 years of leadership experience in technology, strategy and finance organizations with a deep understanding of the chemicals, emerging technology, bioscience and energy sectors. Previously, Dr. Quiram served as Head of Financial Planning and Analysis and Tax at GenOn Energy (“GenOn”) from 2017 until 2019, where he was responsible for standing up the financial and administrative functions of GenOn as a stand-alone entity from NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG). Prior to that, Dr. Quiram served as Head of Investments for Enterprise Services of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) from 2014 until 2017, where he directed investments into products and services. From 2010 to 2014, Dr. Quiram was with Accenture (NYSE: ACN) as a Senior Manager in their Strategy practice focused on transforming utilities, independent power producers, and energy retailers. From 2006 to 2009, Dr. Quiram worked at multiple roles at TXU Energy starting in finance and later served as Vice President of Retail Pricing and Procurement where he led the pricing and hedging for TXU Energy’s retail portfolio. Dr. Quiram began his career at McKinsey & Co where he worked as an Engagement Manager from 2001 until 2005, and as a Research Scientist at DuPont (NYSE: DD) from 1998 to 2001. Dr. Quiram earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Rick Gaenzle serves on our board of directors. Mr. Gaenzle has over 30 years of private equity investment and corporate finance experience; he is the founder and currently serves as a Managing Director of Gilbert Global Equity Capital, L.L.C., the principal investment advisor to Gilbert Global Equity Partners, L.P. and related entities, a $1.2 billion leveraged buyout and private equity fund. Mr. Gaenzle spent twenty-eight years at Gilbert Global and its predecessor entity, completing over 110 direct equity investments, co-investments and add-on acquisitions for portfolio companies. Previously, Mr. Gaenzle was a Principal of Soros Capital L.P., the principal venture capital and leveraged equity entity of the Quantum Group of Funds and a principal advisor to Quantum Industrial Holdings Ltd. Prior to joining Soros Capital, Mr. Gaenzle held various positions at PaineWebber Inc. Mr. Gaenzle currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Impact Delta, an impact-investing and impact-measurement advisory firm; an Operating Partner of NPG; and Chairman of Lake Street Homes, a single-family rental investment vehicle. Mr. Gaenzle holds a B.A. from Hartwick College and an M.B.A. from Fordham University.
Isaac Barchas serves on our board of directors. Mr. Barchas is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Research Bridge Partners (“RBP”), a socially-driven investment company, which he founded in 2016. RBP uses both concessionary and nonconcessionary investment to create startup companies based on university research and advance those companies into the venture capital markets. Prior to founding RBP, Mr. Barchas led the Austin Technology Incubator (“ATI”) at The University of Texas at Austin from 2006 to 2016. ATI’s Clean Energy Incubator was the first university clean tech incubation program in the United States. During Mr. Barchas’ leadership, ATI companies raised over $1 billion in the capital markets. Mr. Barchas joined the university from McKinsey & Co., where he worked in the Chicago, Sydney, Auckland, and Dallas offices, from 1996 to 2006 and served on the leadership teams of McKinsey’s North American Healthcare Practice and Global Organization Practice. Mr. Barchas has served on multiple private company boards and on philanthropic boards including Pecan Street Inc., the largest analytically-focused clean energy and climate data consortium in the United States, where he was a founding board member. Mr. Barchas earned a J.D. (honors) and M.A. (Century Fellowship) from The University of Chicago. He received an A.B. from Stanford University (honors and Phi Beta Kappa).
Justin Kelly serves on our board of directors. Mr. Kelly is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Winslow Capital Management, LLC (“Winslow Capital”), Nuveen’s center of excellence for growth investing. Mr. Kelly also serves as lead portfolio manager on the firm’s flagship U.S. Large Cap Growth Strategy. Mr. Kelly has been with Winslow Capital for over two decades and has transformed the firm from a single strategy, niche investment firm to a thought leader globally in growth equity investing with four strategies. Prior to joining Winslow Capital in 1999, Mr. Kelly was an equity analyst at Investment Advisors in Minneapolis. Prior to that, Mr. Kelly worked at Prudential Bache, from 1993 to 1996 as Investment Banker, and Salomon Brothers, from 1996 to 1997 as Investment Banker. Mr. Kelly earned a B.S. in Finance/Investments from Babson College.
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We are further supported by our team of advisors comprised of former senior executives from leading global companies with experience in a wide range of sub-sectors and functional areas, who have previously worked together over the last decade or more. They provide us with access to their expertise and extensive industry networks from which we intend to source and evaluate targets as well as devise plans to optimize any business that we acquire.
Our management team is supported by NPG, a technology and business services focused private equity firm based in Wayzata, Minnesota. NPG has considerable experience investing in ESG related portfolio companies with community impact, workplace diversity and integrity, and environmental resource management acting as cornerstones to key investment decisions. NPG has offset its carbon footprint to net zero, achieving CarbonNeutral® status. The partners of NPG have been involved in acquisitions, financings and advisory transactions totaling over $20 billion in transaction value and have significant experience investing across a variety of economic cycles and a track record of identifying high-quality assets, businesses and management teams with significant resources, capital and optimization potential.
With respect to the above, past performance of our management team is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be consummated or (ii) the ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction. You should not rely on the historical record of management or their respective affiliates as indicative of future performance. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors — Past performance by our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us, and we may be unable to provide positive returns to shareholders.” For a list of our executive officers and entities for which a conflict of interest may or does exist between such officers and the company, please refer to “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Conflicts of Interest.”
Proposed Business Combination
Merger Agreement
On March 4, 2021, we entered into a Business Combination Agreement (as it may be amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time, the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among SOAC, 1291924 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, an unlimited liability company existing under the laws of British Columbia, Canada (“NewCo Sub”), and DeepGreen Metals Inc., a company existing under the laws of British Columbia, Canada (“DeepGreen”).
The Business Combination
Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, SOAC will migrate to and be continued as a company in British Columbia, Canada (the “SOAC Continuance”). Following the SOAC Continuance, pursuant to a plan of arrangement (the “Plan of Arrangement”) under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), (i) SOAC will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of DeepGreen (the “DeepGreen Shares”) from DeepGreen shareholders in exchange for SOAC Common Shares (as defined below) and Company Earnout Shares (as defined below) (the “Share Exchange”), (ii) DeepGreen will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of SOAC, and (iii) DeepGreen and NewCo Sub will amalgamate to continue as one unlimited liability company, in each case, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Business Combination Agreement and the Plan of Arrangement and in accordance with the provisions of applicable law (collectively, with the Share Exchange, the “Share Exchange and Amalgamation” and, together with the other transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, the Plan of Arrangement and the ancillary documents entered into in connection with the Business Combination Agreement, collectively, the “Business Combination”).
In accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions of the Business Combination Agreement, pursuant to the Plan of Arrangement, each option to purchase common shares in the capital of DeepGreen (the “DeepGreen Options”) will become an option to purchase SOAC Common Shares and Company Earnout Shares on the same terms and conditions (including applicable vesting, expiration and forfeiture provisions) that applied to the corresponding DeepGreen Options immediately prior to closing of the Business Combination.
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The Business Combination is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, following the receipt of the required approval by SOAC’s shareholders and the fulfillment of other conditions.
Business Combination Consideration
In accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions of the Business Combination Agreement, pursuant to the Plan of Arrangement, the shareholders and the optionholders of DeepGreen will be entitled to receive, in exchange for their DeepGreen Shares or DeepGreen Options, as applicable, (i) shares in the capital of SOAC or comparable equity awards that are settled or are exercisable for shares in the capital of SOAC, as applicable, based on an implied company equity value of $2.25 billion after giving effect to the SOAC Continuance (the “SOAC Common Shares”), (ii) 5,000,000 Class A Special Shares, (iii) 10,000,000 Class B Special Shares, (iv) 10,000,000 Class C Special Shares, (v) 20,000,000 Class D Special Shares, (vi) 20,000,000 Class E Special Shares, (vii) 20,000,000 Class F Special Shares, (viii) 25,000,000 Class G Special Shares and (ix) 25,000,000 Class H Special Shares, in each case, in the capital of SOAC (collectively, the “Company Earnout Shares”), or, as applicable, options to purchase such SOAC Common Shares and Company Earnout Shares.
In accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions of the Business Combination Agreement, immediately prior to closing of the Business Combination, the Sponsor will exchange 10% of the SOAC Common Shares it will own following the SOAC Continuance for (i) 500,000 Class I Special Shares (the “Sponsor Earnout Shares”) in the capital of SOAC, and (ii) 741,000 Class J Special Shares in the capital of SOAC (the “Class J Special Shares”).
Representations and Warranties; Covenants
The Business Combination Agreement contains representations, warranties and covenants of each of the parties thereto that are customary for transactions of this type. Each of SOAC and DeepGreen has also agreed to take all action within its power as may be necessary or appropriate such that, effective immediately after the closing of the Business Combination, the SOAC board of directors shall consist of nine directors, which shall be comprised of eight individuals determined by DeepGreen prior to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement on Form S-4 (the “Registration Statement”) and one director determined by the Sponsor, prior to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement. In addition, SOAC has agreed to adopt an equity incentive plan, as described in the Business Combination Agreement.
Conditions to Each Party’s Obligations
The obligation of SOAC and DeepGreen to consummate the Business Combination is subject to certain closing conditions, including, but not limited to, (i) the absence of any order, law or other legal restraint or prohibition issued by any court of competent jurisdiction or other governmental entity of competent jurisdiction preventing the consummation of the Business Combination, (ii) the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, (iii) the approval of SOAC’s shareholders, (iv) the approval of DeepGreen’s shareholders and optionholders, (v) receipt of a final Canadian court order with respect to the Plan of Arrangement (the “Final Order”), (vi) receipt of approval or deemed approval by the applicable minister under Part IV of the Investment Canada Act (Canada) (if required), (vii) the approval by NYSE of SOAC’s initial listing application in connection with the Business Combination and (viii) SOAC having at least $5,000,001 of net tangible assets (as determined in accordance with Rule 3a51-1(g)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) remaining after the closing of the Business Combination.
In addition, the obligation of DeepGreen to consummate the Business Combination is subject to the fulfillment of other closing conditions, including, but not limited to, (i) the aggregate cash proceeds from SOAC’s trust account, together with the proceeds from the PIPE financing, equaling no less than $250,000,000 (after deducting any amounts paid to SOAC shareholders that exercise their redemption rights in connection with the Business Combination and net of SOAC’s unpaid transaction expenses and SOAC’s unpaid liabilities), (ii) no SOAC Material Adverse Effect (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) having occurred that is continuing, (iii) SOAC having delivered, or caused to be delivered, to DeepGreen, the Registration Rights Agreement (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement), duly executed by an authorized officer of SOAC and (iv) SOAC having taken all actions necessary or appropriate such that the board of directors of SOAC consists of the number of directors, and is comprised of the individuals, determined pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement.
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Termination
The Business Combination Agreement may be terminated under certain customary and limited circumstances prior to the closing of the Business Combination, including, but not limited to, by (i) mutual written consent of SOAC and DeepGreen, (ii) SOAC if the representations and warranties of DeepGreen are not true and correct or if DeepGreen fails to perform any covenant or agreement set forth in the Business Combination Agreement such that certain conditions to closing cannot be satisfied and the breach or breaches of such representations or warranties or the failure to perform such covenant or agreement, as applicable, are not cured or cannot be cured within certain specified time periods, (iii) DeepGreen if the representations and warranties of any SOAC Party (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) are not true and correct or if any SOAC Party fails to perform any covenant or agreement set forth in the Business Combination Agreement such that certain conditions to closing cannot be satisfied and the breach or breaches of such representations or warranties or the failure to perform such covenant or agreement, as applicable, are not cured or cannot be cured within certain specified time periods, (iv) either SOAC or DeepGreen if the Business Combination is not consummated by October 4, 2021, subject to certain limited exceptions, (v) either SOAC or DeepGreen, if any governmental entity of competent jurisdiction shall have issued an order permanently enjoining or prohibiting the Business Combination and such order shall have become final and nonappealable, (vi) either SOAC or DeepGreen if certain required approvals are not obtained by SOAC shareholders after the conclusion of a meeting of SOAC’s shareholders held for such purpose at which such shareholders voted on such approvals and (vi) SOAC if DeepGreen Required Approval (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) is not obtained at the DeepGreen Shareholder Meeting (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement).
If the Business Combination Agreement is validly terminated, none of the parties to the Business Combination Agreement will have any liability or any further obligation under the Business Combination Agreement, except in the case of Willful Breach or Fraud (each, as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) and for customary obligations that survive the termination thereof (such as confidentiality obligations).
Alternative Transaction
In the event that the Final Order is not obtained (for any reason other than as a result of a material breach of SOAC’s covenants or obligations under the Business Combination Agreement), the parties to the Business Combination Agreement have agreed to take all actions reasonably required to execute and deliver all related documentation in order to complete the Business Combination by way of an amalgamation under Part 9, Division 3 of the BCBCA (an “Alternative Transaction”). In such event, the parties may consider effecting a share exchange for certain shareholders prior to consummating the Alternative Transaction.
This description of the Business Combination Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the terms and conditions of the Business Combination Agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 2.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.
Business Strategy
Our acquisition and value creation strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company in an industry that complements the experience and expertise of our management team and is focused on, or could benefit from, environmentally sustainable business practices. We seek to:
| ● | Leverage the strategic and transactional experience of our management team and Sponsor to bring advice and attention to potential targets; |
| ● | Drive value creation through support of a strong environmental sustainability profile or a “brown-to-green” transition; |
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| ● | Deliver creative approaches to transaction sourcing; |
| ● | Utilize an understanding of global financial markets and events, financing and overall corporate strategy options, including assistance with public company readiness; and |
| ● | Remove economic or environmental waste through environmentally sustainable operational or commercial improvements. |
Our selection process in choosing an attractive investment opportunity leverages our management team’s network of industry, private equity sponsor, credit fund sponsor and lending community relationships as well as relationships with management teams of public and private companies, investment bankers, restructuring advisers, attorneys and accountants, which provides us with a number of business combination opportunities. We have deployed a proactive, thematic sourcing strategy and focus on companies where we believe the combination of our operating experience, relationships, capital and capital markets expertise can be a catalyst to transform a target company and can help accelerate the target’s growth, performance and sustainability profile. Since the completion of our initial public offering, members of our management team have communicated with their network of relationships to articulate our initial business combination criteria, including the parameters of our search for a target business, and have begun the disciplined process of pursuing and reviewing promising leads.
The members of our management team have experience in:
| ● | Operating and investing in companies with a focus on decarbonization and environmentally sustainable business practices; |
| ● | Operating companies, setting and enacting strategies, and identifying, monitoring and recruiting world-class talent; |
| ● | Developing and growing companies, both organically and through acquisitions and strategic transactions and expanding the product range and geographic footprint of a number of target businesses; |
| ● | Sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses; |
| ● | Accessing the capital markets, including financing businesses and helping companies transition to public ownership; |
| ● | Fostering relationships with sellers, capital providers and target management teams; and |
| ● | Executing transactions and business plans under various economic and financial market conditions. |
Competitive Strengths
The sourcing, valuation, diligence and execution capabilities of our management team provide us with a significant pipeline of opportunities from which to evaluate and select a business that will benefit from our expertise. Our competitive strengths include the following:
| ● | Strong Management Team and Sponsorship. We believe that our Sponsor and management team, with its decade long proven ability to execute and simultaneously improve both financial metrics and sustainability and the strong track record of our management team focused on environmental sustainability, will be viewed favorably by target businesses in need of professionalized management, ESG guidance, improved operating processes and controls, better access to industry relationships and strategic planning. |
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| ● | Leading Experience in Decarbonization and Environmentally Sustainable Practices. Our management team has significant experience in decarbonization through the retirement and management of carbon intensive facilities as well as investment into new technologies. Our Sponsor has an extensive track record of investment in companies with an environmental sustainability focus. |
| ● | Proprietary Sourcing Channels and Leading Industry Relationships. We believe the capabilities and connections associated with our management team and Sponsor will provide us with a differentiated pipeline of merger opportunities that would be difficult for other participants in the market to replicate. We expect these sourcing capabilities will be further bolstered by our management team’s reputation and deep industry relationships. |
| ● | Investing Experience. We believe that our management and Sponsor’s track record of identifying and sourcing transactions positions us well to evaluate potential investment targets and select one that will be well received by the public markets and our shareholders. |
| ● | Execution and Structuring Capability. We believe that our management team’s and Sponsor’s combined industry expertise and reputation will allow them to source and complete transactions possessing structural attributes that create an attractive investment thesis. These types of transactions are typically complex and require creativity, industry knowledge and expertise, rigorous due diligence, and extensive negotiations and documentation. We believe that by focusing our investment activities on these types of transactions, we are able to generate investment opportunities that have attractive risk/reward profiles based on their valuations and structural characteristics. |
Investment Criteria
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines which we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We have used these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to acquire one or more businesses or entities that we believe:
| ● | Benefits from Environmentally Sustainable Business Practices. We seek to acquire a business that (i) has existing operating practices that promote and profit from environmental sustainability or (ii) would benefit from implementing environmentally sustainable commercial and operating practices leveraging the expertise of our management team and Sponsor. |
| ● | Has a Defensible Market Position. We seek to acquire a business that has a defensible position within a target market as a result of a differentiated technology, distribution capabilities, customer service or other competitive advantages. |
| ● | Has an Attractive Financial Profile. We seek to acquire a business that has highly recurring, stable cash flows and operating leverage and may benefit from optimizing or delevering the capital structure. |
| ● | Would Benefit Uniquely from our Capabilities. We seek to acquire a business where the collective capabilities of our management and Sponsor can be leveraged to tangibly improve the operations and market position of the target. |
| ● | Is Sourced Through our Proprietary Channels. We aim to leverage our extensive network to source our business combination and do not expect to rely on broadly marketed processes to find a business combination target. |
| ● | Has a Committed and Capable Management Team. We seek to acquire a business with a professional management team whose interests are aligned with those of our investors and complement the expertise of our management team and Sponsor. Where necessary, we may also look to complement and enhance the capabilities of the target business’s management team by recruiting additional talent through our network of contacts. |
| ● | Has the Potential to Grow Organically or Through Additional Acquisitions. We seek to acquire a business that has the potential to grow both organically through market expansion or increased market share as well as through external acquisitions. |
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These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this Report, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital planning experience.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view from either an independent investment banking firm or other independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions or an independent accounting firm.
Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our ordinary shares and/or private placement warrants following our initial public offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Initial Business Combination
Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of signing the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses or we are considering an initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will obtain an opinion with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria from an independent investment banking firm or other independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management has virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective businesses, although we are not permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
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We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the prior owners of the target business, the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking shareholder approval, as applicable. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our Sponsor.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Other Considerations
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, Founders, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination or, subject to certain exceptions, subsequent material transactions with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor or any of our Founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or other independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
In addition, certain of our Founders, officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities. As a result, if any of our Founders, officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he, she or it has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he, she or it will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
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Our Sponsor, directors and officers may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. In addition, our Founders, 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 management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriter’s ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, including our lack of an operating history and our potential need to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
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 our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
Financial Position
With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $292,000,000, after payment of the expenses of our initial public offering and $10,500,000 of deferred underwriting fees, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third-party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
General
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following our initial public offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering, the private placements of the private placement warrants, our equity, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a target business.
We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. We are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.
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Sources of Target Businesses
We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read the prospectus relating to our initial public offering and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our Sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). We have agreed to pay an affiliate of our Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse our Sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors, or from making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or other independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
As more fully discussed in “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Conflicts of Interest,” each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including entities that are affiliates of our Sponsor, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination.
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In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our Sponsor.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
| ● | subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination; and |
| ● | cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services. |
Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons.
Under the NYSE’s listing rules, shareholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
| ● | we issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our ordinary shares then outstanding (other than in a public offering); |
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| ● | any of our directors, officers or substantial security holders (as defined by the NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in issued and outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 1% or more (or 5% or more if the related party involved is classified as such solely because such person is a substantial security holder); or |
| ● | the issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and legal reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
| ● | the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder; |
| ● | approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company; |
| ● | the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote; |
| ● | the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination; |
| ● | other time and budget constraints of the company; and |
| ● | additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders. |
Permitted Purchases of Our Securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
In the event that our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
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In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our Sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our Sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our Sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact potential selling shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the shareholder meeting related to our initial business combination. Our Sponsor, executive officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Our Sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriter. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our Sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). However, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
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Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with the NYSE rules.
If we held a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
| ● | conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
| ● | file proxy materials with the SEC. |
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting vote in favor of the business combination. In such case, our Sponsor has agreed to vote its founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our Sponsor’s founder shares, we would need 11,250,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted), or 1,875,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted), of the 30,000,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our Sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering.
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
| ● | conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and |
| ● | file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
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Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we or our Sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase Class A ordinary shares in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.
Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as “Excess Shares.” We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our Sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
Public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
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There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the shareholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming shareholder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, unless otherwise agreed to by us. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that we have only 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering to consummate an initial business combination. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides 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.
Our Sponsor, directors and members of our management team have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering. However, if our Sponsor, director or members of our management team 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 consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering.
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Our Sponsor, executive officers, directors and director nominees 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 that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, 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 earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-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 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). 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. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our Sponsor, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the initial $2,500,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account plus up to $100,000 of funds from the trust account available to us to pay dissolution expenses, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our 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 $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, 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 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 the company and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interest of the company given 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. 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 (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts 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, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account 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. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. 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. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
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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 net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay our income tax obligations, 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. 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. Our Sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We have access to up to $2,500,000 from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors, however such liability will not be greater than the amount of funds from our trust account received by any such shareholder.
If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy 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 petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
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 consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote.
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Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies, operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at 1601 Bryan Street, Suite 4141, Dallas, Texas 75201. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our Sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have three executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the 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.
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.
Available Information
We are required to file Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q with the SEC on a regular basis, and are required to disclose certain material events (e.g., changes in corporate control, acquisitions or dispositions of a significant amount of assets other than in the ordinary course of business and bankruptcy) in a Current Report on Form 8-K. The SEC maintains an Internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The SEC’s Internet website is located at http://www.sec.gov.
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| 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 Report and the prospectus associated with our initial public offering, before making a decision to invest in our securities. 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.
We have no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We were formed on December 18, 2019 under the laws of the Cayman Islands and have no operating results. 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 with one or more target businesses. We 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.”
As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately $1.3 million in cash and a working capital deficiency of approximately $372,000. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in the prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate our initial public offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.
Past performance by our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us, and we may be unable to provide positive returns to shareholders.
Information regarding performance is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance of our management team is not a guarantee either: (1) that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (2) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team’s performance as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us, including whether we can provide an attractive return to our shareholders, or as indicative of every prior investment by each of our Founders and the members of our management team. The market price of our securities may be influenced by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, and our shareholders may experience losses on their investment in our securities.
Our shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote before we complete our initial business combination if the business combination would not require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. For instance, if we were seeking to acquire a target business where the consideration we were paying in the transaction was all cash, we would not be required to seek shareholder approval to complete such a transaction. Except for as required by applicable law or stock exchange requirement, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
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Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor and members of our management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
As of the date hereof, our Sponsor owns, on an as-converted basis, approximately 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares. Our Sponsor and members of our management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting vote in favor of the business combination, including the founder shares. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 11,250,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted), or 1,875,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted), of the 30,000,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our Sponsor and each member of our management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third-party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for additional third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriter will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions.
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The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we consummate an initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of our initial public offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not consummate an initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the time frame described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of our initial public offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate an initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of our initial public offering. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within such applicable time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law.
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Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides 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.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, other than as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions.
In the event that our Sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly redeem or tender public shares. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed.
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You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier 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 described herein; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering; and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. 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.
NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are currently listed on the NYSE. Although we expect to continue to meet the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE listing standards, our securities may not be, or may not continue to be, listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum market capitalization (generally $50,000,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 400 public holders).
Additionally, our units will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination and, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE.
For instance, in order for our shares to be listed upon the consummation of our business combination, at such time our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our total market capitalization would be required to be at least $200.0 million, the greatest market value of publicly held shares would be required to be at least $100.0 million and we would be required to have at least 400 round lot shareholders. We may not be able to meet those listing requirements at that time.
If the NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
| ● | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| ● | reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| ● | a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
| ● | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| ● | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
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The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the NYSE, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000, 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 that since our units were immediately tradable and we 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 have prohibited the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
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Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has and is continuing to spread throughout China and other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic.” A significant outbreak of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We have encountered and expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, 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.
We believe that the funds available to us outside of the trust account, together with funds available from loans from our Sponsor, will be sufficient to allow us to operate for 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we expect to 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 designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent 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.
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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 warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our share price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will surface all material issues with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to the company and will only enter into an agreement with such third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. The underwriter will not execute an agreement with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
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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 have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, 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 ten years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to a letter agreement, our Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent auditors) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per 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 net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to 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. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
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. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
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 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 net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, 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 our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive 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 (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). 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.
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If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy 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 petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
| ● | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
| ● | restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. |
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
| ● | registration as an investment company; |
| ● | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
| ● | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations. |
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In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. An investment in our securities is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering; or (iii) absent our completing an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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 are 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.
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If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such 18 months before redemption from our trust account.
If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind-up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Law. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 18 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides 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.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable to a fine of $18,292.68 and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. As an exempted company, there is no requirement under the Companies Law for us to hold annual or general meetings to elect directors. Until we hold an annual meeting of shareholders, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to elect directors and to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of shareholders) serving a three-year term.
Holders of Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on any election 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 election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. 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. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.
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We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, 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 and causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our commercially reasonable efforts to file a registration statement under the Securities Act covering such shares and 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 relating to our initial public offering, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will 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, unless an exemption is available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities 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 where 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 warrants included as part of units sold in our initial public offering. In such an instance, our Sponsor and its transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to 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 securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Our ability to require holders of our warrants to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis after we call the warrants for redemption or if there is no effective registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants will cause holders to receive fewer Class A ordinary shares upon their exercise of the warrants than they would have received had they been able to pay the exercise price of their warrants in cash.
If we call the warrants for redemption, we will have the option, in our sole discretion, to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis. If we choose to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis or if holders elect to do so when there is no effective registration statement, the number of Class A ordinary shares received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his or her warrant for cash. For example, if the holder is exercising 875 public warrants at $11.50 per share through a cashless exercise when the Class A ordinary shares have a fair market value of $17.50 per share, then upon the cashless exercise, the holder will receive 300 Class A ordinary shares. The holder would have received 875 Class A ordinary shares if the exercise price was paid in cash. This will 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.
The warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, and you will not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within 20 business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
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The grant of registration rights to our Sponsor may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to agreement registration and shareholder rights agreement, our Sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of such warrants. The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the founder shares and the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such private placement warrants. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the securities owned by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees are registered.
Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
We may pursue business combination opportunities in any sector, except that we are not, under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s area of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in our securities than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this Report regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any shareholder who choose to remain shareholders following our business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses and our strategy is to identify, acquire and build a company in the sustainable sector, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses and our strategy is to identify, acquire and build a company in the sustainable sector, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent accounting or investment banking firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or other independent entity that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained therein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 300,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 30,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. There are 270,000,000 and 22,500,000 authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares, if any. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination as described herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. There are no preference shares issued and outstanding.
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We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth herein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides, among other things, that prior to or in connection with our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination or on any other proposal presented to shareholders prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:
| ● | may significantly dilute the equity interest of our investors, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
| ● | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
| ● | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of our Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; |
| ● | may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; |
| ● | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and |
| ● | may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Law, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay such taxes. Shareholders or warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
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In particular, there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Cayman Islands or any other applicable jurisdictions would recognize and enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained against us or our directors or officers predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States or entertain original actions brought in the Cayman Islands or any other applicable jurisdiction’s courts against us or our directors or officers predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States.
We are dependent upon our executive 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 executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our executive 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 executive officers.
The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management, director or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. In addition, pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement, our Sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as the Sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
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We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he or she may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, and may also serve as officers and/or directors for other special purpose acquisition companies. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses or entities. Certain of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
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In addition, our Sponsor, directors and officers may in the future become affiliated with other blank check companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to such other blank check companies prior to its presentation to us, subject to our officers’ and directors’ fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
Our executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our Sponsor, our directors or executive officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our Sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses or entities affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination and may compete with us for business combination opportunities. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our Sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in Item 1 “Business—Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or other independent entity regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
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Since our Sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may have acquired during or may acquire after our initial public offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On December 31, 2019, the Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration of 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. In March 2020, our Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the Sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 9,500,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($9,500,000 in the aggregate), in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering. If we do not consummate an initial business within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 18-month anniversary of the closing of our initial public offering nears, which is the deadline for our consummation of an initial business combination.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of the prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following our initial public offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
| ● | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
| ● | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
| ● | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; |
| ● | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding; |
| ● | our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares; |
| ● | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
| ● | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
| ● | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation or prevailing interest rates; and |
| ● | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
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We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from our initial public offering and the private placement of warrants provided us with up to $292,000,000 that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $10,500,000 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account and the estimated expenses of our initial public offering).
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single-target business or multiple-target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
| ● | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or |
| ● | dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. By definition, very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. Upon the loss of control of a target business, new management may not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
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We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association does not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (such that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our Sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, changed industry focus and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and amending our warrant agreement requires a vote of holders of at least 65% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 65% of the number of the then-outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through the initial public offering, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We may seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
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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 a special resolution which requires the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check 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.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s shareholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides 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, meaning holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares 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 at least 65% of our ordinary shares; provided that the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association governing the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination may only be amended by a special resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at our shareholder meeting which shall include the affirmative vote of a simple majority of our Class B ordinary shares. Our Sponsor and its permitted transferees, if any, who will collectively beneficially own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of our initial public offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in our initial public offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check 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, executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or director nominees 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.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment may make it difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
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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.
Upon closing of our initial public offering, our Sponsor held, on an as-converted basis, approximately 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (assuming it does not purchase any units in our initial public offering). Accordingly, it 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 the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase its control. Neither our Sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our Sponsor, is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms for three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our Sponsor, because of its ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. 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. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our Sponsor. Accordingly, our Sponsor continues to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
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 65% 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 will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to (i) cure any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in the prospectus, or defective provision, (ii) amending the definition of ordinary cash dividend as contemplated by the warrant agreement, or (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then-outstanding public warrants 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 65% 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, 65% 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 65% 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 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 share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. 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. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us on such terms so long as they are held by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
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Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We have issued warrants to purchase 15,000,000 Class A ordinary shares as part of the units issued in our initial public offering and, simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we issued in a private placement an aggregate of 9,500,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share. In addition, if the Sponsor makes any working capital loans, it may convert up to $1,500,000 of such loans into up to an additional 1,500,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant.
To the extent we issue ordinary shares for any reason, including to effectuate a business combination, 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-half of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit contains one-half of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike most blank check companies, if (i) we issue additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a newly issued price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the market value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the market value and the newly issued price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the market value and the newly issued price . This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
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The market for our securities may not be sustained, which would adversely affect the liquidity and 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 not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be sustained.
Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to “emerging growth companies” or “smaller reporting companies,” this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor 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 accountant standards used.
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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 any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not exceed $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues did not exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not exceed $700 million as of the prior June 30.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate a business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2021. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
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 executive officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Law 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 our Cayman Islands legal counsel that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
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.
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Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions will include a staggered board of directors, the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of our Class B ordinary shares, which have been issued to our Sponsor, are entitled to vote on the election of directors, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
General Risk Factors
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.
On April 12, 2021, the Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance and Acting Chief Accountant of the SEC together issued a statement regarding the accounting and reporting considerations for warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (’SPACs’)” (the “SEC Statement”). Specifically, the SEC Statement focused on certain settlement terms and provisions related to certain tender offers following a business combination, which terms are similar to those contained in the warrant agreement governing our warrants. As a result of the SEC Statement, we reevaluated the accounting treatment of our 15,000,000 public warrants and 9,500,000 private placement warrants, and determined to classify the warrants as derivative liabilities measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings. We expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses due to the quarterly fair valuation of our warrants and that such gains or losses could be material.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020. 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.
Following this issuance of the SEC Statement, after consultation with the Company’s management and the audit committee of our Board of Directors (the “Audit Committee”), the Company concluded that, in light of the SEC Statement, it was appropriate to restate the Company’s previously issued audited financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020. See “—Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.” As part of such process, we identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. We continue to evaluate steps to remediate the material weakness. These remediation measures may be time consuming and costly and there is no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
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 our stock price 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.
We may face litigation and other risks and uncertainties as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and the restatement of our financial statements.
As a result of the material weakness in internal controls over financial reporting described in “—Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results,” the restatement of previously issued financials of the Company, the change in accounting for the warrants and other matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, we face potential for litigation, inquiries from the SEC and other regulatory bodies, other disputes or proceedings which may include, among other things, monetary judgments, penalties or other sanctions, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws and contractual claims. As of the date of this Annual Report, we have no knowledge of any such litigation, inquires, disputes or proceedings. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation, inquiries, disputes or proceedings will not arise in the future. Any such litigation, inquiries, disputes or proceedings, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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.
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Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
| ● | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations; |
| ● | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
| ● | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
| ● | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
| ● | exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
| ● | tariffs and trade barriers; |
| ● | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| ● | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
| ● | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
| ● | challenges in managing and staffing international operations; |
| ● | longer payment cycles; |
| ● | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
| ● | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| ● | rates of inflation; |
| ● | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| ● | cultural and language differences; |
| ● | employment regulations; |
| ● | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
| ● | corruption; |
| ● | protection of intellectual property; |
| ● | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
| ● | regime changes and political upheaval; |
| ● | terrorist attacks and wars; and |
| ● | deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue generating activities to compliance activities.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
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| ITEM 1B. | UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS |
None.
| ITEM 2. | PROPERTIES |
We do not own any real estate or other physical properties materially important to our operations. We currently maintain our executive offices at 1601 Bryan Street, Suite 4141, Dallas, Texas 75201. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we will pay to an affiliate of our Sponsor for office space, administrative and support services, commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the NYSE. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
| ITEM 3. | LEGAL PROCEEDINGS |
To the knowledge of our management, there is no material litigation currently pending or contemplated against us, any of our officers or directors in their capacity as such or against any of our property.
| ITEM 4. | MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES |
Not applicable.
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| ITEM 5. | MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES |
| (a) | Market Information |
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are each traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol “SOAC.U”, “SOAC” and “SOAC WS” respectively.
| (b) | Holders |
On March 29, 2021, there was one holder of record for our units, one holder of record for our Class A ordinary shares, four holders of our Class B ordinary shares and two holders of our warrants.
| (c) | Dividends |
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of an initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial conditions subsequent to completion of an initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to an initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any share dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
| (d) | Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans |
None.
| (e) | Performance Graph |
Not applicable.
| (f) | Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings |
Unregistered Sales and Use of Proceeds
On December 31, 2019, the Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, in consideration of 8,625,000 founder shares, par value $0.0001 per share. In March 2020, the Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of the company’s independent directors. The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the company’s initial Business Combination and are subject to certain transfer restrictions. The Sponsor had agreed to forfeit up to 1,125,000 founder shares to the extent that the over-allotment option was not exercised in full by the underwriter so that the founder shares will represent 20.0% of the company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. The over-allotment option expired in June 2020; thus, these founder shares were forfeited accordingly.
On May 8, 2020, we completed our initial public offering of 30,000,000 units generating gross proceeds of $300.0 million. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment.
On May 5, 2020, the Sponsor purchased 9,500,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant”), each exercisable to purchase one ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($9,500,000 in the aggregate), in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was added to the proceeds from the initial public offering held in the trust account. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share.
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| (g) | Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers |
None.
| ITEM 6. | SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA |
Not applicable.
| ITEM 7. | MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS |
References to the “Company,” “Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp.,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
This “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” has been amended and restated to give effect to the restatement of our financial statements, as more fully described in Note 2 to our financial statements. For further detail regarding the restatement, see “Explanatory Note” and “Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.”
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Report including, without limitation, statements under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding our financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward looking statements. When used in this Report, words such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, identify forward looking statements. Such forward looking statements are based on the beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, our management. No assurance can be given that results in any forward-looking statement will be achieved and actual results could be affected by one or more factors, which could cause them to differ materially. The cautionary statements made in this Report should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements whenever they appear in this Report. For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including but not limited to, those detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are qualified in their entirety by this paragraph.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on December 18, 2019 for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses that we have not yet identified (“Business Combination”). Although we are not limited to a particular industry or geographic region for purposes of consummating a Business Combination, we intend to focus within industries that benefit from strong Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) profiles. While investing in ESG covers a broad range of themes, we are focused on evaluating suitable targets that have existing environmental sustainability practices or that may benefit, both operationally and economically, from our management team’s commitment and expertise in executing such practices. Our Sponsor is Sustainable Opportunities Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”).
The registration statement for our initial public offering was declared effective on May 5, 2020. On May 8, 2020, we consummated our initial public offering of 30,000,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”) at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $300.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $17.4 million, inclusive of $10.5 million in deferred underwriting commissions.
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Simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 9,500,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to our Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $9.5 million.
Upon the closing of the initial public offering and the Private Placement, $300.0 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the initial public offering and the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”), located in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by us meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by us, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below. Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination.
If we are unable to complete a Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the initial public offering, or November 8, 2021 (the “Combination Period”), we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay for our tax obligations, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
Proposed Business Combination
On March 4, 2021, we entered into a Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among the Company, 1291924 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, an unlimited liability company existing under the laws of British Columbia, Canada (“NewCo Sub”), and DeepGreen Metals Inc., a company existing under the laws of British Columbia, Canada (“DeepGreen”).
Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, we will migrate to and be continued as a company in British Columbia, Canada (the “SOAC Continuance”). Following the SOAC Continuance, pursuant to a plan of arrangement (the “Plan of Arrangement”) under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), (i) we will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of DeepGreen (the “DeepGreen Shares”) from DeepGreen shareholders in exchange for the Company’s common shares and Company Earnout Shares (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) (the “Share Exchange”), (ii) DeepGreen will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and (iii) DeepGreen and NewCo Sub will amalgamate to continue as one unlimited liability company, in each case, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Business Combination Agreement and the Plan of Arrangement and in accordance with the provisions of applicable law. See the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on March 4, 2021, for further information.
Results of Operations
Our entire activity from December 18, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2020, was in preparation for our initial public offering, and since such offering, our activity has been limited to the search for a prospective initial Business Combination. We will not generate any operating revenues until the closing and completion of our initial Business Combination.
We recognize non-cash gains and losses within other income (expense) related to changes in recurring fair value measurement of our warrant liabilities at each reporting period. The activity below reflects the results after considering the restatement of our historical financial statements to account for the Warrants within liabilities as further described in our financial statements.
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For the year ended December 31, 2020, we had a net loss of approximately $36,542,055, which consisted of general and administrative expenses of approximately $2,923,654, changes in fair value of warrant liabilities of $32,730,000, offering costs allocated to warrant liabilities of $877,647, general and administrative- related party expenses of approximately $80,000, offset by approximately $69,246 in interest income and in the Trust Account.
For the three months ended September 30, 2020, we had net loss of $23,249,822, which consists of operating costs of $1,252,578, interest income on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $22,756 and a change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $(22,020,000).
For the nine months ended September 30, 2020, we had net loss of $23,302,098, which consists of operating costs of $1,638,975, offering costs allocated to warrant liabilities of $877,647, interest income on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $64,524 and a change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $(20,850,000).
For the three months ended June 30, 2020, we had net income of $6,723, which consists of operating costs of $327,417, offering costs allocated to warrant liabilities of $877,647, interest income on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $41,787 and a change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $1,170,000.
For the six months ended June 30, 2020, we had net loss of $52,276, which consists of operating costs of $386,416, offering costs allocated to warrant liabilities of $877,647, interest income on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $41,787 and a change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $1,170,000.
For the period from December 18, 2019 (inception) to December 31, 2019, we had a net loss of approximately $9,000, which consisted solely of general and administrative expenses of approximately $9,000.
Going Concern Consideration
As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately $1.3 million in cash and a working capital deficit of approximately $372,000.
Until the consummation of a Business Combination, we will be using the funds not held in the Trust Account for identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination. We will need to raise additional capital through loans or additional investments from our Sponsor, shareholders, officers, directors, or third parties. Our officers, directors and Sponsor may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion, to meet our working capital needs. Accordingly, we may not be able to obtain additional financing. If we are unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of a potential transaction, and reducing overhead expenses. We cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern through November 8, 2021. These financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should we be unable to continue as a going concern.
We continue to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and have concluded that the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the balance sheet. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Other Contractual Obligations
Underwriting Agreement
The underwriter was entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per unit, or $6.0 million in the aggregate paid upon the closing of the initial public offering. In addition, $0.35 per unit, or $10.5 million in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriter for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred underwriting commissions will become payable to the underwriter from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that we complete a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Administrative Support Agreement
We entered into an agreement, commencing on May 8, 2020 through the earlier of our consummation of a Business Combination and our liquidation, to reimburse our Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services. We incurred and paid $80,000 and $0 in expenses in connection with such services and recorded in general and administrative expenses in the statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020, and for the period December 18, 2019 (inception) to December 31, 2019 respectively.
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Consulting Agreement
We are receiving consulting services in connection with identification of potential targets for a Business Combination and due diligence on such targets. As compensation for such services, we have paid a nonrefundable fixed fee of $350,000 and agreed to pay the consulting firm $2,650,000 solely in the event that we complete a Business Combination. The consulting agreement may be terminated early by either party to the agreement provided that we pay a termination fee to the consulting firm determined based on a monthly increasing amount through November 2021. As of December 31, 2020, the termination fee is $1,115,800, which has been accrued and recognized in general and administrative expenses within the statements of operations.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States 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. The Company has identified the following as its critical accounting policies:
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. Our Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, 22,726,721 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption were presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of our balance sheet.
Warrant Liabilities
We do not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market or foreign currency risks. We evaluate all of our financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815-15. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
We issued an aggregate of 15,000,000 Public Warrants associated with Units issued to investors in our initial public offering and we issued 9,500,000 Private Placement Warrants. All of our outstanding warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40. Accordingly, we recognize the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The liabilities are subject to remeasurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in the Company’s statement of operations. The fair value of Public Warrants issued in connection with the initial public offering were measured at fair value using a Monte Carlo simulation and the private placement were initially measured at fair value using a modified Black Sholes Model including inputs from a Monte Carlo simulation. The private warrants have been valued similarly for each subsequent measurement date and fair value of warrants issued in connection with our initial public offering have subsequently been measured based on the listed market price of such warrants.
Net Loss Per Ordinary Share
We apply the two-class method in calculating earnings per share. Net (loss) per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the periods. An aggregate of 22,726,721 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption at December 31, 2020 has been excluded from the calculation of basic loss per ordinary share, since such shares, if redeemed, only participate in their pro rata share of the Trust earnings. We have not considered the effect of the warrants sold in the initial public offering and Private Placement to purchase an aggregate of 24,500,000 Class A ordinary shares in the calculation of diluted loss per ordinary share, since the exercise of the warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events. As a result, diluted net loss per ordinary share is the same as basic net loss per ordinary share for the periods presented.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2020, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations.
JOBS Act
On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be 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 such, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates.
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Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our initial public offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
| ITEM 7A. | QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK |
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
| ITEM 8. | FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA |
This information appears following Item 16 of this Report and is incorporated herein by reference.
| ITEM 9. | CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE |
None.
| ITEM 9A. | CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES |
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this Report, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management evaluated, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer (our “Certifying Officers”), the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, our Certifying Officers concluded that, as of December 31, 2020, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective, due to the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting described below in “Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting” and the Company’s restatement of its financial statements to reclassify the Company’s Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants as described in the Explanatory Note to this Annual Report, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective for the Affected Periods (as defined in the Explanatory Note).
A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected and corrected on a timely basis. In preparation of our financial statements for the period covered by this Amendment, we identified a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting related to our control environment that existed as of December 31, 2020 as described below.
We identified a material weakness with respect to the classification of the Company’s warrants as components of equity instead of as derivative liabilities. Since issuance, our warrants were accounted for as equity within our balance sheet. On April 12, 2021, the SEC issued the SEC Staff Statement in which it expressed its view that certain terms and conditions common to warrants issued by SPACs may require the warrants to be classified as liabilities on the SPAC’s balance sheet as opposed to equity. After discussion and evaluation, taking into consideration the SEC Staff Statement, we have concluded that our warrants should be classified as liabilities at their fair value upon inception, and remeasured at their fair value each subsequent reporting period. As discussed below and elsewhere in this Amendment, this material weakness resulted in a restatement of our financial statements.
Notwithstanding the identified material weakness, management believes that the Financial Statements and related financial information included in this Form 10-K fairly present, in all material respects, our balance sheets, statements of operations, comprehensive loss and cash flows as of and for the periods presented.
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Remediation Plan
As a newly created organization, we are currently in the process of implementing our financial reporting processes and will incorporate enhanced communication and documentation procedures between our operations team and the individuals responsible for preparation of financial statements. These controls are expected to include the implementation of additional supervision and review activities by qualified personnel, and the development and use of checklists and research tools to assist in compliance with GAAP. We intend to complete the enhancement of our financial reporting processes during fiscal year 2021. The process of designing and implementing an effective financial reporting system is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend resources to maintain a financial reporting system that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations. As we continue to evaluate and take actions to improve our internal control over financial reporting, we may determine to take additional actions to address control deficiencies or determine to modify certain of the remediation measures described above. 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 remediate the material weaknesses we have identified or avoid potential future material weaknesses.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
The Original Form 10-K did not, and this Amendment does not, include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements
On May 24, 2021, we revised our prior position on accounting for warrants and restated our financial statements to reclassify the Company’s warrants as described in the Explanatory Note to this Amendment. However, the non-cash adjustments to the financial statements do not impact the amounts previously reported for our cash and cash equivalents, total assets, revenue or cash flows.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting, as the circumstances that led to the restatement of our financial statements described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K/A had not yet been identified. Due solely to the events that led to our restatement of our financial statements, management has identified a material weakness in internal controls related to the accounting for warrants issued in connection with our initial public offering, as described in Note 2 to the Notes to Financial Statements. Management has implemented remediation steps to address the material weakness and 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.
| ITEM 9B. | OTHER INFORMATION |
None.
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| ITEM 10. | DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE |
Directors and Executive Officers
As of the date of this Report, our directors and officers are as follows:
Name |
Age |
Position | ||
| Scott Leonard | 46 | Chief Executive Officer and Director | ||
| Scott Honour | 53 | Chairman | ||
| David Quiram | 46 | Chief Financial Officer | ||
| Rick Gaenzle | 55 | Director | ||
| Isaac Barchas | 53 | Director | ||
| Justin Kelly | 49 | Director |
Scott Leonard serves as our Chief Executive Officer and on our board of directors. Mr. Leonard has over 15 years of experience leading highly successful business transformations and transitions. Mr. Leonard also has deep expertise over the past eight years driving decarbonization through technology adoption, product lifecycle management and development and industrial demand destruction. Mr. Leonard has held various roles at both public and private companies including Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Restructuring Officer and Independent Director. Previously, Mr. Leonard served as Chief Financial Officer/Chief Restructuring Officer at GenOn Energy from 2017 until 2018, and Chief Executive Officer of GenOn Mid-Atlantic LLC in 2018. From 2014 to 2016, Mr. Leonard was at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE), where he served as the Senior Vice President of Global Commercial Functions for the Enterprise Services business. Prior to that, Mr. Leonard served as Deputy Executive Director, Chief Strategy & Administrative Officer for the Texas Department of Transportation from 2012 to 2014. From 2005 to 2012, Mr. Leonard held positions as Senior Vice President, Performance Improvement and Vice President, Corporate Planning at TXU Corp. and its successor Energy Future Holdings Corp. Mr. Leonard previously served on the board of directors of NRG REMA, LLC and Lonestar II Generation Holdings. Earlier in his career, Mr. Leonard was with McKinsey & Co. as a management consultant and Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette as an investment banker. In addition, Mr. Leonard serves as a manager of our Sponsor. Mr. Leonard earned a B.S. with Highest Honors from Georgia Tech, and an M.B.A. with Distinction from The Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern.
Scott Honour serves as the Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Honour has over 30 years of private equity investment experience and has been involved in over 100 transactions totaling over $20 billion in transaction value. Mr. Honour is Managing Partner of Northern Pacific Group (“NPG”), a private equity firm, which he co-founded in 2012. Prior to that, Mr. Honour was at The Gores Group, a Los Angeles based private equity firm, for ten years, serving as Senior Managing Director and one of the firm’s top executives. During his time at The Gores Group, the firm raised four funds, totaling $4 billion in aggregate, and made over 35 investments. Mr. Honour also served on the investment committee for The Gores Group. Prior to joining The Gores Group, Mr. Honour was a Managing Director at UBS Investment Bank from 2000 to 2002 and was an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette from 1991 to 2000. Mr. Honour began his career at Trammell Crow Company in 1988. Mr. Honour has served on the board of directors of numerous public and private companies including Solar Spectrum Holdings LLC, Anthem Sports & Entertainment Inc., 1st Choice Delivery, LLC, United Language Group, Inc., Renters Warehouse LLC, Real Dolmen (REM:BB) and Westwood One, Inc. (formerly Nasdaq: WWON), and is a co-founder of Titan CNG LLC and YapStone Inc. In addition, Mr. Honour serves as a manager of our Sponsor. Mr. Honour earned a B.S. and B.A., cum laude, in Business Administration and Economics from Pepperdine University and an M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
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David Quiram serves as our Chief Financial Officer. Dr. Quiram has over 20 years of leadership experience in technology, strategy and finance organizations with a deep understanding of the chemicals, emerging technology, bioscience and energy sectors. Previously, Dr. Quiram served as Head of Financial Planning and Analysis and Tax at GenOn Energy (“GenOn”) from 2017 until 2019 where he was responsible for standing up the financial and administrative functions of GenOn as a stand-alone entity from NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG). Prior to that, Dr. Quiram served as Head of Investments for Enterprise Services of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) from 2014 until 2017 where he directed investments into products and services. From 2010 to 2014, Dr. Quiram was with Accenture (NYSE: ACN) as a Senior Manager in their Strategy practice focused on transforming utilities, independent power producers, and energy retailers. From 2006 to 2009, Dr. Quiram worked at multiple roles at TXU Energy starting in finance and later served as Vice President of Retail Pricing and Procurement where he led the pricing and hedging for TXU Energy’s retail portfolio. Dr. Quiram began his career at McKinsey & Co where he worked as an Engagement Manager from 2001 until 2005, and as a Research Scientist at DuPont (NYSE: DD) from 1998 to 2001. Dr. Quiram earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Rick Gaenzle has agreed to serve on our board of directors. Mr. Gaenzle has over 30 years of private equity investment and corporate finance experience; he is the founder and currently serves as a Managing Director of Gilbert Global Equity Capital, L.L.C., the principal investment advisor to Gilbert Global Equity Partners, L.P. and related entities, a $1.2 billion leveraged buyout and private equity fund. Mr. Gaenzle has spent the last twenty-eight years at Gilbert Global and its predecessor entity, completing over 110 direct equity investments, co-investments and add-on acquisitions for portfolio companies. Previously, Mr. Gaenzle was a Principal of Soros Capital L.P., the principal venture capital and leveraged equity entity of the Quantum Group of Funds and a principal advisor to Quantum Industrial Holdings Ltd. Prior to joining Soros Capital, Mr. Gaenzle held various positions at PaineWebber Inc. Mr. Gaenzle currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Impact Delta, an impact-investing and impact-measurement advisory firm; an Operating Partner of NPG; and Chairman of Lake Street Homes, a single-family rental investment vehicle. Mr. Gaenzle holds a B.A. from Hartwick College and an M.B.A. from Fordham University.
Isaac Barchas has agreed to serve on our board of directors. Mr. Barchas is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Research Bridge Partners (“RBP”), a socially-driven investment company, which he founded in 2016. RBP uses both concessionary and nonconcessionary investment to create startup companies based on university research and advance those companies into the venture capital markets. Prior to founding RBP, Mr. Barchas led the Austin Technology Incubator (“ATI”) at The University of Texas at Austin from 2006 to 2016. ATI’s Clean Energy Incubator was the first university clean tech incubation program in the United States. During Mr. Barchas’ leadership, ATI companies raised over $1 billion in the capital markets. Mr. Barchas joined the university from McKinsey & Co., where he worked in the Chicago, Sydney, Auckland, and Dallas offices, from 1996 to 2006 and served on the leadership teams of McKinsey’s North American Healthcare Practice and Global Organization Practice. Mr. Barchas has served on multiple private company boards and on philanthropic boards including Pecan Street Inc., the largest analytically-focused clean energy and climate data consortium in the United States, where he was a founding board member. Mr. Barchas earned a J.D. (honors) and M.A. (Century Fellowship) from The University of Chicago. He received an A.B. from Stanford University (honors and Phi Beta Kappa).
Justin Kelly has agreed to serve on our board of directors. Mr. Kelly is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Winslow Capital Management, LLC (“Winslow Capital”), Nuveen’s center of excellence for growth investing. Mr. Kelly also serves as lead portfolio manager on the firm’s flagship U.S. Large Cap Growth Strategy. Mr. Kelly has been with Winslow Capital for over two decades and has transformed the firm from a single strategy, niche investment firm to a thought leader globally in growth equity investing with four strategies. Prior to joining Winslow Capital in 1999, Mr. Kelly was an equity analyst at Investment Advisors in Minneapolis. Prior to that, Mr. Kelly worked at Prudential Bache, from 1993 to 1996 as Investment Banker, and Salomon Brothers, from 1996 to 1997 as Investment Banker. Mr. Kelly earned a B.S. in Finance/Investments from Babson College.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of shareholders) serving a three-year term. In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Rick Gaenzle, will expire at our first annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Isaac Barchas and Justin Kelly, will expire at our second annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Scott Leonard and Scott Honour, will expire at our third annual meeting of shareholders.
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Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into at the closing of our initial public offering, our Sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as the Sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
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 persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that our officers may consist of one or more chairman of the board, chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
NYSE listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. Our board of directors has determined that Rick Gaenzle, Isaac Barchas and Justin Kelly are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards. Our independent directors 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 nominating committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE require that the compensation committee and the nominating committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Rick Gaenzle, Isaac Barchas and Justin Kelly serve as members of our audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of Rick Gaenzle, Isaac Barchas and Justin Kelly are independent under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Rick Gaenzle serves as the Chairman of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Rick Gaenzle qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
The audit committee is responsible for:
| ● | meeting with our independent registered public accounting firm regarding, among other issues, audits, and adequacy of our accounting and control systems; |
| ● | monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
| ● | verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law; |
| ● | inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
| ● | pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed; |
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| ● | appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm; |
| ● | determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work; |
| ● | establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies; |
| ● | monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of our initial public offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of our initial public offering; and |
| ● | reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing shareholders, executive officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee are reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval. |
Nominating Committee
We have established a nominating committee of our board of directors. The members of our nominating committee are Rick Gaenzle, Isaac Barchas and Justin Kelly, and Isaac Barchas serves as chairman of the nominating committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, we are required to have a nominating committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of Rick Gaenzle, Isaac Barchas and Justin Kelly are independent.
The nominating committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating committee considers persons identified by its members, management, shareholders, investment bankers and others.
Guidelines for Selecting Director Nominees
The guidelines for selecting nominees, which are specified in a charter to be adopted by us, generally provides that persons to be nominated:
| ● | should have demonstrated notable or significant achievements in business, education or public service; |
| ● | should possess the requisite intelligence, education and experience to make a significant contribution to the board of directors and bring a range of skills, diverse perspectives and backgrounds to its deliberations; and |
| ● | should have the highest ethical standards, a strong sense of professionalism and intense dedication to serving the interests of the shareholders. |
The nominating committee considers a number of qualifications relating to management and leadership experience, background and integrity and professionalism in evaluating a person’s candidacy for membership on the board of directors. The nominating committee may require certain skills or attributes, such as financial or accounting experience, to meet specific board needs that arise from time to time and considers the overall experience and makeup of its members to obtain a broad and diverse mix of board members. The nominating committee does not distinguish among nominees recommended by shareholders and other persons.
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Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Rick Gaenzle, Isaac Barchas and Justin Kelly, and Justin Kelly serves as chairman of the compensation committee.
Under the NYSE listing standards, we are required to have a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of Rick Gaenzle, Isaac Barchas and Justin Kelly are independent. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
| ● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation; |
| ● | reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 executive officers; |
| ● | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
| ● | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
| ● | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
| ● | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and employees; |
| ● | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
| ● | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
The charter provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and is be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our executive officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. A copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
| ● | duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole; |
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| ● | duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
| ● | directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
| ● | duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
| ● | duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and |
| ● | duty to exercise independent judgment. |
In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
Certain of our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including entities that are affiliates of our Sponsor, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties, contractual obligations or other material management relationships:
| Individual | Entity | Entity’s Business | Affiliation | |||
| Scott Leonard | Lonestar II Generation Holdings | Energy | Board Member | |||
| Sustainable Opportunities Holdings LLC | Holding Company | Manager | ||||
| Scott Honour | Northern Pacific Group | Private Equity | Managing Partner | |||
| EVO Transportation & Energy Services Inc. | Transportation | Board Member | ||||
| Sustainable Opportunities Holdings LLC | Holding Company | Manager | ||||
| Rick Gaenzle | Gilbert Global Equity Capital, L.L.C. | Private Equity | Founder and Managing Director | |||
| Impact Delta | Advisory | Senior Advisor | ||||
| Northern Pacific Group | Private Equity | Operating Partner | ||||
|
|
Lake Street Homes | Investment | Chairman | |||
| Isaac Barchas | Research Bridge Partners | Investment | President and Chief Executive Officer | |||
| Novosteo, Inc. | Pharmaceutical | Board Member | ||||
| MorphImmune, Inc. | Pharmaceutical | Board Member | ||||
| Justin Kelly | Winslow Capital Management, LLC | Investment | Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer |
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Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
| ● | Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. |
| ● | Our Sponsor subscribed for founder shares prior to the date of the prospectus and purchased private placement warrants in a transaction that closed simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering. |
| ● | Our Sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering. Additionally, our Sponsor has agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not consummate an initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Except as described herein, our Sponsor and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. The private placement warrants will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. Because certain of our executive officers and directors own ordinary shares or warrants directly or indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. |
| ● | Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with an business combination target that is affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. Furthermore, in no event will our Sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, be paid by the company any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination.
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We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our Sponsor, our Founders and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides 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.
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 (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). 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
The following disclosure concerns the compensation of our executive officers and directors for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 (i.e., pre-business combination).
None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the NYSE through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we reimburse an affiliate of our Sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month. In addition, our Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates are 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, executive officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination are made using 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 executive 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, are paid by the company to our Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees are fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
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| ITEM 12. | SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS |
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of December 31, 2020 based on information obtained from the persons named below, with respect to the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares, 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 executive officers and directors that beneficially owns ordinary shares; and |
| ● | all our executive officers and directors as a group. |
In the table below, percentage ownership is based on 30,000,000 Class A ordinary shares (which includes Class A ordinary shares that are underlying the units) and 7,500,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding as of December 31, 2020. The table below does not include the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants held by our Sponsor because these securities are not exercisable within 60 days of this Report.
| Class B ordinary shares | Class A ordinary shares | |||||||||||||||
| Name of Beneficial Owners(1) | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Class | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Class | ||||||||||||
| Sustainable Opportunities Holdings LLC (our Sponsor) | 7,410,000 | 98.8 | % | — | — | |||||||||||
| Scott Leonard | 7,410,000 | 98.8 | % | — | — | |||||||||||
| Scott Honour(2) | 7,410,000 | 98.8 | % | — | — | |||||||||||
| David Quiram | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Rick Gaenzle | 30,000 | * | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Isaac Barchas | 30,000 | * | — | — | ||||||||||||
| Justin Kelly | 30,000 | * | — | — | ||||||||||||
| All officers, directors and director nominees as a group (six individuals) | 7,500,000 | 100 | % | — | — | |||||||||||
| Periscope Capital(3). | — | — | 1,746,609 | 5.8 | % | |||||||||||
| Glazer Capital, LLC(4) | — | — | 1,532,363 | 5.1 | % | |||||||||||
| * | Less than one percent. |
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our shareholders is 1601 Bryan Street, Suite 4141, Dallas, TX 75201. |
| (2) | Scott Leonard and Scott Honour are the managers of our sponsor and share voting and dispositive power over the securities held by our sponsor and therefore each may be deemed to be a beneficial owner thereof. |
| (3) | The address of Periscope Capital Inc. is 333 Bay Street, Suite 1240, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 2R2, based on a Schedule 13G filed on February 16, 2021 (the “Periscope 13G”). According to the Periscope 13G, Periscope Capital Inc. beneficially owns 1,282,132 shares of Class A ordinary shares and acts as investment manager of, and exercises investment discretion with respect to, certain private investment funds that collectively directly own 464,477 Class A ordinary shares. |
| (4) | The address of Glazer Capital, LLC (“Glazer Capital”) is 250 West 55th Street, Suite 30A, New York, New York 10019, based on a Schedule 13G/A filed on February 16, 2021 (the “Glazer 13G”). According to the Adage 13G, Mr. Paul Glazer (“Mr. Glazer”) is the managing member of Glazer Capital and therefore Mr. Glazer may be deemed to have beneficial ownership of the shares of Class A ordinary shares directly owned by Glazer Capital. |
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Our Sponsor, officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoter” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Changes in Control
None.
| ITEM 13. | CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE |
Founder Shares
On December 31, 2019, the Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration of 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. Of these, an aggregate of up to 1,125,000 shares were subject to forfeiture to the company by the Sponsor for no consideration to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the initial shareholders would collectively own 20% of the company’s issued and outstanding ordinary shares after the initial public offering. The over-allotment option expired in June 2020; thus, an aggregate of 1,125,000 Class B ordinary shares was forfeited accordingly. As of December 31, 2020, there were 7,500,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. In March 2020, the Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of the Company’s independent directors. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the initial Business Combination at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of the initial public offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial Business Combination and any Private Placement Warrants issued to the Sponsor upon conversion of working capital loans. Any conversion of Class B ordinary shares will take effect as a compulsory redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one-to-one. The Sponsor had agreed to forfeit up to 1,125,000 founder shares to the extent that the over-allotment option was not exercised in full by the underwriter so that the founder shares will represent 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the initial public offering. The over-allotment option expired in June 2020; thus, these founder shares were forfeited accordingly.
Except as described herein, the Sponsor and SOAC’s directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our Sponsor with respect to any founder shares.
Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the consummation of our initial public offering, we completed the sale of Private Placement Warrants to our Sponsor in a private placement, generating gross proceeds of $9.5 million. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one (1) share of our Class A ordinary shares at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the purchase price of the Private Placement Warrants was added to the proceeds from our initial public offering held in the Trust Account. If our initial business combination is not completed by November 8, 2021, the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of the Class A ordinary shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable for cash and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees.
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Our Sponsor agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of its Private Placement Warrants until thirty (30) days after the completion of our initial business combination.
Related Party Loans
On December 31, 2019, the Sponsor agreed to loan the company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the initial public offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan was non-interest bearing and payable upon the completion of the initial public offering. The Company borrowed approximately $163,000 under the Note and fully repaid this amount on May 8, 2020.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of the proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. To date, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Administrative Support Agreement
The Company entered into an agreement, commencing on May 8, 2020 through the earlier of the Company’s consummation of a Business Combination and its liquidation, to reimburse the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services. The Company incurred and paid $30,000 and $80,000 in expenses in connection with such services and recorded in general and administrative expenses in the statements of operations for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2020, respectively.
Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
Our audit committee must review and approve any related person transaction we propose to enter into. Our audit committee charter details the policies and procedures relating to transactions that may present actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest and may raise questions as to whether such transactions are consistent with the best interest of our company and our shareholders. A summary of such policies and procedures is set forth below.
Any potential related party transaction that is brought to the audit committee’s attention will be analyzed by the audit committee, in consultation with outside counsel or members of management, as appropriate, to determine whether the transaction or relationship does, in fact, constitute a related party transaction. At its meetings, the audit committee will be provided with the details of each new, existing or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, the business purpose of the transaction and the benefits to us and to the relevant related party.
In determining whether to approve a related party transaction, the audit committee must consider, among other factors, the following factors to the extent relevant:
| ● | whether the terms of the transaction are fair to us and on the same basis as would apply if the transaction did not involve a related party; |
| ● | whether there are business reasons for us to enter into the transaction; |
| ● | whether the transaction would impair the independence of an outside director; |
| ● | whether the transaction would present an improper conflict of interest for any director or executive officer; and |
| ● | any pre-existing contractual obligations. |
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Any member of the audit committee who has an interest in the transaction under discussion must abstain from any voting regarding the transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairman of the audit committee, participate in some or all of the audit committee’s discussions of the transaction. Upon completion of its review of the transaction, the audit committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the transaction.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our Sponsor, officers or directors unless we, or a committee of independent directors, have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company and our shareholders from a financial point of view. No finder’s fees, reimbursements, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation will be paid by us to our Sponsor, officers or directors, or any affiliate of our Sponsor or officers, for services rendered to us prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, the following payments will be made to our Sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, none of which will be made from the proceeds of our initial public offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:
| ● | Repayment of up to an aggregate of $300,000 in loans made to us by our Sponsor to cover offering related and organizational expenses; |
| ● | Payment to an affiliate of our Sponsor of $10,000 per month, for up to 18 months, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support; |
| ● | Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and |
| ● | Repayment of loans which may be made by our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. |
Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our Sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates.
| ITEM 14. | PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES |
The following is a summary of fees paid to Marcum LLP (“Marcum”), for services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our financial statements for the period from December 18, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2020, reviews of our quarterly financial statements and services that are normally provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with statutory and regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Marcum LLP for audit fees, inclusive of required filings with the SEC for the period from December 18, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2020, and of services rendered in connection with our initial public offering, totaled $82,240.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related services consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we did not pay Marcum for consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards.
Tax Fees. Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. We did not pay Marcum for tax planning and tax advice during the year ended December 31, 2020.
All Other Fees. All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services. We did not pay Marcum for other services during the year ended December 31, 2020.
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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| ITEM 15. | EXHIBIT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES |
| (a) | The following documents are filed as part of this Report: |
| (1) | Financial Statements: |
| (2) | Financial Statement Schedules: |
None.
| (3) | Exhibits |
We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be obtained from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
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| * | Filed herewith |
| ** | Furnished herewith |
| (1) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on March 4, 2021. |
| (2) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on May 8, 2020. |
| (3) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 30, 2021. |
| (4) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 30, 2021. |
| ITEM 16. | FORM 10-K SUMMARY |
Not applicable.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this Annual Report on Form 10-K to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
May 24, 2021
| SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES ACQUISITION CORP. | ||
| /s/ Scott Leonard | ||
| Name: | Scott Leonard | |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) | |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Annual Report on Form 10-K has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Name | Position | Date | ||
| /s/ Scott Leonard | Chief Executive Officer and Director | May 24, 2021 | ||
| Scott Leonard | (Principal Executive Officer) | |||
| /s/ Scott Honour | Chairman | May 24, 2021 | ||
| Scott Honour | ||||
| /s/ David Quiram | Chief Financial Officer | May 24, 2021 | ||
| David Quiram | (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | |||
| /s/ Rick Gaenzle | Director | May 24, 2021 | ||
| Rick Gaenzle | ||||
| /s/ Isaac Barchas | Director | May 24, 2021 | ||
| Isaac Barchas | ||||
| /s/ Justin Kelly | Director | May 24, 2021 | ||
| Justin Kelly |
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SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES ACQUISITION CORP.
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
Sustainable Opportunities
Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2020 and for the period from December 18, 2019, (inception) through December 31, 2019, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2020 and for the period from December 18, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Restatement of the 2020 Financial Statements
As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, the accompanying financial statements as of December 31, 2020 and for the year then ended have been restated.
Explanatory Paragraph - Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company’s business plan is dependent on the completion of a business combination by November 8, 2021, and the Company’s cash and working capital as of December 31, 2020 are not sufficient to complete its planned activities which raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum LLP
Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2019.
Philadelphia, PA
March 30, 2021, except for the effects of the restatement discussed in Notes 2, 3 and 7 as to which the date is May 24, 2021
F-2
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES ACQUISITION CORP.
BALANCE SHEETS
| December 31, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | |||||||
| (As Restated) | ||||||||
| Assets: | ||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||
| Cash | $ | 1,299,301 | $ | - | ||||
| Prepaid expenses | 209,784 | 15,961 | ||||||
| Total current assets | 1,509,085 | 15,961 | ||||||
| Investments held in Trust Account | 300,069,135 | - | ||||||
| Deferred offering costs associated with initial public offering | - | 103,660 | ||||||
| Total Assets | $ | 301,578,220 | $ | 119,621 | ||||
| Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity: | ||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 34,298 | $ | 23,060 | ||||
| Accrued expenses | 1,846,704 | 80,600 | ||||||
| Total current liabilities | 1,881,002 | 103,660 | ||||||
| Long term liabilities: | ||||||||
| Warrant Liability | 56,930,000 | - | ||||||
| Deferred underwriting commissions | 10,500,000 | - | ||||||
| Total liabilities | 69,311,002 | 103,660 | ||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies (Note 6) | ||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 22,726,721 and -0- shares subject to possible redemption at $10.00 per share at December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively | 227,267,210 | - | ||||||
| Shareholders’ Equity: | ||||||||
| Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | - | - | ||||||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 300,000,000 shares authorized; 7,273,279 and -0- shares issued and outstanding (excluding 22,726,721 and -0- shares subject to possible redemption) at December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively | 727 | - | ||||||
| Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 30,000,000 shares authorized; 7,500,000 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2020 and 8,625,000 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019, respectively | 750 | 863 | ||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | 41,549,625 | 24,137 | ||||||
| Accumulated deficit | (36,551,094 | ) | (9,039 | ) | ||||
| Total shareholders’ equity | 5,000,008 | 15,961 | ||||||
| Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity | $ | 301,578,220 | $ | 119,621 | ||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
| For the Year ended December 31, 2020 | For the Period from December 18, 2019 (inception) to December 31, 2019 | |||||||
| (As Restated) | ||||||||
| General and administrative expenses | $ | 2,923,654 | $ | 9,039 | ||||
| General and administrative expenses - related party | 80,000 | - | ||||||
| Loss from operations | (3,003,654 | ) | (9,039 | ) | ||||
| Change in fair value of the warrant liability | (32,730,000 | ) | - | |||||
| Offering costs allocated to derivative warrant liabilities | (877,647 | ) | - | |||||
| Net gain on investments held in Trust Account | 69,135 | - | ||||||
| Interest earned | 111 | - | ||||||
| Net loss | $ | (36,542,055 | ) | $ | (9,039 | ) | ||
| Weighted average shares outstanding subject to possible redemption, basic and diluted | 25,440,915 | - | ||||||
| Basic and diluted net income per share, shares subject to possible redemption | $ | 0.00 | $ | - | ||||
| Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding, basic and diluted | 10,464,651 | 8,625,000 | ||||||
| Basic and diluted net loss per share, Non-redeemable shares | $ | (3.50 | ) | $ | (0.00 | ) | ||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY (As Restated)
For the Year Ended December 31, 2020
| Ordinary Shares | Additional | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class A | Class B | Paid-in | Accumulated | Shareholders’ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance - December 31, 2019 | - | $ | - | 8,625,000 | $ | 863 | $ | 24,137 | $ | (9,039 | ) | 15,961 | ||||||||||||||||
| Sale of units in initial public offering, less fair value of Public Warrant | 30,000,000 | 3,000 | - | - | 285,297,000 | - | 285,300,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Forfeiture of Class B ordinary shares | - | - | (1,125,000 | ) | (113 | ) | 113 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||
| Offering costs | - | - | - | - | (16,506,688 | ) | - | (16,506,688 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | (22,726,721 | ) | (2,273 | ) | - | - | (227,264,937 | ) | - | (227,267,210 | ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | - | - | - | - | (36,542,055 | ) | (36,542,055 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance - December 31, 2020 | 7,273,279 | $ | 727 | 7,500,000 | $ | 750 | $ | 41,549,624 | $ | (36,551,094 | ) | $ | 5,000,008 | |||||||||||||||
For the Period from December 18, 2019 (inception) to December 31, 2019
| Ordinary Shares | Additional | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class A | Class B | Paid-in | Accumulated | Shareholders’ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance - December 18, 2019 (Inception) | - | $ | - | - | $ | - | $ | - | $ | - | $ | - | ||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor | - | - | 8,625,000 | 863 | 24,137 | - | 25,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | - | - | - | - | - | (9,039 | ) | (9,039 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Balance - December 31, 2019 | - | $ | - | 8,625,000 | $ | 863 | $ | 24,137 | $ | (9,039 | ) | $ | 15,961 | |||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
| For the Year ended December 31, 2020 | For the Period from December 18, 2019 (inception) to December 31, 2019 | |||||||
| (As Restated) | ||||||||
| Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||||||
| Net loss | $ | (36,542,055 | ) | $ | (9,039 | ) | ||
| Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
| Change in fair value of derivative warrant liability | 32,730,000 | - | ||||||
| Offering costs allocated to derivative warrant liabilities | 877,647 | |||||||
| General and administrative expenses paid by related party under note agreement | 70,123 | 9,039 | ||||||
| Net gain on investments held in Trust Account | (69,135 | ) | - | |||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
| Prepaid expenses | (197,094 | ) | - | |||||
| Accounts payable | (51,821 | ) | - | |||||
| Accrued expenses | 1,846,704 | - | ||||||
| Net cash used in operating activities | (1,335,631 | ) | - | |||||
| Cash Flows from Investing Activities | ||||||||
| Cash deposited in Trust Account | (300,000,000 | ) | - | |||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | (300,000,000 | ) | - | |||||
| Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||||||
| Proceeds received from initial public offering, gross | 300,000,000 | - | ||||||
| Proceeds from private placement | 9,500,000 | - | ||||||
| Offering costs paid | (6,702,089 | ) | - | |||||
| Repayment of note payable from related party | (162,979 | ) | - | |||||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | 302,634,932 | - | ||||||
| Net change in cash | 1,299,301 | - | ||||||
| Cash - beginning of the period | - | - | ||||||
| Cash - end of the period | $ | 1,299,301 | $ | - | ||||
| Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities: | ||||||||
| Offering costs included in accounts payable | $ | 85,000 | $ | 23,060 | ||||
| Offering costs included in accrued expenses | $ | - | $ | 80,600 | ||||
| Offering costs funded with note payable to Sponsor | $ | 92,856 | $ | - | ||||
| Offering costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor | $ | - | $ | 15,961 | ||||
| Use of retainer for offering costs | $ | 3,271 | $ | - | ||||
| Deferred underwriting commissions in connection with the initial public offering | $ | 10,500,000 | $ | - | ||||
| Initial value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | $ | 262,826,540 | $ | - | ||||
| Change in value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | $ | (35,559,330 | ) | $ | - | |||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1 — Description of Organization and Business Operations
Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on December 18, 2019. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (the “Business Combination”). The Company is an emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
As of December 31, 2020, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from December 18, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2020 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) described below, and, since the closing of the Initial Public Offering, a search for a business combination candidate. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company generates non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering and interest income earned on investments held in Trust Account.
Sponsor, Initial Public Offering and Private Placement
The Company’s sponsor is Sustainable Opportunities Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on May 5, 2020. On May 8, 2020, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 30,000,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”) at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $300.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $17.4 million, inclusive of $10.5 million in deferred underwriting commissions (Note 6).
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 9,500,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $9.5 million (Note 5).
Trust Account
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, $300.0 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”), located in the United States at JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
Initial Business Combination
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the signing of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, the Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”).
F-7
The Company will provide the holders (the “Public Shareholders”) of its Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share sold in the Initial Public Offering (the “Public Shares”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share). The per-share amount to be distributed to Public Shareholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriter (as discussed in Note 6). These Public Shares will be recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” In such case, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation of a Business Combination and a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a shareholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, which the Company adopted upon the consummation of the Initial Public Offering (the “Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association”) conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, shareholder approval of the transactions is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain shareholder approval for business or legal reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Additionally, each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Initial Shareholders (as defined below) have agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined below in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of a Business Combination. In addition, the Initial Shareholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and Public Shares in connection with the completion of a Business Combination.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that a Public Shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% or more of the Class A ordinary shares sold in the Initial Public Offering, without the prior consent of the Company.
The Company’s Sponsor, officers and directors (the “Initial Shareholders”) have agreed not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to provide holders of its Public Shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with its initial business combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or November 8, 2021 (the “Combination Period”) unless the Company provides the Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay for its tax obligations, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the Company’s board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
F-8
The Initial Shareholders have agreed to waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Initial Shareholders acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriter has agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be only $10.00 per share initially held in the Trust Account. In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account or to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriter of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the 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 the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Proposed Business Combination
On March 4, 2021, the Company entered into a Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among the Company, 1291924 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, an unlimited liability company existing under the laws of British Columbia, Canada (“NewCo Sub”), and DeepGreen Metals Inc., a company existing under the laws of British Columbia, Canada (the “Company” or “DeepGreen”).
Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the Company will migrate to and be continued as a company in British Columbia, Canada (the “SOAC Continuance”). Following the SOAC Continuance, pursuant to a plan of arrangement (the “Plan of Arrangement”) under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), (i) the Company will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of DeepGreen (the “DeepGreen Shares”) from DeepGreen shareholders in exchange for the Company’s common shares (as defined below) and Company Earnout Shares (as defined in Note 9) (the “Share Exchange”), (ii) DeepGreen will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and (iii) DeepGreen and NewCo Sub will amalgamate to continue as one unlimited liability company, in each case, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Business Combination Agreement and the Plan of Arrangement and in accordance with the provisions of applicable law.
Concurrently with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, the Company entered into subscription agreements (the “Subscription Agreements”) with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which such investors agreed to subscribe for and purchase, and the Company agreed to issue and sell to such investors, substantially concurrently with the Closing (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement), an aggregate of 33,030,000 shares of SOAC Ordinary shares for $10.00 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $330,300,000 (the “PIPE Financing”). The closing of the PIPE Financing is contingent upon, among other things, the substantially concurrent consummation of the Business Combination. The Subscription Agreements provide that the Company will grant the investors in the PIPE Financing certain customary registration rights. The PIPE Financing is contingent upon, among other things, the substantially concurrent closing of the Business Combination. See Note 9.
Going Concern Consideration
As of December 31, 2020, the Company had approximately $1.3 million in cash and a working capital deficit of approximately $372,000.
Until the consummation of a Business Combination, the Company will be using the funds not held in the Trust Account for identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination. The Company will need to raise additional capital through loans or additional investments from its Sponsor, stockholders, officers, directors, or third parties. The Company’s officers, directors and Sponsor may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion, to meet the Company’s working capital needs. Accordingly, the Company may not be able to obtain additional financing. If the Company is unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, curtailing operations, suspending the pursuit of a potential transaction, and reducing overhead expenses.
F-9
The Company cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to it on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern through November 8, 2021. These financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised, and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Note 2 — Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements
On April 12, 2021, the Staff of the SEC issued a statement entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies.” In the statement, the SEC Staff, among other things, highlighted potential accounting implications of certain terms that are ordinary in warrants issued in connection with the initial public offerings of special purpose acquisition companies such as the Company. As a result of the Staff statement and in light of evolving views as to certain provisions ordinarily included in warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies, the Company’s management re-evaluated the accounting for our Warrants under ASC 815-40, Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity, and concluded that they do not meet the criteria to be classified in shareholders’ equity. Since the Warrants meet the definition of a derivative under ASC 815-40, the Company has restated the financial statements to classify the Warrants as liabilities on the balance sheet at fair value, with subsequent changes in their respective fair values recognized in the statement of operations at each reporting date.
The Company’s prior accounting treatment for the Warrants was equity classification rather than as derivative liabilities. Accounting for the Warrants as liabilities pursuant to ASC 815-40 requires that the Company re-measure the Warrants to their fair value each reporting period and record the changes in such value in the statement of operations. Accordingly, the Company has restated the value and classification of the Warrants in our financial statements included herein (“Restatement”).
In April 2021, the Company concluded that, because of a misapplication of the accounting guidance related to its warrants issued in connection with its initial public offering (“Public Warrants”), as well as warrants issued in a private sale simultaneous to the initial public offering (“Private Placement Warrants”) that the Company issued in May 2020, the Company’s previously issued financial statements as of May 8, 2020, as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020 as well as the interim periods ended June 30, 2020 and September 30, 2020 (the “Affected Periods”) should no longer be relied upon. As such, the Company is restating its financial statements for the Affected Periods in this Annual Report. The following summarizes the effect of the Restatement on each financial statement line item for each period presented herein.
F-10
| BALANCE SHEETS |
| May 8, 2020 | June 30, 2020 | September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||||
| Warrant liability | As Previously Reported | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||||
| Adjustments | 24,200,000 | 23,030,000 | 45,050,000 | 56,930,000 | ||||||||||||||
| As Restated | 24,200,000 | 23,030,000 | 45,050,000 | 56,930,000 | ||||||||||||||
| Total Liabilities | As Previously Reported | 11,299,788 | 10,753,271 | 11,443,090 | 12,381,002 | |||||||||||||
| Adjustments | 24,200,000 | 23,030,000 | 45,050,000 | 56,930,000 | ||||||||||||||
| As Restated | 35,499,788 | 33,783,271 | 56,493,090 | 69,311,002 | ||||||||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | As Previously Reported | 287,041,190 | 286,786,990 | 285,557,170 | 284,197,210 | |||||||||||||
| Adjustments | (24,214,650 | ) | (23,030,000 | ) | (45,050,000 | ) | (56,930,000 | ) | ||||||||||
| As Restated | 262,826,540 | 263,756,990 | 240,507,170 | 227,267,210 | ||||||||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, shares outstanding | As Previously Reported | 28,704,119 | 28,678,699 | 28,555,717 | 28,419,721 | |||||||||||||
| Adjustments | (2,421,465 | ) | (2,303,000 | ) | (4,505,000 | ) | (5,693,000 | ) | ||||||||||
| As Restated | 26,282,654 | 26,375,699 | 24,050,717 | 22,726,721 | ||||||||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares | As Previously Reported | 130 | 132 | 144 | 158 | |||||||||||||
| Adjustments | 242 | 230 | 451 | 569 | ||||||||||||||
| As Restated | 372 | 362 | 595 | 727 | ||||||||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares, shares outstanding | As Previously Reported | 1,295,881 | 1,321,301 | 1,444,283 | 1,580,279 | |||||||||||||
| Adjustments | 2,421,465 | 2,303,000 | 4,505,000 | 5,693,000 | ||||||||||||||
| As Restated | 3,717,346 | 3,624,301 | 5,949,283 | 7,273,279 | ||||||||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | As Previously Reported | 5,113,134 | 5,352,792 | 6,582,601 | 7,942,547 | |||||||||||||
| Adjustments | 877,413 | (292,578 | ) | 21,727,203 | 33,607,078 | |||||||||||||
| As Restated | 5,990,547 | 5,060,214 | 28,309,804 | 41,549,625 | ||||||||||||||
| Accumulated deficit | As Previously Reported | (114,123 | ) | (353,668 | ) | (1,583,490 | ) | (2,943,447 | ) | |||||||||
| Adjustments | (877,647 | ) | 292,353 | (21,727,647 | ) | (33,607,647 | ) | |||||||||||
| As Restated | (991,770 | ) | (61,315 | ) | (23,311,137 | ) | (36,551,094 | ) | ||||||||||
| Total Shareholders’ equity | As Previously Reported | 5,000,004 | 5,000,006 | 5,000,005 | 5,000,008 | |||||||||||||
| Adjustments | (2 | ) | 1 | - | - | |||||||||||||
| As Restated | 5,000,002 | 5,000,007 | 5,000,005 | 5,000,008 | ||||||||||||||
F-11
| STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - YTD |
| Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 | Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020 | Year Ended December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||
| Change in fair value of the warrant liability | As Previously Reported | - | - | - | ||||||||||
| Adjustments | 1,170,000 | (20,850,000 | ) | (32,730,000 | ) | |||||||||
| As Restated | 1,170,000 | (20,850,000 | ) | (32,730,000 | ) | |||||||||
| Offering costs allocated to derivative warrant liabilities | As Previously Reported | - | - | - | ||||||||||
| Adjustments | (877,647 | ) | (877,647 | ) | (877,647 | ) | ||||||||
| As Restated | (877,647 | ) | (877,647 | ) | (877,647 | ) | ||||||||
| Net loss | As Previously Reported | (344,629 | ) | (1,574,451 | ) | (2,934,408 | ) | |||||||
| Adjustments | 292,353 | (21,727,647 | ) | (33,607,647 | ) | |||||||||
| As Restated | (52,276 | ) | (23,302,098 | ) | (36,542,055 | ) | ||||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding subject to possible redemption, basic and diluted | As Previously Reported | N/A | N/A | 28,635,732 | ||||||||||
| Adjustments | 26,284,377 | 26,325,998 | (3,194,817 | ) | ||||||||||
| As Restated | 26,284,377 | 26,325,998 | 25,440,915 | |||||||||||
| Basic and diluted net income per share, shares subject to redemption | As Previously Reported | N/A | N/A | $ | 0.00 | |||||||||
| Adjustments | $ | 0.00 | $ | 0.00 | $ | 0.00 | ||||||||
| As Restated | $ | 0.00 | $ | 0.00 | $ | 0.00 | ||||||||
| Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding, basic and diluted | As Previously Reported | 8,675,841 | 8,724,681 | 8,387,147 | ||||||||||
| Adjustments | (73,403 | ) | 732,999 | 2,077,504 | ||||||||||
| As Restated | 8,602,438 | 9,457,680 | 10,464,651 | |||||||||||
| Basic and diluted net loss per share, Non-redeemable shares | As Previously Reported | $ | (0.04 | ) | $ | (0.19 | ) | $ | (0.36 | ) | ||||
| Adjustments | $ | 0.03 | $ | (2.28 | ) | $ | (3.14 | ) | ||||||
| As Restated | $ | (0.01 | ) | $ | (2.47 | ) | $ | (3.50 | ) | |||||
F-12
| STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - THREE MONTHS ENDED |
| Three Months Ended June 30, 2020 | Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 | |||||||||
| Change in fair value of the warrant liability | As Previously Reported | - | - | |||||||
| Adjustments | 1,170,000 | (22,020,000 | ) | |||||||
| As Restated | 1,170,000 | (22,020,000 | ) | |||||||
| Offering costs allocated to derivative warrant liabilities | As Previously Reported | - | - | |||||||
| Adjustments | (877,647 | ) | - | |||||||
| As Restated | (877,647 | ) | - | |||||||
| Net income (loss) | As Previously Reported | (285,630 | ) | (1,229,822 | ) | |||||
| Adjustments | 292,353 | (22,020,000 | ) | |||||||
| As Restated | 6,723 | (23,249,822 | ) | |||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding subject to possible redemption, basic and diluted | As Previously Reported | N/A | N/A | |||||||
| Adjustments | 26,284,377 | 26,325,998 | ||||||||
| As Restated | 26,284,377 | 26,325,998 | ||||||||
| Basic and diluted net income per share, shares subject to redemption | As Previously Reported | N/A | N/A | |||||||
| Adjustments | $ | 0.00 | $ | 0.00 | ||||||
| As Restated | $ | 0.00 | $ | 0.00 | ||||||
| Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding, basic and diluted | As Previously Reported | 8,726,681 | 8,821,301 | |||||||
| Adjustments | 978,194 | 2,344,174 | ||||||||
| As Restated | 9,704,875 | 11,165,475 | ||||||||
| Basic and diluted net loss per share, Non-redeemable shares | As Previously Reported | $ | (0.04 | ) | $ | (0.14 | ) | |||
| Adjustments | $ | 0.04 | $ | (1.94 | ) | |||||
| As Restated | $ | (0.00 | ) | $ | (2.08 | ) | ||||
F-13
| STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY |
| June 30, 2020 | September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares | As Previously Reported | 132 | 144 | 158 | ||||||||||
| Adjustments | 230 | 451 | 569 | |||||||||||
| As Restated | 362 | 595 | 727 | |||||||||||
| Additional Paid in Capital | As Previously Reported | 5,352,793 | 6,582,601 | 7,942,547 | ||||||||||
| Adjustments | (292,579 | ) | 21,727,203 | 33,607,078 | ||||||||||
| As Restated | 5,060,214 | 28,309,804 | 41,549,625 | |||||||||||
| Accumulated Deficit | As Previously Reported | (353,668 | ) | (1,583,490 | ) | (2,943,447 | ) | |||||||
| Adjustments | 292,353 | (21,727,647 | ) | (33,607,647 | ) | |||||||||
| As Restated | (61,315 | ) | (23,311,137 | ) | (36,551,094 | ) | ||||||||
| Total Shareholders’ Equity | As Previously Reported | 5,000,006 | 5,000,005 | 5,000,008 | ||||||||||
| Adjustments | 1 | - | - | |||||||||||
| As Restated | 5,000,007 | 5,000,005 | 5,000,008 | |||||||||||
F-14
| STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS |
| Six Months Ended June 30, 2020 | Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020 | Year Ended December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||
| Net loss | As Previously Reported | (344,629 | ) | (1,574,451 | ) | (2,934,408 | ) | |||||||
| Adjustments | 292,353 | (21,727,647 | ) | (33,607,647 | ) | |||||||||
| As Restated | (52,276 | ) | (23,302,098 | ) | (36,542,055 | ) | ||||||||
| Change in fair value of warrant liability | As Previously Reported | - | - | - | ||||||||||
| Adjustments | (1,170,000 | ) | 20,850,000 | 32,730,000 | ||||||||||
| As Restated | (1,170,000 | ) | 20,850,000 | 32,730,000 | ||||||||||
| Offering costs allocated to derivative warrant liabilities | As Previously Reported | - | - | - | ||||||||||
| Adjustments | 877,647 | 877,647 | 877,647 | |||||||||||
| As Restated | 877,647 | 877,647 | 877,647 | |||||||||||
| Initial value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | As Previously Reported | 287,041,190 | 287,041,190 | 287,041,190 | ||||||||||
| Adjustments | (24,214,650 | ) | (24,214,650 | ) | (24,214,650 | ) | ||||||||
| As Restated | 262,826,540 | 262,826,540 | 262,826,540 | |||||||||||
| Change in value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | As Previously Reported | (254,200 | ) | (1,229,820 | ) | (2,843,980 | ) | |||||||
| Adjustments | 1,184,650 | (22,020,000 | ) | (32,715,350 | ) | |||||||||
| As Restated | 930,450 | (23,249,820 | ) | (35,559,330 | ) | |||||||||
F-15
Note 3 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000 and investments held in Trust Account. The Company has not experienced losses on these accounts.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company had no cash equivalents as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
F-16
Investments Held in Trust Account
The Company’s portfolio of marketable securities is comprised solely of U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act. Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, $300 million was placed in the Trust Account and invested in money market funds that invest in U.S. government securities. All of the Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities. Trading securities are presented on the balance sheet at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of investments held in Trust Account are included in net gain on investments held in Trust Account in the accompanying statement of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in Trust Account are determined using available market information.
Fair Value Measurement
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. U.S. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value.
The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
| ● | Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets; |
| ● | Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and |
| ● | Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. |
In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
F-17
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
The Company complies with the requirements of ASC 340-10-S99 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) Topic 5A - “Expenses of Offering”. Offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs that were directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering on May 8, 2020, the offering costs were allocated to the separable financial instruments based on their relative fair value compared to the proceeds received, with $877,647 being expensed on fair value of warrant liabilities relative to Initial Public Offering proceeds.
Warrant Liabilities
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. The Company evaluates all of its financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815-15. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
The Company issued 15,000,000 warrants as part of the units offered in its Initial Public Offering and, simultaneously with the closing of Initial Public Offering, the Company issued in a private placement an aggregate of 9,500,000 private placement warrants. The Company accounts for the Warrants in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40-15-7D and 7F under which the Warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, the Company classifies the Warrants as liabilities at their fair value and adjusts the warrants to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in the Company’s statement of operations. The fair value of the Public Warrants was initially measured using a Modified Black Scholes Option Pricing Model and has subsequently been estimated using the Public Warrants’ quoted market price. The Private Placement Warrants are valued using a Modified Black Scholes Option Pricing Model.
Class A Ordinary Shares subject to possible redemption
Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2020, 22,726,721 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption were presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.
F-18
Net Loss Per Ordinary Share
The Company applies the two-class method in calculating earnings per share. Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the periods. An aggregate of 22,726,721 and 0 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively has been excluded from the calculation of basic loss per ordinary share, since such shares, if redeemed, only participate in their pro rata share of the Trust earnings. The Company has not considered the effect of the warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement to purchase an aggregate of 24,500,000 Class A ordinary shares in the calculation of diluted loss per ordinary share, since the exercise of the warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events. As a result, diluted net loss per ordinary share is the same as basic net loss per ordinary share for the periods presented.
Reconciliation of Net Loss per Ordinary Share
The Company’s net loss is adjusted for the portion of income (loss) that is attributable to ordinary shares subject to redemption, as these shares only participate in the earnings of the Trust Account and not the income or losses of the Company. Accordingly, basic and diluted loss per ordinary share is calculated as follows:
| For the Year Ended December 31, 2020 | For the Period from December 18, 2019 (inception) to December 31, 2019 | |||||||
| Class A Ordinary Shares subject to possible redemption | ||||||||
| Numerator: Earnings allocable to Ordinary Shares subject to possible redemption | ||||||||
| Income from investments held in Trust Account | $ | 65,492 | $ | - | ||||
| Less: Company’s portion available to be withdrawn to pay taxes | - | - | ||||||
| Net income attributable | $ | 65,492 | $ | - | ||||
| Denominator: Weighted average Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | ||||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding of shares subject to redemption, basic and diluted | 25,440,915 | - | ||||||
| Basic and diluted net income per share, shares subject to redemption | $ | - | $ | - | ||||
| Non-Redeemable Ordinary Shares | ||||||||
| Numerator: Net Loss minus Net Earnings attributable to redeemable shares | ||||||||
| Net loss | $ | (36,542,055 | ) | $ | (9,039 | ) | ||
| Less: Income attributable to Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | 65,492 | - | ||||||
| Non-redeemable net loss | $ | (36,607,546 | ) | $ | (9,039 | ) | ||
| Denominator: weighted average Non-redeemable ordinary shares | ||||||||
| Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding, basic and diluted | 10,464,651 | 7,500,000 | ||||||
| Basic and diluted net loss per share, Non-redeemable shares | $ | (3.50 | ) | $ | (0.00 | ) | ||
Income Taxes
FASB ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes,” prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019. The Company’s management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Company’s only major tax jurisdiction. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties as of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with Cayman Islands income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Company’s financial statements. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months.
Recent Accounting Standards
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.
F-19
Note 4 — Initial Public Offering
On May 8, 2020, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 30,000,000 Units at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $300.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $17.4 million, inclusive of $10.5 million in deferred underwriting commissions. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 8).
Note 5 — Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On December 31, 2019, the Sponsor purchased 8,625,000 shares (the “Founder Shares”) of the Company’s Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 for an aggregate price of $25,000. In March 2020, the Sponsor transferred 30,000 Founder Shares to each of the Company’s independent directors. The Founder Shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the Company’s initial Business Combination and are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in Note 9. The Sponsor had agreed to forfeit up to 1,125,000 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option was not exercised in full by the underwriter so that the Founder Shares will represent 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. The over-allotment option expired in June 2020; thus, these Founder Shares were forfeited accordingly.
The Initial Shareholders agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Private Placement Warrants
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the Private Placement of 9,500,000 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant to the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $9.5 million. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
The Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.
Related Party Loans
On December 31, 2019, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan was non-interest bearing and payable upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering. The Company borrowed approximately $163,000 under the Note and fully repaid this amount on May 8, 2020.
F-20
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of the proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Administrative Support Agreement
The Company entered into an agreement, commencing on May 8, 2020 through the earlier of the Company’s consummation of a Business Combination and its liquidation, to reimburse the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services. The Company incurred and paid $80,000 and $0 in expenses in connection with such services and recorded in general and administrative expenses in the statements of operations for year ended December 31, 2020 and for the period December 18, 2019 (inception) to December 31, 2019, respectively.
Note 6 — Commitments and Contingencies
Registration and Shareholder Rights
The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any, will be entitled to registration rights (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion of such shares to Class A ordinary shares) pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement. These holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. However, the registration and shareholder rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the termination of the applicable lock-up period for the securities to be registered. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted the underwriter a 45-day option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 4,500,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at $10.00 per Unit, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The over-allotment option expired in June 2020.
The underwriter was entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per unit, or $6.0 million in the aggregate paid upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, $0.35 per unit, or $10.5 million in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriter for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred underwriting commissions will become payable to the underwriter from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Consulting Agreement
The Company is receiving consulting services in connection with identification of potential targets for a Business Combination and due diligence on such targets. As compensation for such services, the Company paid a nonrefundable fixed fee of $350,000 and agreed to pay the consulting firm $2,650,000 solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination. The consulting agreement may be terminated early by either party to the agreement provided that the Company pays a termination fee to the consulting firm determined based on a monthly increasing amount through November 2021. As of December 31, 2020, the termination fee is $1,115,800, which has been accrued and recognized in general and administrative expenses within the statements of operations.
F-21
Note 7 — Fair Value Measurements
The Company follows the guidance in ASC 820 for its financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at each reporting period, and non-financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at least annually.
As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the carrying values of cash, prepaid expenses, and accounts payable approximate their fair values due to the short-term nature of the instruments. As of December 31, 2020, the Company’s portfolio of investments held in Trust Account is comprised entirely of investments in money market funds that invest in U.S. government securities.
The Warrants are accounted for as liabilities pursuant to ASC 815-40 and are measured at fair value as of each reporting period. Changes in the fair value of the Warrants are recorded in the statement of operations each period.
The following table presents our fair value hierarchy for liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis for each reporting period:
| December 31, 2020 (As Restated) | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | ||||||||||||
| Warrant liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||
| Public Warrants | $ | 33,750,000 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 33,750,000 | ||||||||
| Private Placement Warrants | — | — | 23,180,000 | 23,180,000 | ||||||||||||
| Total warrant liabilities | $ | 33,750,000 | $ | — | $ | 23,180,000 | $ | 56,930,000 | ||||||||
| September 30, 2020 (As Restated) | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | ||||||||||||
| Warrant liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||
| Public Warrants(1) | $ | 27,000,000 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 27,000,000 | ||||||||
| Private Placement Warrants | — | — | 18,050,000 | 18,050,000 | ||||||||||||
| Total warrant liabilities | $ | 27,000,000 | $ | — | $ | 18,050,000 | $ | 45,050,000 | ||||||||
| June 30, 2020 (As Restated) | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | ||||||||||||
| Warrant liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||
| Public Warrants | $ | 14,100,000 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 14,100,000 | ||||||||
| Private Placement Warrants | — | — | 8,930,000 | 8,930,000 | ||||||||||||
| Total warrant liabilities | $ | 14,100,000 | $ | — | $ | 8,930,000 | $ | 23,030,000 | ||||||||
| May 8, 2020 (As Restated) | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | ||||||||||||
| Warrant liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||
| Public Warrants | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 14,700,000 | $ | 14,700,000 | ||||||||
| Private Placement Warrants | — | — | 9,500,000 | 9,500,000 | ||||||||||||
| Total warrant liabilities | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 24,200,000 | $ | 24,200,000 | ||||||||
| (1) | Due to the use of quoted prices in an active market (Level 1) to measure the fair value of the Public Warrants, subsequent to initial measurement, the Company had transfers out of Level 3 totaling $14,700,000 during the period May 8, 2020 through December 31, 2020. |
F-22
The Private Placement Warrants were valued using a modified Black Scholes Model including inputs from a Monte Carlo simulation, which is considered to be a Level 3 fair value measurement. The Monte Carlo simulation’s primary unobservable input utilized in determining the fair value of the Warrants is the probability of consummation of the Business Combination. The probability assigned to the consummation of the Business Combination was 88% which was estimated based on the observed success rates of business combinations for special purpose acquisition companies.
The following table provides quantitative information regarding Level 3 fair value measurements inputs at their measurement dates:
| As of May 8, 2020 (As Restated) | As of June 30, 2020 (As Restated) | As of September 30, 2020 (As Restated) | As of December 31, 2020 (As Restated) | |||||||||||||
| Exercise price | $ | 11.50 | $ | 11.50 | $ | 11.50 | $ | 11.50 | ||||||||
| IPO price | 10.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 | ||||||||||||
| Implied stock price range (or underlying asset price at December 31, 2020) | 9.51 | 9.70 | 10.20 | 10.76 | ||||||||||||
| Volatility | 18.7 | % | 17.45 | % | 26.95 | % | 30.5 | % | ||||||||
| Term | 5.91 | 5.75 | 5.50 | 5.25 | ||||||||||||
| Risk-free rate | 0.44 | % | 37.00 | % | 33.00 | % | 0.40 | % | ||||||||
| Dividend yield | 0.0 | % | 0.0 | % | 0.0 | % | 0.0 | % | ||||||||
The following table presents the changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities:
| Private Placement | Public | Total Warrant Liabilities | ||||||||||
| Initial measurement on May 8, 2020 (As Restated) | $ | 9,500,000 | $ | 14,700,000 | $ | 24,200,000 | ||||||
| Change in fair value of warrant liability | (570,000 | ) | (600,000 | ) | (1,170,000 | ) | ||||||
| Fair value, June 30, 2020 (As Restated) | $ | 8,930,000 | $ | 14,100,000 | $ | 23,030,000 | ||||||
| Change in fair value of warrant liability | 9,120,000 | 12,900,000 | 22,020,000 | |||||||||
| Fair value, September 30, 2020 (As Restated) | $ | 18,050,000 | $ | 27,000,000 | $ | 45,050,000 | ||||||
| Change in fair value of warrant liability | 5,130,000 | 6,750,000 | 11,880,000 | |||||||||
| Fair value, December 31, 2020 (As Restated) | $ | 23,180,000 | $ | 33,750,000 | $ | 56,930,000 | ||||||
F-23
Note 8 — Shareholders’ Equity
Preference Shares
The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 preference shares with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.
Ordinary Shares
Class A Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue 300,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, there were 30,000,000 and no Class A ordinary shares outstanding, including 28,419,721 and no Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption classified as temporary equity in the accompanying balance sheets, respectively.
Class B Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue 30,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. As of December 31, 2019, there were 8,625,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. Of these, an aggregate of up to 1,125,000 shares were subject to forfeiture to the Company by the Sponsor for no consideration to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the Initial Shareholders will collectively own 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding ordinary shares after the Initial Public Offering. The over-allotment option expired in June 2020; thus, an aggregate of 1,125,000 Class B ordinary shares was forfeited accordingly. As of December 31, 2020, there were 7,500,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding.
Holders of the Class A ordinary shares and holders of the Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the Company’s shareholders except as required by law.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the initial Business Combination at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Founder Shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of the Initial Public Offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial Business Combination and any Private Placement Warrants issued to the Sponsor upon conversion of Working Capital Loans. Any conversion of Class B ordinary shares will take effect as a compulsory redemption of Class B ordinary shares and an issuance of Class A ordinary shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one-to-one.
Warrants
Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional Public Warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole Public Warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination or (b) 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering; provided in each case that the Company has an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or the Company permits holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under certain circumstances). The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days, after the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
F-24
Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. If (x) the Company issues additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company and, (i) in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance, and (ii) without taking into account the transfer of Founder Shares or Private Placement Warrants (including if such transfer is effectuated as a surrender to us and subsequent reissuance by the Company) by the Sponsor in connection with such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of the initial Business Combination on the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares during the 20-trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates its initial Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price discussed below will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
The Company may call the Public Warrants for redemption (except with respect to the Private Placement Warrants):
| ● | in whole and not in part; | |
| ● | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; | |
| ● | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, and | |
| ● | if, and only if, the closing price of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) 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. |
If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or such purchasers’ permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the Initial Shareholders or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle any Warrants. If the Company is unable to complete the initial Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.
F-25
Note 9 — Subsequent Events
Proposed Business Combination and Related Transactions
On March 4, 2021, the Company entered into a Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among the Company, 1291924 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, an unlimited liability company existing under the laws of British Columbia, Canada (“NewCo Sub”), and DeepGreen Metals Inc., a company existing under the laws of British Columbia, Canada (the “Company” or “DeepGreen”).
Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the Company will migrate to and be continued as a company in British Columbia, Canada (the “SOAC Continuance”). Following the SOAC Continuance, pursuant to a plan of arrangement (the “Plan of Arrangement”) under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), (i) the Company will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of DeepGreen (the “DeepGreen Shares”) from DeepGreen shareholders in exchange for the Company’s common shares (as defined below) and Company Earnout Shares (as defined below) (the “Share Exchange”), (ii) DeepGreen will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and (iii) DeepGreen and NewCo Sub will amalgamate to continue as one unlimited liability company, in each case, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Business Combination Agreement and the Plan of Arrangement and in accordance with the provisions of applicable law.
Each option to purchase common shares in the capital of the Company (the “DeepGreen Options”) will become an option to purchase SOAC Common Shares and Company Earnout Shares on the same terms and conditions (including applicable vesting, expiration and forfeiture provisions) that applied to the corresponding DeepGreen Options immediately prior to closing of the Business Combination.
The Proposed Business Combination is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, following the receipt of the required approval by the Company’s shareholders and the fulfillment of other conditions.
The shareholders and the optionholders of DeepGreen will be entitled to receive, in exchange for their DeepGreen Shares or DeepGreen Options, as applicable, an aggregate of (i) will receive shares in the capital of the Company or comparable equity awards that are settled or are exercisable for shares in the capital of the Company, as applicable, based on an implied DeepGreen equity value of $2.25 billion after giving effect to the SOAC Continuance (the “SOAC Common Shares”), (ii) 5,000,000 Class A Special Shares, (iii) 10,000,000 Class B Special Shares, (iv) 10,000,000 Class C Special Shares, (v) 20,000,000 Class D Special Shares, (vi) 20,000,000 Class E Special Shares, (vii) 20,000,000 Class F Special Shares, (viii) 25,000,000 Class G Special Shares and (ix) 25,000,000 Class H Special Shares, in each case, in the capital of SOAC (collectively, the “Company Earnout Shares”), or, as applicable, options to purchase such SOAC Common Shares and Company Earnout Shares.
Concurrently with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, the Company entered into subscription agreements (the “Subscription Agreements”) with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which such investors agreed to subscribe for and purchase, and the Company agreed to issue and sell to such investors, substantially concurrently with the Closing (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement), an aggregate of 33,030,000 shares of SOAC Common Shares for $10.00 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $330,300,000 (the “PIPE Financing”). The closing of the PIPE Financing is contingent upon, among other things, the substantially concurrent consummation of the Business Combination. The Subscription Agreements provide that the Company will grant the investors in the PIPE Financing certain customary registration rights. The PIPE Financing is contingent upon, among other things, the substantially concurrent closing of the Business Combination.
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements which have not previously been disclosed within the financial statements.
F-26
Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO RULES 13a-14(a)
AND 15d-14(a)
UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Scott Leonard, certify that:
| 1. | I have reviewed this Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 of Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp.; |
| 2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; |
| 3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; |
| 4. | The registrant’s other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and have: |
| a. | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; |
| b. | [Paragraph intentionally omitted in accordance with SEC Release Nos. 34-47986 and 34-54942]; |
| c. | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and |
| d. | Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and |
| 5. | The registrant’s other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
| a. | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
| b. | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal controls over financial reporting. |
Date: May 24, 2021
| By: | /s/ Scott Leonard | |
| Scott Leonard Chief Executive Officer |
||
| (Principal Executive Officer) | ||
Exhibit 31.2
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO RULES 13a-14(a)
AND 15d-14(a)
UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, David Quiram, certify that:
| 1. | I have reviewed this Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 of Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp.; |
| 2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; |
| 3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; |
| 4. | The registrant’s other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and have: |
| a. | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; |
| b. | [Paragraph intentionally omitted in accordance with SEC Release Nos. 34-47986 and 34-54942]; |
| c. | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and |
| d. | Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and |
| 5. | The registrant’s other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
| a. | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
| b. | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal controls over financial reporting. |
Date: May 24, 2021
| By: | /s/ David Quiram | |
| David Quiram Chief Financial Officer | ||
| (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | ||
Exhibit 32.1
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350, AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
In connection with Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report of Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), I, Scott Leonard, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that, to my knowledge:
| (1) | the Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and |
| (2) | the information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company. |
Date: May 24, 2021
| /s/ Scott Leonard | ||
| Name: | Scott Leonard | |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer and Director | |
| (Principal Executive Officer) | ||
Exhibit 32.2
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350, AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
In connection with Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report of Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), I, David Quiram, Chief Financial Officer of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that, to my knowledge:
| (1) | the Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and |
| (2) | the information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company. |
Date: May 24, 2021
| /s/ David Quiram | ||
| Name: | David Quiram | |
| Title: | Chief Financial Officer | |
| (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | ||