S-1 1 d242989ds1.htm S-1 S-1
Table of Contents

As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 22, 2021.

Registration No. 333-            

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

KnightSwan Acquisition Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   6770   87-2165133
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

99 Wall Street

Suite 460

New York, NY 10005

Telephone: (571) 420-2333

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

 

Brandee Daly

Chief Executive Officer

KnightSwan Acquisition Corporation

99 Wall Street

Suite 460

New York, NY 10005

Telephone: (571) 420-2333

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

 

Copies to:

 

Raphael M. Russo, Esq.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
1285 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10019

Telephone: (212) 373-3000

 

Gregg A. Noel, Esq.

Michael J. Schwartz, Esq.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

525 University Avenue, Suite 1400

Palo Alto, California 94301

Telephone: (650) 470-4500

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box:  ☐

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

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 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

 

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

 

Title of Each Class of
Security Being Registered
 

Amount
Being

Registered

  Proposed
Maximum
Offering Price
per Security(1)
  Proposed
Maximum
Aggregate
Offering Price(1)
  Amount of
Registration Fee

Units, each consisting of one share of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and one-half of one redeemable public warrant(2)

  23,000,000 Units   $10.00   $230,000,000   $21,321

Shares of Class A common stock included as part of the units(3)(4)

  23,000,000 Shares       (5)

Redeemable public warrants included as part of the units(3)(4)

  11,500,000 Public Warrants       (5)

Shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of redeemable public warrants included as part of the units

  11,500,000 Shares   $11.50   $132,250,000   $12,260(6)

Total

          $362,250,000   $33,581

 

 

 

(1)

Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act.

(2)

Includes 3,000,000 units, which may be issued upon exercise of a 45-day option to purchase additional units granted to the underwriter.

(3)

Pursuant to Rule 416 under the Securities Act, there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions.

(4)

Maximum number of shares of Class A common stock and redeemable public warrants, as applicable, included in the units described above, including those that may be issued upon exercise of a 45-day option granted to the underwriter described above.

(5)

No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act.

(6)

Calculated pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act, based on the exercise price of the warrants.

 

 

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 


Table of Contents

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED DECEMBER 22, 2021

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

$200,000,000

KnightSwan Acquisition Corporation

20,000,000 Units

 

 

KnightSwan Acquisition Corporation is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, consolidation, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us.

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of our Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable public warrant. Each whole public warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole public warrants are exercisable. 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 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. Subject to the terms and conditions described in this prospectus, we may redeem the public warrants once the public warrants become exercisable. We refer to these warrants throughout this prospectus as the public warrants. We have also granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 units.

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of our Class A common stock in connection with our initial business combination at a per share price described herein, payable in cash, subject to the limitations described herein. If we have not completed our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of this offering, which can be extended at our sponsor’s option to up to 24 months or pursuant to an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation as described herein (the “completion window”), we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per share price described herein, payable in cash, subject to applicable law and as further described herein.

Our sponsor, KnightSwan Sponsor LLC, has committed to purchase an aggregate of 11,750,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant ($11,750,000 in the aggregate) in a private placement transaction that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our sponsor has also committed to purchase up to an additional 1,350,000 private placement warrants, depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised, at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant ($1,350,000 in the aggregate), to add to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Our sponsor has an option to deposit additional funds into the trust account in order to extend the completion window up to two times, each by an additional three months, for a total completion window of up to 24 months from the closing of this offering.

As of the date of this prospectus, our initial stockholders hold 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock. In addition, if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is not exercised, our sponsor will forfeit to us an additional 750,000 founder shares upon the expiration of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units. The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Holders of our Class B common stock and holders of our Class A common stock will vote together as a single class on the election and removal of directors and any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our units, Class A common stock or public warrants. We have applied to list our units on the New York Stock Exchange, or the NYSE, under the symbol “KNSW.U” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on the NYSE. The Class A common stock and public warrants constituting the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day), unless RBC Capital Markets, LLC informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to certain conditions. Once the securities constituting the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A common stock and public warrants will be listed on the NYSE under the symbols “KNSW” and “KNSW WS,” respectively.

 

 

We are an “emerging growth company” and “smaller reporting company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves risks. See “Risk Factors.” Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.

 

     Price to Public      Underwriting
Discounts and
Commissions(1)
     Proceeds, before
expenses, to us
 

Per Share

   $ 10.00      $ 0.55      $ 9.45  

Total

   $ 200,000,000      $ 11,000,000      $ 189,000,000  

 

(1)

Includes (i) $0.20 per unit (excluding any units sold pursuant to the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units), or $4,000,000 (or up to $4,600,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate, payable upon the closing of this offering in cash and (ii) $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) in the aggregate, payable to the underwriter for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriter only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus. Does not include certain fees and expenses payable to the underwriter in connection with this offering. See “Underwriting” for a description of compensation payable to the underwriter.

Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $205,000,000, or $235,750,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full ($10.25 per unit), will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.

The underwriter is offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. Delivery of the units will be made on or about                , 2022.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

 

   RBC CAPITAL MARKETS   

The date of this prospectus is                , 2022


Table of Contents

We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus. We and the underwriter take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the units offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this prospectus is current only as of its date.

 

SUMMARY

     1  

RISK FACTORS

     41  

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     82  

USE OF PROCEEDS

     83  

DIVIDEND POLICY

     88  

DILUTION

     89  

CAPITALIZATION

     91  

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

     93  

PROPOSED BUSINESS

     100  

MANAGEMENT

     138  

PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

     152  

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

     155  

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

     158  

UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

     174  

UNDERWRITING

     184  

LEGAL MATTERS

     192  

EXPERTS

     192  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

     192  

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     F-1  

 

 

i


Table of Contents

SUMMARY

This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before making an investment decision. Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the context otherwise requires, references to:

Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the context otherwise requires, references to:

 

   

“we,” “us,” “our”, the “company” or “KnightSwan” are to KnightSwan Acquisition Corporation, a Delaware corporation;

 

   

“amended and restated certificate of incorporation” are to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be in effect upon the completion of this offering;

 

   

“completion window” are to (i) the 18-month period from the closing of this offering in which we must complete an initial business combination, (ii) the 21-month or 24-month, as applicable, period from the closing of this offering in which we must complete an initial business combination if our sponsor has extended the period of time for us to consummate our initial business combination by depositing additional funds into the trust account, or (iii) such other extended time period in which we must complete an initial business combination pursuant to an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation;

 

   

“common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock;

 

   

“directors” are to our current directors and our director nominees named in this prospectus;

 

   

“equity-linked securities” are to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for shares of our Class A common stock issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt;

 

   

“founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock and shares of our Class A common stock issued upon the conversion thereof;

 

   

“initial stockholders” are to holders of our founder shares prior to this offering;

 

   

“letter agreement” refers to the letter agreement, the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part;

 

   

“management,” “our management team” or “our team” are to our officers and directors;

 

   

“public warrants” are to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market);

 

   

“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement transaction simultaneously with the closing of this offering and upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, subsequent to the consummation of this offering and to the warrants issued in connection with our sponsor electing to exercise its option to extend the completion window;

 

   

“public shares” are to shares of our Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market);

 

   

“public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors to the extent our sponsor, officers, directors and/or advisors purchase public shares, provided that their status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;

 

1


Table of Contents
   

“specified future issuance” are to any issuance by us of equity or equity-linked securities following this offering to raise additional capital to complete our initial business combination; provided that no such securities will have rights to any funds held in the trust account established in connection with this offering;

 

   

“sponsor” are to KnightSwan Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company;

 

   

“warrants” are, collectively, to the public warrants and the private placement warrants; and

 

   

“warrant agreements” are, together, to our public warrant agreement and our private warrant agreement.

Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one warrant for each unit purchased. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, and only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. If, upon separation of the units, a holder of warrants would be entitled to receive a fractional warrant, we will round down to the nearest whole number of warrants to be issued to such holder. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.

Unless notified otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriter will not exercise its over-allotment option.

Our Company

We are a newly formed blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation whose business purpose is to effect a merger, consolidation, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. We have not identified any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with respect to any potential business combination with us.

KnightSwan, founded by Brandee Daly and Teresa Carlson, is an industry disruptor and catalyst for new and emerging technologies focused on accelerating innovation in cyber, cloud, and mission intelligence, a field focused on the collection, analysis, and delivery of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information for the purposes of improving decision-making. Through this platform, KnightSwan intends to invest in a company that provides technologically-differentiated products and solutions to the commercial and government markets.

KnightSwan believes that it has the chance to seize a timely and significant market opportunity. The U.S. Government continues to make large investments in cyber, cloud, and mission intelligence solutions, considering them critical to managing national security as well as integral to driving innovation and advancing technology. Our objective is to leverage the experience that our seasoned KnightSwan team has in leading and growing technology-focused organizations in both the public and private markets to effect an initial business combination that delivers value to our stockholders.

The KnightSwan team plans to implement a sourcing strategy that leverages its extensive network of long-standing relationships to identify potential business combination targets. We seek to undertake a business combination with a company or companies that we believe are likely to benefit from the operational experience and leadership of our collective team. The KnightSwan team intends to leverage its substantial industry experience and global relationships with the goal of providing potential business combination targets with benefits that will create long-term value to our stockholders. We believe we can facilitate operational, financial, strategic and managerial improvements in the prospective combination partner company in order to achieve long-term sustainable growth for its stockholders.

 

2


Table of Contents

The KnightSwan team is comprised of Brandee Daly, our Chief Executive Officer, Teresa Carlson, our Non-Executive Chair of the board of directors, and Matthew McElroy, our Chief Financial Officer. Brandee Daly and Teresa Carlson are managing members of our sponsor, KnightSwan Sponsor LLC, a Delaware incorporated limited liability company.

We are not required to complete our initial business combination with a company or companies that provide technology-enabled solutions with high-growth, mission-critical applications in the government and commercial-end markets. We may pursue our initial business combination outside of such markets. We may seek to acquire established businesses that we believe are fundamentally sound but potentially in need of financial, operational, strategic, or board-level insight to maximize value. We may also look at earlier stage companies that exhibit the potential to change the industries in which they operate, and which may offer the potential of sustained high levels of revenue and earnings growth.

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe the KnightSwan team and board of directors have a broad set of capabilities that will enable them to source, evaluate and execute a business combination for our stockholders and position a prospective partner company for success. The KnightSwan team and board of directors have far-reaching and long standing global relationships with relevant industry executives, management teams, multi-national corporations, financial institutions, security and defense agencies, U.S. and global government leaders, and multi-industry experts that we believe will contribute to our success. It is our belief that a prospective combination partner will benefit meaningfully from our competitive strengths, which include:

 

   

Unique Perspectives Driving Opportunity: Targeting a focused sector with limited SPAC presence; success demands a competitive advantage that requires extensive relationships and subject matter expertise.

 

   

Diversity is Our Strength: Trailblazers as one of the first women-owned and led SPACs, with a focus on one of the most innovative sectors of government technology and related commercial end-markets, providing a unique perspective into operational excellence. Diversity and transparent governance is at the core of our mission to target high-growth companies that rapidly accelerate public and private adoption of advanced, innovate, mission critical technologies and enables us to approach transaction execution through a distinctive lens and acquisition framework.

 

   

Cloud Natives at the Forefront of Innovation: Experience truly “born-in-the-cloud”, with key team members having developed scalable and innovative cloud solution through Amazon Web Services. Our team’s understanding of technology is fully-integrated into our approach to our strategy and differentiation.

 

   

Proven Leadership and Ability to Execute: Legacy as successful founders, entrepreneurs, and operational leaders with significant experience buying and selling core-market companies. We believe that the KnightSwan team’s deal expertise and shareholder value creation has been proven on the ground level in the operational trenches.

 

   

Entrenched Sector Connections Provide Advantage: We believe our team’s decades long relationships with key Department of Defense (“DoD”) and Intelligence Community (“IC”) agencies driving new business wins and competitive advantage. Ability to predict and adapt to the ever-changing future needs of these agencies provides industry-leading insights and access to proprietary sourcing networks.

KnightSwan Team

The KnightSwan team is led by Brandee Daly, our Chief Executive Officer, Teresa Carlson, our Non-Executive Chair of the board, and Matthew McElroy, our Chief Financial Officer. We believe KnightSwan

 

3


Table of Contents

is one of the first women-owned and led SPACs in the Government sector. Teresa Carlson and Brandee Daly have substantial government and commercial experience in leading disruptive and innovative growth companies. They plan to leverage their deep technology expertise and experience as entrepreneurs in the DoD and IC to assess the feasibility and differentiation of our targets’ solutions. Our management is further supported by our independent directors Anne K. Altman, Dr. Merlynn Carson, S. Leslie Ireland, Dawn Meyerriecks and Laura Price.

Brandee Daly, the CEO of KnightSwan, is one of the leading women technology experts in government and business and has led an impressive 25-year career spanning roles at Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, and the CIA. In 2021, Daly was named one of the “Top 20 Cloud Execs to Watch in 2021” by WashingtonExec.

Prior to KnightSwan, Ms. Daly was the founder and CEO of C2S Consulting Group (“C2SCG”), a leading provider of innovative solutions, prototypes, and delivery of Cloud Cyber Security to the U.S. Intelligence Community, DoD, and U.S. Federal Civilian Agencies. At C2SCG, Daly guided hundreds of businesses and public sector organizations to successfully migrate, manage, and optimize their technology and cloud automation. From 2018 to 2021, Ms. Daly successfully grew firm-wide revenue significantly, expanding the service offering to encompass cloud migration, cyber, architecture, DevOps / DevSecOps, and cloud business strategy. Under Ms. Daly’s leadership, C2SCG became a multi-service global consulting firm, providing a range of technology consulting solutions to all 17 intelligence agencies, broader public sector, and commercial markets.

Before founding C2SCG in 2015, Ms. Daly served as a Federal Account Executive at Amazon Web Services (“AWS”), cultivating executive relationships and accelerating sales and cloud adoption across IC and DoD government agencies. In this role, Ms. Daly directed a highly skilled team of personnel to offer a range of solutions to meet government missions including cloud defense and security solutions, AWS cloud architecture, application migration, DevOps, solutions to accelerate research and development (R&D), and IT business strategy services.

At AWS, Ms. Daly built a highly skilled team of personnel with innovative technical expertise that is the leading provider of high-end cloud computing cyber security primarily supporting agencies across the U.S. Intelligence Community, offering Cloud Defense and Security solutions, AWS Cloud Architecture, Application Migration, DevOps, R&D, and IT Business Strategy services. While at Amazon, Ms. Daly won the 2015 Federal 100 award for “Leading the Cloud Migration,” one of the annual awards presented to the 100 women and men who personify what’s possible in how the federal government acquires, develops, and manages IT.

Prior to AWS, Ms. Daly held a similar role at Microsoft as a Principal Architect, responsible for managing customers, projects, and budgets in the government sector. Ms. Daly joined Microsoft from the CIA, where she developed a five-year IT strategy for the Agency and started four new divisions, including one directed at Cloud Transformation. While at the CIA, Ms. Daly won several “Excellence Awards” for her work in supporting the Mission.

Ms. Daly’s early career was spent at Oracle, where she served as the Technical Project Lead focused on application development for The President’s Council for the “Y2K Information Coordination Center.” In this role, Ms. Daly built and designed requirements for an information portal with over 100,000 users worldwide and in 72 countries. Ms. Daly’s work, and that of her team, became a foundation for what the cyber security industry is today.

In 2000, under President Clinton, Ms. Daly was awarded the Directors Award for her work in preparing the U.S. Government for Y2K. That same year, Daly and her team received the Vice Presidential Hammer Award for Reinventing Government from Vice President Gore.

 

4


Table of Contents

Ms. Daly is a fierce advocate for supporting women’s initiatives in both technology and sports and is a proud sponsor of the Washington Spirit, the women’s professional soccer team in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Daly received a Bachelor of Science in Systems and Industrial Engineering from University of Arizona and a Masters of Business Administration from American University.

Teresa Carlson, the Non-Executive Chair of the board of directors of KnightSwan, is the President and Chief Growth Officer at Splunk Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLK) (“Splunk”). Ms. Carlson leads efforts to align and drive Splunk’s ongoing business transformations and go-to-market segments.

Prior to Splunk, Ms. Carlson spent a decade at Amazon, successfully launching Amazon’s Worldwide Public Sector and Industries Division for AWS. During her tenure, Ms. Carlson grew the Public Sector Division from its inception and pioneered the U.S. Government’s technological shift to the Cloud. Under her direction, AWS established the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) compliant GovCloud (U.S.-East) region in 2011, the commercial cloud services (C2S) contract for the intelligence community in 2014, and a second GovCloud region (U.S.-West) in 2018, setting the stage for future cloud regions for the defense and intelligence community.

More broadly, Ms. Carlson’s strong belief that public sector customers should have access to the same advanced and innovative technology as startups led her to expand the scope of AWS in the public sector. Ms. Carlson has opened over 35 offices around the world, which now serve customers in over 172 countries. Ms. Carlson also created a startup, Envision Engineering, which was designed to quickly respond to the needs of governments and citizens during emergencies. Envision Engineering was instrumental in speeding governmental entities’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, and as a result of Ms. Carlson’s vision and early incubation efforts, over 7,500 government agencies, over 14,000 academic institutions, and over 35,000 nonprofit organizations use AWS to meet their missions.

Outside of the U.S., Ms. Carlson worked closely with governmental bodies, educational institutions, telecommunications providers, and other businesses to guide the launch of AWS in Bahrain in 2019. Ms. Carlson has worked closely across the Middle East to promote the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in region, expanding opportunities for businesses to leverage cloud technologies within Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Ms. Carlson actively cultivates diversity, and formed “We Power Tech,” the backbone of AWS’ diversity and inclusion initiatives, to ensure that underrepresented groups are reflected throughout all of AWS’ outreach efforts. Ms. Carlson and her team developed and launched other education initiatives including AWS Educate, which created two and four year cloud curricula for colleges and universities worldwide, as well as Tech U, a program designed to recruit and cultivate diverse talent through the organization.

Prior to joining AWS, Ms. Carlson spent nearly a decade at Microsoft where she successfully launched the company’s government agency division, Microsoft Federal. In her role, Ms. Carlson led strategy, execution of sales, partnering, contracting, business development, and performance world-wide. While overseeing Microsoft Federal, Ms. Carlson led Microsoft’s first cloud-based U.S. Government Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS) Region, closed the first ever Office 365 deal with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and closed the then-largest Enterprise Agreement with the U.S. Air Force, valued at over $330 million. As the leader of the U.S. Federal team, Ms. Carlson oversaw one of Microsoft’s largest divisions. Ms. Carlson received a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and a Master’s Degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Western Kentucky University.

Ms. Carlson is a highly accomplished and award-winning Government IT executive, and was named as one of the 39 most important people in the cloud by Insider. The many awards acknowledging her contributions

 

5


Table of Contents

include: winning the Wash100 Award six times, being one of Washingtonian’s Tech Titans, winning the Fed100 Eagle Award, being named one of the top 12 executives in Fast Company’s most influential women in technology category, being inducted into The Washington Life Tech Hall of Fame by ACT-IAC, being acknowledged for her Distinguished Leadership by the Committee for Economic Development (CED), and being given the Lifetime Achievement Award by Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC).

Ms. Carlson is currently on the board of directors of Commure, Inc. Ms. Carlson is the Vice Chair of the White House Historical Association (WHHA), is Secretary of the Economic Club of Washington, and sits on the boards of the Atlantic Council, 9-11 Pentagon Memorial Fund, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), and the National Security Institute (NSI) at George Mason University.

Matthew McElroy, the Chief Financial Officer of KnightSwan, is an experienced M&A accounting and finance leader. We believe Mr. McElroy’s previous experience in providing consulting and audit services to the Aerospace, Defense, and Government Services (“ADG”) industry qualifies him to lead KnightSwan’s due diligence processes on potential target companies.

Prior to joining KnightSwan, from September 2018 to August 2021, Mr. McElroy led rigorous buy-side and sell-side financial due diligence engagements at Pipaya Partners (“Pipaya”), a leading boutique M&A consulting firm that specializes in the ADG industry. In addition to providing financial due diligence services to corporate clients in the ADG industry, Mr. McElroy also acted in interim Chief Financial Officer roles, providing financial reporting and corporate accounting expertise and executive leadership.

Prior to Pipaya, from September 2016 to September 2018, Mr. McElroy served in various roles, including as a Manager, in the Transaction Services Group at Grant Thornton, one of the world’s largest independent audit, tax, and advisory firms. While at Grant Thornton, Mr. McElroy executed numerous buy-side, sell-side, and divestiture transactions for both private equity and corporate clients across the ADG, technology, healthcare, and manufacturing industries.

Before joining the Transaction Services Group, Mr. McElroy was an Engagement Lead in the Audit practice at Grant Thornton, focusing on the ADG and technology sectors for both publicly-traded and privately-held companies. Mr. McElroy received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Economics & Finance from University of Hartford and graduated summa cum laude.

Since January 2020, Mr. McElroy has been the Vice President of the Alumni Association and ex officio Board of Trustee Members for Camp Dudley.

Our Board of Directors

Anne K. Altman is an independent director nominee and a respected global business leader, having worked for IBM for over three decades addressing complex business challenges within the government and commercial industries. Ms. Altman re-established IBM as a major force in the U.S. Federal market. Ms. Altman also led the company’s mainframe business, System Z, through one of the most significant product launches in the history of the industry. Ms. Altman is widely recognized for the development, growth, and mentoring of leaders both within IBM and the broader business community.

Ms. Altman retired from IBM as General Manager, IBM U.S. Federal and Government Industries. In that role, Ms. Altman was responsible for IBM’s multi-billion dollar business with federal government clients and related industries in the United States. Prior to that role, Ms. Altman served as General Manager, IBM Public Sector, and had global responsibilities for government, healthcare, life sciences, and education. In this capacity,

 

6


Table of Contents

Ms. Altman also led IBM’s Smarter Cities initiative, helping organizations, states, and countries focus on transforming infrastructure, citizen-based services, healthcare, and education— all directed at improving economic vitality.

In 2017, Ms. Altman co-founded “Everyone Matters, Inc.”, an organization focused on the advancement of individuals and social causes. Ms. Altman also serves as an independent director on the boards of SPX FLOW, Inc. (NYSE: FLOW) since March 2015, Maximus Inc. (NYSE: MMS) since January 2017, TechFlow, Inc. since July 2016, Siemens Government Technologies, Inc. since February 2018, and Gunnison Consulting Group since September 2019. Across these boards, Ms. Altman serves as a member of Audit, Compensation, Nominating and Governance, and Information Technology committees. Ms. Altman also serves on the Board of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Dean’s Council of George Mason University, School of Business. Ms. Altman is also a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). Ms. Altman received a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from George Mason University.

Dr. Merlynn Carson is an independent director nominee and the founder of Myriddian, LLC (“Myriddian”), a leading health IT consultancy serving both the government and private sectors. Dr. Carson has been CEO/President of Myriddian since 2012. Dr. Carson, a physician by training, has been a persistent innovator in healthcare through her integration of technology, data, and clinical medicine to help better understand our public health needs and improve overall outcomes for providers, payors, and patients. Under Dr. Carson’s leadership, Myriddian has won numerous awards, including Inc. 5,000 Fastest-Growing Companies and the Moxie Award for boldness in innovation.

Dr. Carson is actively involved in both political and philanthropic initiatives. Dr. Carson is currently an engaged member of the Congressional Club, an Advisory Board Member of Winning for Women, and a Board Director of the White House Historic Association. Dr. Carson received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Maryland and a Doctorate of Medicine from American University of Antigua Manipal School of Medicine.

Dr. Carson’s professional accolades have been recognized through numerous awards: Smart CEO Brava Award, which honors Female CEOs that are exemplary leaders of both their company and their community; the Maryland Tech Council’s 2021 Industry Awards Celebration, which named Myriddian as a finalist in the “Emerging Technology Company of the Year” category; American Excellence in Consulting and Leadership; and the Baltimore Business Journal “Rising Star,” a joint award with the Living Classrooms Foundation recognizing outstanding young leaders for their achievements and philanthropic efforts.

S. Leslie Ireland is an independent director nominee and the former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Intelligence and Analysis. Ms. Ireland joined the Treasury in 2010 after 25 years at the CIA, where she specialized in Iran and the Middle East. Ms. Ireland retired in November 2016 after more than 31 years in the IC.

From 2008 to 2010, Ms. Ireland served as the daily intelligence briefer to President Obama and from 2005 to 2008, Ms. Ireland served as the principal advisor to the Director of National Intelligence on Iran and was responsible for overseeing the intelligence process on Iran for the entire U.S. Government.

Since September 2017, Ms. Ireland has been on the board of directors of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). Since October 2017, Ms. Ireland has been on the board of directors of The Stimson Center. Ms. Ireland has been a member of Chubb Insurance’s Cyber Security Advisory Board since March 2021. She has also been a member of Cyber Risk Directors Network, Tapestry Networks since December 2019 and also a member of the Board of Advisors of Cyber Florida: The Florida Center for Cybersecurity since November 2020. Ms. Ireland has also been an advisor to the CEO/Founder of Enveil, Inc. since March 2019. She was also the chairperson of the Financial Threats Council, Intelligence and National Security Alliance from May 2017 to February 2017.

 

7


Table of Contents

Ms. Ireland received a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Franklin and Marshall College. She received a Master’s Degree in Russian Studies from Georgetown University.

Ms. Ireland is the recipient of the Alexander Hamilton Award, the highest award bestowed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Ms. Ireland is also the recipient of the Intelligence Community Seal Medallion, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal (2008 and 2016), and the CIA Intelligence Commendation Medal.

Dawn Meyerriecks is an independent director nominee and the former Deputy Director of CIA for Science and Technology at the CIA. From 2014 to 2021, Ms. Meyerriecks led a global team of government and contract engineers, scientists, and project managers, providing technical, programmatic, operational, and policy oversight to multi-billion dollar programs focusing on national security objectives.

Prior to the CIA, Ms. Meyerriecks served as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Acquisition, Technology & Facilities, delivering complex technologies that underpinned national missions. Before that, Ms. Meyerriecks served as the Senior Vice President for Product Technology at AOL, where she was responsible for full lifecycle development and integration of all consumer-facing AOL products and services.

Before joining AOL, Ms. Meyerriecks worked for nearly ten years at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), where she was the Chief Technology Officer and Technical Director for the Joint Interoperability and Engineering Organization (JIEO). Ms. Meyerriecks received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration from Carnegie-Mellon University. Ms. Meyerriecks received a Master of Science in Computer Science from Loyola Marymount University.

In addition to holding senior leadership positions in Government, Ms. Meyerricks has extensive board and advisory experience, having served on the STRATCOM C2 Advisory Group, the Defense Science Board, the NCTC Advisory Board, the National Academy of Sciences, the Unisys Federal Advisory Board, and the SunFed Advisory Board. Her professional accomplishments have been recognized through numerous awards including: Tech Titans 2019: Washington’s Top Tech Leaders, the Government Computer News Department of Defense Person of the Year, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, InfoWorld CTO of the Year, and she was featured in Fortune magazine as one of the top 100 intellectual leaders in the world.

Laura Price is an independent director nominee and former partner at KPMG, where she served for over 25 years specializing in providing financial reporting and risk management services to clients in the federal government. From June 2000 to September 2021, Ms. Price served as an audit and advisory partner in KPMG’s federal consulting practice, where she helped build the firm’s federal advisory presence and led a variety of financial management and operational improvement engagements for numerous federal agencies in all sectors including the U.S. intelligence agencies, DoD components, legislative agencies and a number of federal civilian agencies. Prior to becoming a partner at KPMG, Ms. Price was an audit senior manager and audit manager at KPMG. While at KPMG, Ms. Price authored multiple publications on a litany of topics ranging from human capital risk to managing cultural assets.

From 2008 until November 2021, Ms. Price served as treasurer of the board of the DC Youth Orchestra Program, which provides music education to youth from all socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, Ms. Price is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the National Association of Government Accountants. Ms. Price received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Michigan Technical University and received a Master of Arts in organization management from George Washington University.

Our Business Strategy and Market Opportunity

KnightSwan will identify technologically-differentiated and innovative technology companies that it believes will address needs of government and commercial areas such as cyber, cloud, and mission intelligence,

 

8


Table of Contents

and accelerate the transformation of federal technology by providing funding and strategic and operational enhancements to those companies. We are targeting companies in the most innovative sectors of government and commercial-end markets with compelling sources of alpha generation in three key sectors:

 

   

Cloud: The shift of infrastructure and software to the cloud has enabled more rapid computing, processing, analytics, and computational efficacy. While legacy systems providers remain tethered to on-site processing resources and local insights, the opportunity of cloud enables exponential expansion of inputs and delivered outputs. Our substantial experience leading and scaling large cloud providers has shown us how transformational and expansive cloud technology can be. Management believes that near-limitless computation enables unforeseen innovation and enables significant upside opportunity for best-in-class technology product providers to excel. All of this opportunity is supported by significant cloud spending growth, which globally in 2022 is expected to grow 47% over 2020, from $270 billion to $397 billion; which suggests a CAGR of 21.3%.

 

LOGO

Source: Gartner (April 2021).

 

   

Cyber: Due to the combination of increasingly complex IT estates, growing attack surfaces, the scarcity of IT security professionals, and the proliferation of highly motivated, sophisticated, and aggressive cyber criminals, the already robust market for cybersecurity solutions has only grown since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and spans both commercial and government sectors. The opportunity to leverage cross-sector commercial capabilities to drive government technology expansion remains a differentiating capability; which we believe we can take advantage of due to the KnightSwan team’s significant experiential diversity. Addressable market within cyber remains favorable as the global cybersecurity market is projected to grow nearly 60% from $173 billion in 2020 to $270 billion in 2026; this suggests a 7.7% CAGR supporting strong growth and demand within the sector. We believe truly comprehensive cyber focus remains a nascent opportunity within most organizations and presents an immense opportunity for new products to disrupt the market.

 

9


Table of Contents

LOGO

Source: Australian Cyber Security Growth Network.

 

   

Mission Intelligence: As the global threat level sustains and near-peer adversaries (Russia, China) threaten the United States and its allies, mission intelligence and derived insights are an essential requirement. The ability to ingest, interpret, and analyze critical signals and insights remains not only a competitive advantage while on the military battlefield, but also commercially, as it relates to the success of allied economies and maintaining proprietary domestic technologies across civil agencies, as well. Federal agency spending is projected to be 39% of the United States Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) for a total estimated spending opportunity across military and civil government agencies of $9.0 trillion for 2021. KnightSwan’s focus across both landscapes enables a broader addressable market and opportunity set for acquisitions. Most SPAC opportunities are focused on either military or civil agencies, but KnightSwan leadership has extensive experience across the entire landscape of the federal government opportunity. Within this substantial spending opportunity, the total DoD opportunity is immense, representing an addressable market of over $700 billion of spending in recent years as these elevated spending levels have endured with strong bipartisan support. KnightSwan has specific expertise within the DoD and has the ability to tap into this military-focused spending. On a more narrow view, the combined addressable market for the IC and DoD IT spending accounts for nearly $125 billion in GFY 2022. Both markets have both shown a consistent CAGR of 3.5%+ annually. These dollars are significant, and within the intelligence community specifically, only begin to scratch the surface of the true funding amount; privately, the budget is known to be significantly larger as many “dark” and counter-intelligence programs are not included in this figure.

 

   

This demand for constant intelligence gathering and analysis is only exacerbated by the continued threat of allied enemies continuing to push the technology envelope, which drives the need for constant innovation. Near-peer allies have shown an increasing ability to outpace the U.S. on a variety of technological fronts, specifically in the cyber domain. The battleground is changing, with a renewed focus on technology driving the mission over local intelligence gathering and support. Management believes that this trend has only been exacerbated by the limited local presence afforded the U.S. and its allies within Russia and China; this is a stark difference to prior engagements where boots-on-the-ground provided a local veil of filtering for intelligence interpretation. We believe this shift in war-focus drives an enhanced need for new mission intelligence products, as software and code alone cannot guarantee security given the ever-changing hacker environment. Though difficult to quantify given the clandestine nature of this work, this opportunity significantly outpaces the broader topline growth rate.

 

10


Table of Contents
   

As these trends relate to cyber and IT spending going forward, this path has been firmly laid out through stated DoD cyber and modernization strategies, which represent the DoD’s vision for addressing threats and implementing the priorities of the National Security Strategy across all warfighting domains. These cyberspace objectives are broad reaching, and have impact well beyond the military – for instance, these dollars are supporting critical U.S. infrastructure domestically, as well as the broader DoD network and cyber domain. Modernization is at the forefront of driving this IT growth as legacy systems continue to operate pervasively within the DoD. Years of spending cutbacks through prior sequestration has led to the immediate need to upgrade and secure national security systems at an unprecedented level; no longer can the U.S. government delay spending while near-peer allies have the advantage of starting their ascent from a modern launching point. As such, these efforts continue to see bipartisan support and are expected to significantly support the next layer of defense and mission intelligence products providers.

 

LOGO

Source: Federal Reserve

 

11


Table of Contents

U.S. Department of Defense Budget Over Time ($, billions)

 

LOGO

Source: Office of the Comptroller of the U.S. Department of Defense.

U.S. Intelligence Community Budget Over Time ($, billions)

 

LOGO

Source: Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Department of Defense - Total IT Spending Over Time ($, billions)

 

LOGO

Source: Federal IT Dashboard – Department of Defense Agency.

Acquisition Criteria

Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in

 

12


Table of Contents

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 that:

 

   

Operate in attractive and growing subsectors within cloud, cyber, and mission intelligence

 

   

Are mission-driven

 

   

Benefit from strategic/operational enhancements

 

   

Have products/solutions that are technologically differentiated and create significant value for customers

 

   

Have scalable business models with visible monetization solutions

 

   

Have experienced management teams with demonstrated customer success

 

   

Are poised for penetration into either government and/or commercial customer markets

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 on 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 stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, 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, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities where applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital planning experience.

The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, 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.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any member of the KnightSwan team. Our President and Chief Executive Officer, Brandee Daly, and the Chair of our board of directors, Teresa Carlson, are currently restricted by non-compete and non-solicitation provisions contained in certain employment and other agreements, which provisions are expected to be in effect for at least part of the time following the consummation of this offering. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Management Team—Our President and Chief Executive Officer, Brandee Daly, and the Chair of our board of directors, Teresa Carlson, are party to certain agreements that limit the types of companies that we can target for an initial business combination, among other restrictions, which could limit our prospects for an initial business combination or make us a less attractive buyer to certain target companies.” 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 member of the KnightSwan team, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

 

13


Table of Contents

We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. The KnightSwan team has not individually identified a business target nor has it had any substantive discussions regarding potential combination partners with our underwriter or other advisors. The KnightSwan team is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with our company.

Members of the KnightSwan team will directly or indirectly own our founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering and may be affiliated with entities that purchase forward purchase securities 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. The low acquisition cost of the founder shares creates an economic incentive whereby members of the KnightSwan team could potentially make a substantial profit even if we acquire a target business that subsequently declines in value and is unprofitable for public stockholders. Further, each member of the KnightSwan team may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such member is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement in connection with our initial business combination.

In addition, certain members of the KnightSwan team presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, and contractual duties to other entities. As a result, if any member of the KnightSwan team 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 Delaware law, or contractual obligations, 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 believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of any members of the KnightSwan team will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.

In addition, our sponsor and members of the KnightSwan team may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. Members of the KnightSwan team 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. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.

Initial Business Combination

The rules of the NYSE require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of our assets held in the

 

14


Table of Contents

trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust). If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make such independent determination of fair market value, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board of directors determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. As any such opinion, if obtained, would only state that the fair market value meets the 80% of net assets threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of the target or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our stockholders. However, if required by Schedule 14A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, any proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we will file with the SEC in connection with our initial business combination will include such opinion.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders 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 target management team or stockholders 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 stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock 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 stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business (or businesses) that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the NYSE’s 80% of fair market value test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as our initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder 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 the Operating Partners 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.

 

15


Table of Contents

Corporate Information

Our executive offices are located at 99 Wall Street, Suite 460, New York, NY 10005, United States and our telephone number is (571) 420-2333. Upon completion of this offering, our corporate website address will be www.            .com. The information that may be contained on or accessible through our corporate website or any other website that we may maintain is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in and is not part of this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. You should not rely on any such information in making your decision whether to invest in our securities. We are 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, or 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 of 2002, or 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 stockholder 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.

Risk Factors Summary

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with:

 

   

being a newly incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues;

 

   

our ability to complete our initial business combination, including risks arising from the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic;

 

   

our public stockholders’ ability to exercise redemption rights;

 

   

the requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the completion window;

 

   

the possibility that NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange;

 

   

being declared an investment company under the Investment Company Act;

 

   

complying with changing laws and regulations;

 

   

our ability to continue as a “going concern”;

 

   

our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;

 

   

the performance of the prospective target business or businesses;

 

   

the pool of prospective target businesses available to us and the ability of our officers, directors and advisors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities;

 

   

the issuance of additional Class A common stock in connection with a business combination that may dilute the interest of our stockholders;

 

   

the incentives to our sponsor, officers and directors to complete a business combination to avoid losing their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed within the completion window;

 

16


Table of Contents
   

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 success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

 

   

our ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;

 

   

our ability to amend the terms of public warrants in a manner that may be adverse to the holders of public warrants;

 

   

our ability to redeem your unexpired public warrants prior to their exercise;

 

   

our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; and

 

   

provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law that may have the effect of inhibiting a takeover of us and discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers and limiting our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees, agents or stockholders.

Corporate Information

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, as amended, or 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 of 2002, as amended, or 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 stockholder 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.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter; and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.

 

17


Table of Contents

Our executive offices are located at 99 Wall Street, Suite 460, New York, New York 10005 and our telephone number is (571) 420-2333 . Upon completion of this offering, our corporate website address will be www.                .com. Our website and the information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in, and is not considered part of, this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. You should not rely on any such information in making your decision whether to invest in our securities.

 

18


Table of Contents

The Offering

In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus.

 

Securities offered

20,000,000 units (or 23,000,000 units if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

 

   

one share of Class A common stock; and

 

   

one-half of one redeemable public warrant to purchase one share of Class A common stock.

 

Proposed NYSE symbols

Units: “KNSWU”

 

  Class A Common Stock: “KNSW”

 

  Public Warrants: “KNSW WS”

 

Trading commencement and separation of Class A common stock and public warrants

The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and public warrants constituting the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless RBC Capital Markets, LLC informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and the public warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and public warrants. No fractional public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole public warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole public warrant.

 

  Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination.

 

Separate trading of the Class A common stock and public warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K

In no event will the Class A common stock and public warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet of our company

 

19


Table of Contents
 

reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering. If the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units.

Units:

 

Number outstanding before this offering

None

 

Number outstanding after this offering

20,000,000(1)

Common stock:

 

Number outstanding before this offering

5,750,000(2)(4)

Number outstanding after this offering

25,000,000(1)(3)(4)

Warrants:

 

Number of private placement warrants to be sold in a private placement transaction simultaneously with this offering

11,750,000(1)

 

Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the sale of private placement warrants

23,250,000(1)

 

Exercisability

Each whole public warrant offered in this offering is exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided herein, and only whole public warrants are exercisable. No fractional public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole public warrants will trade. We structured each unit to contain one-half of one redeemable public warrant, with each whole public warrant exercisable for one share of Class A common stock, as compared to units issued by some other similar blank check companies which contain whole public warrants exercisable for one whole share, in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the public warrants upon completion of our initial business combination, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses.

 

1

Assumes no exercise of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units and the forfeiture by our sponsor of an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares.

2

Consists solely of founder shares and includes up to 750,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised.

3

Includes 20,000,000 public shares and 5,000,000 founder shares issued to our initial stockholders.

4

Founder shares are classified as shares of Class B common stock, which shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis,

 

20


Table of Contents
  subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.”

 

Exercise price

$11.50 per share of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as described herein. In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, 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 (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day after the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share of Class A common stock, 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, in the case of the public warrants only, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described adjacent to the caption “Redemption of public warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

 

Exercise period

The warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination provided that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available and such shares of Class A common stock are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the public warrant agreement and the private warrant agreement, as applicable). If and when the public 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.

 

 

We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than twenty business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or a new registration statement for the registration, under

 

21


Table of Contents
 

the Securities Act of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the public warrants expire or the public warrants are redeemed as specified in the public warrant agreement; provided that, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a public warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to (x) file or maintain in effect a registration statement for the registration under the Securities Act of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants or (y) use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify for sale the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants under the blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is available.

 

  The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any public warrant, the exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.

 

Redemption of public warrants

Once the public warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding public warrants:

 

   

in whole and not in part;

 

   

at a price of $0.01 per public warrant;

 

   

upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, which we refer to as the 30-day redemption period; and

 

   

if, and only if, the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock has been at least $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 10 trading days within a 20-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is given to the public warrant holders.

 

  We will not redeem the public warrants for cash as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period or we have elected to require the exercise of the public warrants on a “cashless basis” as described below. If and when the public 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.

 

22


Table of Contents
  If we call the public warrants for redemption as described above, we will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise public warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their public warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of public warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our public warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the public warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the public warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (as defined below) over the exercise price of the public warrants by (y) the “fair market value.” For purposes of this paragraph, “fair market value” means the volume-weighted last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for the ten trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date that notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the public warrants pursuant to the public warrant agreement. See “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information.

 

Election and removal of directors; voting rights

Holders of our Class B common stock and holders of our Class A common stock will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote, on the election and removal of directors and any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules. However, in connection with our initial business combination, we may enter into a stockholders’ agreement or other arrangements with the stockholders of the target or other investors to provide for voting or other corporate governance arrangements that differ from those in effect upon completion of this offering.

 

Founder shares

On August 13, 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, resulting in an effective purchase price per founder share of approximately $0.0043. In addition, if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is not exercised, our sponsor will forfeit to us an additional 750,000 founder shares upon the expiration of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units. Prior to the initial investment in our company of $25,000 by our sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to us by the number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such

 

23


Table of Contents
 

amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of the outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.

 

  The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that:

 

   

our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive: (1) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with our initial business combination; (2) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window);

 

   

the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below;

 

   

the founder shares are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described in more detail below; and

 

   

the holders of the founder shares are entitled to registration rights.

 

Transfer restrictions on founder shares

Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any founder shares held by them until the earlier to occur of: (1) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (2) subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination, (x) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property or (y) if the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends,

 

24


Table of Contents
 

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 (except as described under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.

 

  In addition, at the time of our initial business combination, our sponsor may agree to vesting or other terms relating to our founder shares that it believes best align our sponsor’s objectives with that of our post-initial business combination stockholders. For example, in connection with initial business combinations, sponsors of other blank check companies have, in the recent past, subjected a certain number of their founder shares to vesting conditions based on the stock price of the blank check companies’ public stock, which our sponsor may elect to pursue if it believes it will help effectuate a business combination, although our sponsor has no obligation or other duty to do so.

 

Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights

The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in this offering and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination (net of the number of shares of Class A common stock redeemed in connection with our initial business combination), excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller of an interest in the target to us in our initial business combination.

 

Private placement warrants

Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 11,750,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant ($11,750,000 in the aggregate) in a private placement transaction that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our sponsor has also committed to purchase up to an additional 1,350,000 private placement warrants, depending on the

 

25


Table of Contents
 

extent to which the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised, at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant ($1,350,000 in the aggregate), to add to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. A portion of the purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us and will be exercisable on a cashless basis (see “Description of Securities—Warrants—Private Placement Warrants”).

 

Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants

The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except as described under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.”

 

Cashless exercise of private placement warrants

If holders of private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their private placement warrants for the number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the private placement warrants multiplied by the excess of the “sponsor fair market value” (as defined below) of the Class A common stock over the exercise price of the private placement warrants by (y) the “sponsor fair market value.” For purposes of this paragraph, “sponsor fair market value” means the volume-weighted average last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise of the private placement warrants is sent to the warrant agent.

 

Proceeds to be held in trust account

Of the net proceeds we will receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $205,000,000 ($10.25 per unit), or $235,570,000 ($10.25 per unit) if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, will be deposited into a segregated U.S.-based trust account, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $2,510,000 will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering. The proceeds to be placed in the trust account include $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s option to

 

26


Table of Contents
 

purchase additional units is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions. The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries.

 

  Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the funds held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of: (1) the completion of our initial business combination; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

 

Anticipated expenses and funding sources

Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use, except the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes or to redeem our public shares in connection with an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as described above. The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Based upon current interest rates, we expect the trust account to generate approximately $41,000 of interest annually (assuming an interest rate of 0.02% per year). Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from:

 

   

the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $2,510,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $640,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and

 

   

any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their respective affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation or other duty to loan funds to, or invest in, us, and provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial

 

27


Table of Contents
 

business combination, we expect to repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender at the time of the business combination. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor.

 

Extension of the completion window

Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, in order to extend the completion window, our sponsor, upon no less than five days’ advance notice to us prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit an additional $2,000,000 (or $2,300,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) into the trust account on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each 3-month extension of the completion window. Our sponsor is not obligated to deposit additional funds into the trust account in order to extend the completion window. In the event that we receive such notice from our sponsor of its wish for us to effect an extension of the completion window, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds have been timely deposited. Our sponsor has the option to accelerate its deposit of one or both halves of the up to $4,000,000 (or up to $4,600,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) at any time following the closing of this offering and prior to the consummation of our initial business combination with the same effect of extending the completion window by three or six months, as applicable.

 

 

In addition to our sponsor’s ability to extend the completion window in two 3-month increments by depositing additional funds into the trust account as described above, we may also hold a stockholder vote at any time to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify, among other things, the period of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination. As described herein, our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion

 

28


Table of Contents
 

period or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein.

 

Conditions to completing our initial business combination

There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately (including pursuant to a specified future issuance) or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. The NYSE rules require that an initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount). We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case.

 

  If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions. We will complete our initial business combination only 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 business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial business combination transaction. If less than 100% of the outstanding 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 by us is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test, provided that in the event that our initial 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 the purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

 

Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities by our affiliates

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial

 

29


Table of Contents
 

business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants or a combination thereof 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 or other duty to do so. There is no limit on the number of public shares or public warrants such persons may purchase, or any restriction on the price that they may pay. Any such price per public share may be different than the amount per public share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its public shares in connection with our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, such persons have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such purchases or other transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such purchases or other transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such persons will be subject to restrictions in making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. See “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities” for a description of how such persons will determine from which stockholders to enter into transactions with.

 

  We will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to clear all trades with our legal counsel, our chief financial officer or another officer prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.

 

  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 be required to comply with such rules. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will be restricted from making purchases if such purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.

 

30


Table of Contents
  We expect that any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.

 

  The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote such public shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such public warrants on any matters submitted to the public warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) 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. Any such transactions may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of Class A common stock 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.

 

Redemption rights for public stockholders in connection with our initial business combination

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares in connection with our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), 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 $10.25 per public share. Such amount will be increased by an anticipated $0.10 per public share pursuant to our sponsor’s deposit of additional funds into the trust account for each 3-month extension of the completion window that our sponsor elects to effectuate. The per public share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their public 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 public shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our public warrants. Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with our initial business combination.

 

31


Table of Contents

Manner of conducting redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares either: (1) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination; or (2) by means of a tender offer. Except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder 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 an initial business combination. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would typically require stockholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons.

 

  If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

   

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.

 

  Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order 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 stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more public

 

32


Table of Contents
 

shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).

 

  If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will:

 

   

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.

 

  We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any stockholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our NYSE listing or Exchange Act registration.

 

  If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds and agreements may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting and, if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed initial business combination. In addition, our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with our initial business combination.

 

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash

 

33


Table of Contents
 

consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) 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 public 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, and any such condition is not waived, we will not complete the business combination on such terms or redeem any public shares, all public shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination or seek to revise the terms of such business combination.

 

Tendering share certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve our initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, 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, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its public shares. In the event we do not proceed with the proposed business combination, we will promptly return any public shares delivered for redemption.

 

Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold stockholder vote

Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder 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 certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its public shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the public shares sold in this offering without

 

34


Table of Contents
 

our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage public stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares and subsequent attempts by such public stockholders to use their ability to redeem their public shares as a means to force us or our sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their public shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the public shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against an initial business combination if such public stockholder’s public shares are not purchased by us or our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our public stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the public shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of public stockholders 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 public stockholders’ ability to vote all of their public shares (including all of their public shares held by those public stockholders that hold more than 15% of the public shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination.

 

Redemption rights in connection with proposed amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation

Some other blank check companies have a provision in their certificates of incorporation which prohibits the amendment of certain provisions of their certificates of incorporation. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock, 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 outstanding common stock. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. Prior to an initial business combination, we may not issue additional securities that can vote pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation on any initial business combination or any amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement

 

35


Table of Contents
 

with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the completion of our initial business combination. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares.

 

Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination

On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be disbursed directly by the trustee or released to us to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights as described under “Redemption rights for public stockholders in connection with our initial business combination,” to pay the underwriter its deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt 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 redemption of our public 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 post-transaction businesses, 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.

 

Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination

Our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors have agreed that we will have only 18 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination; however, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we may, by resolution of our board of directors if requested

 

36


Table of Contents
 

by our sponsor, extend the period of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination up to two times, each by an additional 3 months (for a total of up to 24 months from the closing of this offering), subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our public warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates then hold any public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. The underwriter has agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.

 

 

Our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares

 

37


Table of Contents
 

of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of 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.

 

Limited payments to insiders

There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or other cash payments made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or our or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:

 

   

repayment of an aggregate of up to $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;

 

   

payment to our sponsor of a total of $20,000 per month, for up to 18 months, for office space and administrative and support services, which includes up to approximately $13,750 per month payable to our Chief Financial Officer;

 

   

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, 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 $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender.

 

  These payments may be funded using the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account or, upon completion of the initial business combination, from any amounts remaining from the proceeds of the trust account released to us in connection therewith.

 

  Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors or our or any of their respective affiliates.

 

Audit committee

Prior to the effectiveness of this registration statement, we will have established and will maintain an audit committee to, among other things, monitor compliance with the terms described above and the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to promptly take all action necessary to rectify such

 

38


Table of Contents
 

noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. See “Management—Committees of the Board of Directors—Audit Committee” for additional information.

 

Indemnity

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 public registered accounting firm) 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 amount of funds in the trust account to below: (1) $10.25 per public share; or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account 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 taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this 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. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations.

 

39


Table of Contents

Risks

We are a company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. See “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419” for additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus.

Summary Financial Data

The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date. As a result only balance sheet data is presented.

 

     September 30, 2021  
     Actual      As Adjusted  

Balance Sheet Data:

     

Working capital (deficiency)

   $ (109,496    $ 2,515,504 (1) 

Total assets

   $ 136,619      $ 207,515,504 (2) 

Total liabilities

   $ 131,115      $ 7,000,000 (3

Value of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption

   $ —        $ 205,000,000 (4
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Stockholders’ equity

   $ 5,504      $ (4,484,496 )(5) 
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

(1)

The “as adjusted” calculation includes $2,510,000 of cash held outside the trust account, plus $5,504 of actual stockholder’s equity at September 30, 2021.

(2)

The “as adjusted” calculation equals $205,000,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $2,510,000 of cash held outside the trust account, plus $5,504 of actual stockholder’s equity at September 30, 2021.

(3)

The “as adjusted” calculation equals $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions, assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised. All other liabilities are expected to be paid at the completion of this offering.

(4)

The “as adjusted” calculation equals the 20,000,000 shares of common stock purchased in the public market multiplied by the per share amount to be held in trust of $10.25.

(5)

Excludes 20,000,000 shares of common stock purchased in the public market which are subject to redemption in connection with our initial business combination. The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the value of shares of common stock that may be converted in connection with our initial business combination ($10.25 per share).

If our initial business combination is not completed within the completion window, 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 franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our initial stockholders have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window.

 

40


Table of Contents

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 prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Relating to Our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, an Initial Business Combination

Our public stockholders 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 public stockholders do not support such a combination.

We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, the NYSE rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares, we would seek stockholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their public 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. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our outstanding public shares do not approve of the business combination we consummate. See “Proposed Business—Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.

As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a suitable target or to consummate an initial business combination.

In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many companies have already entered into business combinations with special purpose acquisition companies, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies preparing for an initial public offering or seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many additional special purpose acquisition companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, effort and resources to identify and select a suitable target and to consummate an initial business combination.

In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause target companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find a suitable target for and/or consummate an initial business combination.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.

Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination.

 

41


Table of Contents

Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of such business combination.

At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. Additionally, since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination. Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential 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 stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.

The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their public 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 stockholders 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. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriter will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a business combination and such amount of deferred underwriting discount is not available for us to use as consideration in an initial business combination. Furthermore, we will not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. 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 (including, potentially, with the same target). Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us. If we are able to consummate an initial business combination, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming stockholders will reflect our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commissions.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our public 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 stockholders may exercise their redemption rights and, therefore, we will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of public 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 of our initial business combination, 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 public shares is submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.

 

42


Table of Contents

We may engage our underwriter or its affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with any related financing transactions. Our underwriter is entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that will be released from the trust only upon a completion of an initial business combination.

We may engage our underwriter or its affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing financial advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing. We may pay the underwriter or its affiliates fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s-length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with our underwriter or its affiliates and no fees or other compensation for such services will be paid to the underwriter or its affiliates prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless such payment would not be deemed underwriter’s compensation in connection with this offering. Our underwriter is also entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The underwriter’s or its affiliates’ financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our public 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 public 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 of our initial business combination, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful increases. 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 of our Class A common stock in the open market; however, at such time our Class A common stock 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 redemption of your public shares until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares of our Class A common stock in the open market.

Unlike some other similar blank check companies, we will have only 18 months (unless our sponsor extends the completion window) to consummate an initial business combination. The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the completion window may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.

Unlike some other similar blank check companies, we will have only 18 months (unless our sponsor extends the completion window) to consummate an initial business combination. Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within the completion window. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the end of the completion window. 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.

 

43


Table of Contents

Our sponsor has the right to extend the term we have to consummate our initial business combination to up to 24 months from the closing of this offering without providing our stockholders with a corresponding redemption right.

We will have until 18 months from the closing of this offering to consummate our initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we may, by resolution of our board of directors if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination up to two times, each by an additional 3 months (for a total of up to 24 months from the closing of this offering), subject to our sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account. Our stockholders will not be entitled to vote on or redeem their shares in connection with any such extension. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, in order to extend the completion window in such a manner, our sponsor must deposit an additional $2,000,000 (or up to $2,300,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) into the trust account on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each 3-month extension of the completion window. Our sponsor has the option to accelerate its deposit of one or both halves of the up to $4,000,000 (or up to $4,600,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) at any time following the closing of this offering and prior to the consummation of our initial business combination with the same effect of extending the completion window by three or six months, as applicable. This feature is different than most other special purpose acquisition companies, in which any extension of the completion window would require a vote of a special purpose acquisition company’s stockholders and, in connection with such vote, such special purpose acquisition company’s stockholders would have the right to redeem their public shares.

Unlike some other similar blank check companies, we will have only 18 months (unless our sponsor extends the completion window) to consummate an initial business combination. We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may receive only $10.25 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

Our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination within the completion window. Unlike some other similar blank check companies, we will have only 18 months (unless our sponsor extends the completion window) to consummate an initial business combination. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within completion window. 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, including as a result of terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of infectious diseases. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose serious challenges both in the United States and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic 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 COVID-19 pandemic and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. It may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and cross-border transactions.

If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public

 

44


Table of Contents

shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may receive only $10.25 per share, or less than $10.25 per share, upon the redemption of their public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “—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 stockholders may be less than $10.25 per share” and other risk factors herein.

Our trust account is expected to contain approximately $10.25 per share of Class A common stock. In the event our sponsor extends the completion window, our trust account is expected to contain approximately $10.35 per share of Class A common stock (if the sponsor extends the completion window to 21 months) or $10.45 per share of Class A common stock (if the sponsor extends the completion window to 24 months), and, as a result, public stockholders may be more incentivized to redeem their public shares at the time of our initial business combination.

Our trust account is expected to contain approximately $10.25 per share of Class A common stock. In the event our sponsor extends the completion window, our trust account is expected to contain approximately $10.35 per share of Class A common stock (if the sponsor extends the completion window to 21 months) or $10.45 per share of Class A common stock (if the sponsor extends the completion window to 24 months), public stockholders may be more incentivized to redeem their public shares at the time of our initial business combination. This is different than some other similarly structured blank check companies with completion windows of 21 months or 24 months for which the trust account will only contain $10.00 per share of Class A common stock. As a result of the additional funds receivable by public stockholders upon redemption of public shares, our public stockholders may be more incentivized to redeem their public shares at the time of our initial business combination.

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 COVID-19 pandemic and other events and the status of debt and equity markets.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a global pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the global economy, disrupted global supply chains, lowered equity market valuations, created significant volatility and disruption in financial markets, and increased unemployment levels, all of which may become heightened concerns upon a second wave of infection or future developments. In addition, the pandemic has resulted in temporary closures of many businesses and the institution of social distancing and sheltering in place requirements in many states and communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has, and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could, result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, business operations and the conduct of commerce generally, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be, or may already have been, materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel or 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. In addition, if any treatment or vaccine for COVID-19 is ineffective or underutilized, any impact on our business may be prolonged. 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.

 

45


Table of Contents

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

Finally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and cross border transactions.

The securities in which we invest the proceeds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the interest income available for payment of taxes or reduce the value of the assets held in the trust account such that the per public share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.25 per public share.

The net proceeds of this offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants, in the amount of $205,000,000, will be held in an interest-bearing trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in direct U.S. government securities with a maturity of 185 days or less, or in certain money market funds which invest only in direct U.S. Treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we may withdraw to pay income taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income. If the balance of the trust account is reduced below $205,000,000 as a result of negative interest rates, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.25 per share.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may enter into certain transactions, including purchasing public shares or public warrants in the open market, which may influence the outcome of our proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our securities.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants or a combination thereof 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 or other duty to do so. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such public stockholder, although still the record holder of our public shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling public stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their public shares. The price per public share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per public share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its public shares in connection with our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, such persons have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. See “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities”

 

46


Table of Contents

for a description of how such persons will determine from which stockholders to enter into transactions with. The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote such public shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such public warrants on any matters submitted to the public warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) 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. Any such transactions may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock 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 stockholder 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 public shares, such public shares may not be redeemed.

We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its public shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy 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 tender or redeem public shares. For example, we may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their public shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer or proxy materials documents mailed to such public stockholders, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their public shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a public stockholder fails to comply with these procedures, its public shares may not be redeemed. See “Proposed Business—Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights.”

You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares or public warrants, potentially at a loss.

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) the completion of our initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of Class A common stock that such public stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In addition, if we have not completed an initial business combination within the completion window for any reason, compliance with Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond the end of such period before they receive funds from our trust account. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in or to the trust account. Holders of public warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the public warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or public warrants, potentially at a loss.

 

47


Table of Contents

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 stockholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of their public shares, and our public warrants will expire worthless.

We 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 will be numerous target businesses, we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this 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. Our sponsor or any of its affiliates may make additional investments in us, although our sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation or other duty to do so. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders 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 target businesses. Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating and completing an initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our public warrants will expire worthless. See “—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 stockholders may be less than $10.25 per public share” and other risk factors herein.

If the funds not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for the duration of the completion window, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.

The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for the duration of the completion window, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during the completion window. We expect to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering and potential loans from certain of our affiliates are discussed under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” However, our affiliates are not obligated to make loans to us in the future, and we may not be able to raise additional financing from unaffiliated parties necessary to fund our expenses. Any such event in the future may negatively impact the analysis regarding our ability to continue as a going concern at such time.

We believe that, upon the closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for the duration of the completion window; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. We could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so.

If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a prospective target

 

48


Table of Contents

business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our public warrants will expire worthless. See “—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 stockholders may be less than $10.25 per public share” and other risk factors herein.

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient, 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, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to obtain such loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.

Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $2,510,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $640,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $640,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. 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. Any such loans may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their respective affiliates is under any obligation or other duty to loan funds to, or invest in, us in such circumstances. We expect to use a portion of the funds available to us to pay director and officer liability insurance premiums and fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. 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. In such case, our public stockholders may receive only $10.25 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “—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 stockholders may be less than $10.25 per public share” and other risk factors herein.

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 the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.

Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this due diligence will identify all material issues that may be present 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 stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain a stockholder or warrant holder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

 

49


Table of Contents

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 stockholders may be less than $10.25 per public 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 (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), 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 stockholders, 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 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 perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it 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 significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Making such a request of potential target businesses may make our acquisition proposal less attractive to them and, to the extent prospective target businesses refuse to execute such a waiver, it may limit the field of potential target businesses that we might pursue. 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 we are 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 completed our initial business combination within the completion window, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.25 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors.

Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.25 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account 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 taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this 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. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Our sponsor may not have sufficient funds available to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations and, therefore, no funds are currently set aside to cover any such obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.25 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers, directors or advisors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

 

50


Table of Contents

Our independent 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 stockholders.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (1) $10.25 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account 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 taxes, 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 may choose not to do so in certain instances. For example, the cost of such legal action may be deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or the independent directors may determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.25 per public share.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, 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 stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders 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 stockholders. 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 by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, 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 stockholders and the per share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, 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 stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per share amount that would otherwise be received by our public stockholders in connection with our liquidation would 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.

 

51


Table of Contents

In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:

 

   

registration as an investment company with the SEC;

 

   

adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and

 

   

reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and compliance with other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to.

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 total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.

We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our primary business objective, which is a business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) absent a business combination, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders 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 consummate our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share on the liquidation of our trust account and our public warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.25 per public share on the redemption of their public shares. See “—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 stockholders may be less than $10.25 per public share” and other risk factors herein.

Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.

We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and

 

52


Table of Contents

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.

Because we are neither limited to evaluating target businesses in a particular industry, sector or geographic area 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 seek to complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector. However, we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain a stockholder or warrant holder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and 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 public stockholders 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 stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder 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 stockholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our public warrants will expire worthless.

 

53


Table of Contents

We may seek acquisition opportunities in acquisition targets that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.

We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if such business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. 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 prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors relevant to such acquisition. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain a stockholder or warrant holder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early-stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel.

To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early-stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. 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 are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm regarding fairness. Consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company 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 from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders 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 tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

We may issue additional shares of Class A common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions described herein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 24,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 180,000,000 and 19,000,000 (assuming in each case, that the underwriter has not exercised its option to purchase additional units) authorized but unissued shares of Class A

 

54


Table of Contents

and Class B common stock available, respectively, for issuance, which amount takes into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants but not upon the conversion of the Class B common stock. Shares of Class B common stock are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein. Immediately after this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.

We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock, and may issue shares of preferred stock, in order to complete our initial business combination (including pursuant to a specified future issuance) or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock to redeem the public warrants as described under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Redemption of public warrants” or upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions described herein. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation on any initial business combination or any amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:

 

   

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

 

   

may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

 

   

could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock is 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 stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us;

 

   

may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or public 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 stockholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our public 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 stockholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our public warrants will expire worthless. See “—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 stockholders may be less than $10.25 per public share” and other risk factors herein.

 

55


Table of Contents

We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this 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 materially negatively impact our operations and profitability.

The net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will provide us with $205,000,000 (or $235,570,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our initial business combination (which includes $7,000,000 or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full, of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account, and excludes estimated offering expenses of $640,000).

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 risks. 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. 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.

 

56


Table of Contents

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

We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own or acquire shares will own less than 100% of the outstanding equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business 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 or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target, our stockholders 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 our initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target, or issue a substantial number of new shares to third parties in connection with financing our initial business combination. In such cases, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.

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 stockholders do not agree.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that we will not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their public shares or, if we seek stockholder 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 public shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all of the public 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, and any such condition is not waived, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any public shares, all of the public shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).

The exercise price for the public warrants is higher than in some other blank check company offerings, and, accordingly, the warrants are more likely to expire worthless.

The exercise price of the public warrants is higher than in some other blank check companies. For example, historically, the exercise price of a warrant was often a fraction of the purchase price of the units in the initial public offering. The exercise price for our public warrants is $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments as provided herein. As a result, the public warrants are less likely to ever be in the money and more likely to expire worthless.

 

57


Table of Contents

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments, including our warrant agreements, in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that some of our stockholders or warrant holders may not support.

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination. To the extent any such amendment would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities.

Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock, 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 certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders 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 holders of a certain percentage of the company’s stockholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by holders holding between 90% and 100% of the company’s public shares. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock, 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 outstanding common stock. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. We may not issue additional securities that can vote pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation on any initial business combination or any amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders 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, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement that we have entered into with our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors. Our public stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will

 

58


Table of Contents

not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our public stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder 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.

Although we believe that the net proceeds of this 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 selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us, we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this 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 stockholders 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 (including pursuant to a specified future issuance) or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. 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, advisors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.25 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account, and our public warrants will expire worthless.

Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.

In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may continue into the future.

The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense or accept less favorable terms, or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.

In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.

 

59


Table of Contents

Risks Relating to Our Securities

The NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

We have applied to list our units on the NYSE on or promptly after the date of this prospectus and our Class A common stock and public warrants on or promptly after their date of separation. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will 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 stock price levels. In general, we must maintain a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public stockholders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, in order for our Class A common stock to be listed upon the consummation of our initial business combination, at such time, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our global market capitalization would be required to be at least $200,000,000, the aggregate market value of publicly held shares would be required to be at least $100,000,000 and we would be required to have at least 400 round lot holders. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

If the NYSE delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list such securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such 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 common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;

 

   

a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

 

   

a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, as amended, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A common stock and public warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A common stock and public warrants will qualify as covered securities under such statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered 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 such 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 this 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 identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the U.S. securities laws. However, because we will have net

 

60


Table of Contents

tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet of our company demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of our initial business combination. Please see “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419” for a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419.

If we seek stockholder 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 stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.

If we seek stockholder 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 certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its public shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not restrict our stockholders’ 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. 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 stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their public shares.

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the expiration of the completion window in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.

Because we do not intend to comply with Section 280 of the DGCL, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and

 

61


Table of Contents

pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, consultants, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date.

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination and you will not be entitled to any of the corporate protections provided by such a meeting.

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination (unless required by the NYSE) and thus may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting of stockholders be held for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with a company’s bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to our consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL. Until we hold an annual meeting of stockholders, public stockholders may not be afforded the opportunity to discuss company affairs with management.

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

If the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their public warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of Class A common stock included in the units.

While we have registered the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants, we do not plan on keeping a prospectus current until required to pursuant to the public warrant agreement. We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than twenty business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or a new registration statement, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating thereto until the warrants expire or, in the case of the public warrants only, are redeemed. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.

 

62


Table of Contents

If the shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their public warrants on a cashless basis, as described herein. However, no public 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 public warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a public warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their public warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to (x) file or maintain in effect a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants or (y) use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation the underlying shares of Class A common stock underlying the public warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws.

The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees 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 common stock.

Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of this offering, at or after the time of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of their founder shares after those shares convert to shares of our Class A common stock. In addition, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the resale of such warrants or the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to complete. This is because the stockholders 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 common stock that is expected when the common stock owned by our initial stockholders or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants or warrants issued in connection with working capital loans are registered for resale.

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 stockholders’ investment in us.

Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination and affiliates of our management could potentially provide or arrange such financing. We 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;

 

63


Table of Contents
   

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 is payable on demand;

 

   

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

 

   

our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

 

   

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 common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;

 

   

limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

 

   

increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and

 

   

limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

Our initial stockholders will hold a substantial interest in us and, as a result, may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.

Neither our initial stockholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers, directors or advisors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock and/or public warrants. As a result of their substantial ownership in our company, our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on other actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. Furthermore, our board of directors, whose members were appointed by our sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual general meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment. If our initial stockholders purchase any additional shares of common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their influence over these actions. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will exert significant influence over actions requiring a stockholder vote. See “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities.”

Our initial stockholders paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.0043 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A common stock.

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the common stock and none to the public warrants) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our initial stockholders acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the public warrants, you and the other

 

64


Table of Contents

public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 109.0% (or $10.90 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $(0.90) and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the Class B common stock result in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock at the time of our initial business combination and would become exacerbated to the extent that public stockholders seek redemptions from the trust account. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A common stock.

The nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares may result in significant dilution to the implied value of your public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination.

We are offering our units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit and the amount deposited in our trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.25 per public share, implying an initial value of $10.25 per public share. Such amount will be increased by an anticipated $0.10 per public share pursuant to our sponsor’s deposit of additional funds into the trust account for each of the two 3-month extensions of the completion window that our sponsor may elect to effectuate. However, prior to this offering, our sponsor paid a nominal aggregate purchase price of $25,000 for the founder shares, or approximately $0.0043 per share. As a result, the value of your public shares may be significantly diluted upon the consummation of our initial business combination, when the founder shares are converted into public shares. For example, the following table shows the dilutive effect of the founder shares on the implied value of the public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination, assuming that our equity value at that time is $205,000,000, which is the amount in cash we would have for our initial business combination in the trust account, assuming the underwriter’s over-allotment option is not exercised, no interest is earned on the funds held in the trust account and no public shares are redeemed in connection with our initial business combination and without taking into account any other potential impacts on our valuation at such time, such as the trading price of our public shares, the business combination transaction costs (including payment of $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions), any equity issued or cash paid to the target’s equityholders or other third parties, or the target business itself, including its assets, liabilities, management and prospects, or the impact of our public warrants and private placement warrants. At such valuation, each share of our common stock would have an implied value of $7.92 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, which would be a 79.2% decrease as compared to the initial implied value per public share of $10.00 (the price per unit in this offering, assuming no value is ascribed to the public warrants).

Public shares: 20,000,000

Founder shares: 5,000,000

Total shares: 25,000,000

Total funds in trust available for initial business combination: $205,000,000

Initial implied value per public share: $10.25

Implied value per share upon consummation of initial business combination: $7.92

We may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your public warrants could be increased, the warrants could be converted into cash or stock (at a ratio different than initially provided), the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a public warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.

Our public warrants will be issued in registered form under a public warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The public warrant agreement provides that the terms of the public warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any

 

65


Table of Contents

ambiguity or correcting any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the public warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the public warrants and the public warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, (ii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the public warrant agreement as the parties to the public warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the public warrants or (iii) providing for the delivery of an “alternative issuance” (as defined in the public warrant agreement), provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required to make any other modification or amendment to the terms of the public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder of public warrants if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the public warrants, convert the public warrants into cash or stock (at a ratio different than initially provided), shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our common stock purchasable upon exercise of a public warrant.

We may redeem your unexpired public warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your public warrants worthless.

We have the ability to redeem outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per public warrant if, among other things, the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock has been at least $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any ten trading days within a 20 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is given to the public warrant holders and provided that certain other conditions are met. If and when the public warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the public warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the public warrants. Redemption of the issued and outstanding public warrants could force you to: (1) exercise your public warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so; (2) sell your public warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your public warrants; or (3) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding public warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your public warrants.

Our management’s ability to require holders of our public warrants to exercise such public warrants on a cashless basis will cause holders to receive fewer shares of Class A common stock upon their exercise of the public warrants than they would have received had they been able to exercise their public warrants for cash.

If we call our public warrants for redemption after the redemption criteria described elsewhere in this prospectus have been satisfied, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise its public warrants (including any public warrants held by our sponsor, officers, directors or their permitted transferees) to do so on a “cashless basis.” If our management chooses to require holders to exercise their public warrants on a cashless basis, the number of shares of Class A common stock received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised its public warrants for cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in us.

Our warrants and founder shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.

We will be issuing public warrants to purchase 10,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 11,500,000 shares of our Class A common stock if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), at a price of $11.50 per whole share (subject to adjustment as provided herein), as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a

 

66


Table of Contents

private placement transaction an aggregate of 11,750,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Our sponsor has also committed to purchase up to an additional 1,350,000 private placement warrants, depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised, at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant ($1,350,000 in the aggregate), to add to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. As of the date of this prospectus, our initial stockholders hold 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock. The founder shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors make any working capital loans, up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.

To the extent we issue shares of Class A common stock to effectuate our initial business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants or conversion rights could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and reduce the value of the Class A common stock issued to complete the business combination. Therefore, our warrants and founder shares may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.

The private placement warrants are identical to the public warrants except that (1) they will not be redeemable by us, (2) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (4) the holders thereof (including with respect to the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights.

Because each unit contains one-half of one redeemable public warrant and only a whole public warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.

Each unit contains one-half of one redeemable public warrant. Pursuant to the public warrant agreement, no fractional public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of Class A common stock and one whole public 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 public warrants upon completion of a business combination since the public warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for a half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole public warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a public warrant to purchase one whole share.

Our warrant agreements will designate the courts of the City of New York, County of New York, State of New York, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York or the federal district courts of the United States as the exclusive forums for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of holders of our warrants to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.

Our warrant agreements will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreements will be brought and enforced in the courts of the City of New York, County of New York, State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum. We note, however, that there is

 

67


Table of Contents

uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of our warrant agreements will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the sole and exclusive forum. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of, and to have consented to, the forum provisions in our warrant agreements. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of our warrant agreements, is filed in a court other than a court of the City of New York, County of New York, State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, a “foreign action” in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder of our warrants shall be deemed to have consented to (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions, and (y) having service of process made upon such holder of our warrants in any such action brought in such court to enforce the forum provisions by service upon such holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such holder.

This choice-of-forum provision may limit the ability of a holder of our warrants to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Warrant holders who are unable to bring their claims in the judicial forum of their choosing may be required to incur additional costs in pursuit of actions which are subject to our choice-of-forum provision. However, the enforceability of similar exclusive forum provisions (including exclusive federal forum provisions for actions, suits or proceedings asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act) in other companies’ organizational documents has been challenged in legal proceedings, and there is uncertainty as to whether courts would enforce the exclusive forum provisions in our warrant agreements. Additionally, our stockholders cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of our warrant agreements to be inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management.

A provision of our warrant agreements may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.

Unlike most blank check companies, if (i) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock 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 share of Class A common stock, (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 of Class A common stock, 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, in the case of the public warrants only, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Redemption of public warrants” 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.

 

68


Table of Contents

The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.

Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriter. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with representatives of the underwriter, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriter believed it reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A common stock and public warrants, include:

 

   

the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies;

 

   

prior offerings of those companies;

 

   

our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values;

 

   

a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;

 

   

our capital structure;

 

   

an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying suitable acquisition opportunities;

 

   

general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and

 

   

other factors as were deemed relevant.

Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.

There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.

There is currently no market for our securities. Stockholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases). Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.

Because we must furnish our stockholders 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 financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

 

69


Table of Contents

Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an 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, 2022. 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.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A common stock and could entrench our management.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred common stock. We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make more difficult the removal of our management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

Risks Relating to Our Management Team

Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other responsibilities. In addition, while we expect that our advisors will assist us in identifying business combination targets, they have no obligation to do so and may devote a substantial portion of their business time to activities unrelated to us. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our business combination. Each of our officers, directors and advisors is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he or she may be entitled to substantial compensation and our officers, directors and advisors are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and/or board members for other entities. If our officers’, directors’ and advisors’ 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. See “Management—Executive Officers, Directors and Director Nominees and Advisors” for a discussion of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs.

We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their departure could adversely affect our ability to operate.

Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals. 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. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.

 

70


Table of Contents

Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, we do not currently expect that any of them will do so. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.

In addition, the officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure 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. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

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 cause our key personnel to have conflicts of interest in determining whether to proceed with a particular business combination. However, we do not expect that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination.

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 direct and indirect personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination, as we do not expect that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination.

We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.

When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’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

 

71


Table of Contents

stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain a stockholder or warrant holder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure 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.

Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity or other transaction should be presented.

Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying, selecting and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor, its members, and our officers and directors are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities (such as operating companies or investment vehicles) that are engaged in a similar business. We do not have employment contracts with our officers and directors that will limit their ability to work at other businesses.

As described under “Proposed Business—Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets” and “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” our officers and directors, our sponsor and its members presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors, or our sponsor or any of its members, becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us (including as described under “Proposed Business—Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets”). These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business opportunity may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

In addition, none of our advisors are officers or directors of our company and, therefore, owe us no fiduciary duties as such. While we expect that they will assist us in identifying business combination targets, they have no obligation to do so and may devote a substantial portion of their business time to activities unrelated to us. Our advisors may have fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to other organizations to present business combination opportunities to such other organizations rather than to us. Accordingly, if any advisor becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which such advisor has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, such advisor will honor those obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and such advisor determines to present the opportunity to us. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential business opportunity may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us.

See “Management—Executive Officers, Directors and Director Nominees and Advisors,” “Management—Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for a discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and potential conflicts of interest.

 

72


Table of Contents

Our officers, directors, advisors, security holders or their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, advisors, security holders or their respective affiliates (including our sponsor and the members or our sponsor) 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, any of its members, our directors, officers or advisors, or we may pursue an affiliated joint acquisition opportunity with any such persons. We do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our officers or directors which may raise potential conflicts of interest.

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, its members and our officers and directors with other businesses, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with or competitive with our sponsor, any of its members, our officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Our officers and directors also serve as officers and/or board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Management—Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities and entities affiliated with our sponsor and its members, may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our 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 under “Proposed Business—Selection 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 from an independent accounting firm, regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, 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 stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

Because our initial stockholders will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to any public shares they may hold) and because our initial stockholders may profit substantially even under circumstances where our public stockholders would experience losses in connection with their investment, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

On August 13, 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, resulting in an effective purchase price per founder share of approximately $0.0043. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of the outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. Additionally, members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our securities following this offering, including founder shares and, accordingly, 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. See “Principal Stockholders” for additional information.

 

73


Table of Contents

In addition, our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 11,750,000 private placement warrants for a purchase price of $11,750,000, or $1.00 per private placement warrant. Our sponsor has also committed to purchase up to an additional 1,350,000 private placement warrants for a purchase price of $1,350,000, depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised, or $1.00 per private placement warrant, to add to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. These private placement warrants will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein.

The founder shares are identical to the shares of common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: (1) our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive: (a) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with our initial business combination, (b) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (I) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination within the completion window or (II) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (c) their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window); (2) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described under “Description of Securities—Founder Shares”; (3) the founder shares are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein; and (4) the holders of founder shares are entitled to registration rights.

The direct and indirect personal and financial interests of our sponsor, its members, and our officers, directors and advisors 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 and may result in a misalignment of interests between our initial stockholders, on the one hand, and our public stockholders, on the other hand. This risk may become more acute as the deadline for completing our initial business combination nears. In addition, because the founder shares were purchased by our initial stockholders at approximately $0.0043 per share, the holders of our founder shares (including members of our management team, directors and advisors, that directly or indirectly own founder shares) could make a substantial profit after our initial business combination even if our public stockholders lose money on their investment as a result of a decrease in the post-combination value of their shares of Class A common stock (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by an initial business combination). For example, an initial stockholder with 1,000 founder shares would have paid approximately $4.30 to obtain such founder shares. At the time of an initial business combination, such holder would be able to convert such founder shares into 1,000 shares of our Class A common stock and would receive the same consideration in connection with our initial business combination as a public stockholder for the same number of shares of our Class A common stock. If the value of the shares of our Class A common stock on a post-combination basis (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by an initial business combination) were to decrease to $5.00 per share of our Class A common stock, the holder of our founder shares would obtain a profit of approximately $4,996 on account of the 1,000 founder shares that were converted into shares of Class A common stock in connection with our initial business combination. By contrast, a public stockholder holding 1,000 shares of Class A common stock would lose $5,000 in connection with the same transaction.

 

74


Table of Contents

Our management team and our sponsor may make a profit on any initial business combination, even if any public stockholders who did not redeem their public shares would experience a loss on such initial business combination. As a result, the economic interests of our management team and our sponsor may not fully align with the economic interests of public stockholders.

Like most special purpose acquisition companies, our structure may not fully align the economic interests of our sponsor and those persons, including our officers and directors, who have interests in our sponsor with the economic interests of our public stockholders. Upon the closing of this offering, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option, our sponsor will have invested in us an aggregate of $11,775,000, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the founder shares and the $11,750,000 purchase price for the private placement warrants. Assuming a trading price of $10.00 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, the 5,750,000 founder shares held by our sponsor would have an aggregate implied value of $57,500,000. Even if the trading price of our Class A common stock was as low as $2.05 per share, and the private placement warrants were worthless, the value of the founder shares would be equal to the sponsor’s initial investment in us. As a result, so long as we complete an initial business combination, our sponsor is likely to be able to recoup its investment in us and make a substantial profit on that investment, even if our public shares lose significant value. Accordingly, our sponsor and members of our management team who own interests in our sponsor may have incentives to pursue and consummate an initial business combination quickly, with a risky or not well established target business, and/or on transaction terms favorable to the equityholders of the target business, rather than continue to seek a more favorable business combination transaction that could result in an improved outcome for our public stockholders or liquidate and return all of the cash in the trust to the public stockholders. For the foregoing reasons, you should consider our sponsor’s and management team’s financial incentive to complete an initial business combination when evaluating whether to invest in this offering and/or redeem your public shares prior to or in connection with an initial business combination.

Our President and Chief Executive Officer, Brandee Daly, and the Chair of our board of directors, Teresa Carlson, are party to certain agreements that limit the types of companies that we can target for an initial business combination, among other restrictions, which could limit our prospects for an initial business combination or make us a less attractive buyer to certain target companies.

Brandee Daly, our President and CEO is the former CEO and owner of C2SCG, a cloud services provider. In May 2021, Ms. Daly sold C2SCG to Smartronix, a cloud and IT services provider, and entered into an employment agreement with Smartronix. Ms. Daly’s employment with Smartronix has since concluded. Ms. Daly is bound by non-compete and non-solicitation provisions contained in the transaction agreement with Smartronix, which provisions are in effect for five years from May 2021, and which prohibit Ms. Daly from (i) directly or indirectly owning, managing, controlling or rendering services to entities that, in competition with Smartronix or its affiliates or subsidiaries, sell products or provide services that are the same or materially the same as, or compete with, the products or services sold or provided by C2SCG during the one-year period prior to November 2018 and (ii) soliciting employees and customers of Smartronix. Ms. Daly’s employment agreement with Smartronix contains similar non-compete and non-solicitation provisions, which provisions are in effect for the 24-month period following her termination of employment with Smartronix.

In addition, Teresa Carlson, the Chair of our board of directors, currently serves as the President and Chief Growth Officer of Splunk, a technology company that produces software for data analysis. Ms. Carlson is bound by non-compete and non-solicitation provisions contained in her employment agreement with Splunk, which prohibit her from (i) pursuing any business activities that would be in conflict with Splunk’s business interests or negatively impact her ability to carry out her duties and responsibilities to Splunk without Splunk’s express prior written consent during the course of her employment, (ii) soliciting employees and consultants of Splunk during the course of her employment and for one year after termination of her employment, and (iii) soliciting suppliers and customers of Splunk during the course of her employment and after termination of her employment.

In light of these non-compete provisions, we will not seek an initial business combination with any company whose operations would cause us to violate Ms. Daly’s and Ms. Carlson’s respective agreements. As such, our

 

75


Table of Contents

prospects for an initial business combination may be limited by the non-compete. Further, any potential dispute regarding our business or Ms. Daly’s or Ms. Carlson’s respective non-competition provisions could be time consuming, costly and distract management’s focus from locating suitable acquisition candidates and operating our business.

Members of our management team and board of directors have significant experience as founders, board members, officers or executives of other companies. While they are not currently, certain of those persons may become involved in proceedings, investigations and litigation relating to the business affairs of the companies with which they were, are, or may be in the future be, affiliated. The defense or prosecution of these matters could be time-consuming and could divert our management’s attention, and may have an adverse effect on us, which may impede our ability to consummate an initial business combination.

During the course of their careers, members of our management team and board of directors have had significant experience as founders, board members, officers or executives of other companies. As a result of their involvement and positions in these companies, while they are not currently, certain of those persons may in the future become involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings, including relating to the business affairs of such companies, transactions entered into by such companies, or otherwise. While they are not currently, individual members of our management team and board of directors also may become involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings involving claims or allegations related to or as a result of their previous personal conduct, either in their capacity as a corporate officer or director or otherwise, and may be personally named in such actions and potentially subject to personal liability as a result of their previous individual conduct or otherwise. Any such liability may or may not be covered by insurance and/or indemnification, depending on the facts and circumstances. The defense or prosecution of these matters could be time-consuming. Any litigation, investigations or other proceedings and the potential outcomes of such actions may divert the attention and resources of our management team and board of directors away from identifying and selecting a target business or businesses for our initial business combination and may negatively affect our reputation, which may impede our ability to complete an initial business combination.

Certain of our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Certain of our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination other than our CFO. Each of our officers and directors is engaged in several other business endeavors for which she or he may be entitled to substantial compensation and our officers and directors are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. In particular, Ms. Carlson, the Chair of our board of directors, is the President and Chief Growth Officer of Splunk, a technology company that produces software for data analysis. As such, she devotes a substantial portion of her professional time to Splunk. In addition, Splunk may make investments in securities or other interests of or relating to companies in industries that we may make target for our initial business combination. Ms. Carlson and our other directors will not be obligated to offer acquisition opportunities to us before offering such opportunities to other organization to whom they may also owe an obligation. Our officers and directors also serve or may in the future serve as officers and board members for other entities, including other blank check companies. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

76


Table of Contents

Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries

If our management team pursues a 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 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 our management team pursues 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 market, 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 and complying with commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets;

 

   

rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

 

   

complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

 

   

laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;

 

   

tariffs and trade barriers;

 

   

regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

 

   

longer payment cycles;

 

   

changes in local regulations as part of a response to the COVID-19 pandemic or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases;

 

   

tax consequences;

 

   

currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

 

   

rates of inflation;

 

   

challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

 

   

cultural and language differences;

 

   

employment regulations;

 

   

crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks and wars;

 

   

deterioration of political relations with the United States;

 

   

obligatory military service by personnel; and

 

   

government appropriation of assets.

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 results of operations and financial condition.

 

77


Table of Contents

If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with U.S. 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, any or all of our management could resign from their positions as officers of the post-business combination company, and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination could remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with U.S. securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with U.S. 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.

We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on our stockholders or warrant holders.

We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite stockholder approval under the DGCL, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a stockholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the stockholder or warrant holder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity (or may otherwise result in adverse tax consequences). We do not intend to make any cash distributions to stockholders or warrant holders to pay such taxes. Stockholders or warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.

General Risk Factors

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 have no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

Our financial statements contain a disclosure that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”

As of September 30, 2021, we had cash of $21,619 and a working capital deficit of $109,496. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. Our management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Our plans to raise capital and to consummate our initial business combination may not be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.

Past performance by members of our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.

Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, members of our management team is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance, including related to acquisitions, of members of our management team is not a guarantee either: (1) that we will be able to

 

78


Table of Contents

successfully identify and select 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 and performance of members of our management team as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward.

Certain agreements related to this offering may be amended without stockholder approval.

Certain agreements, including the letter agreement among us and our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors, and the registration rights agreement among us and our initial stockholders, may be amended without stockholder approval. These agreements contain various provisions, including transfer restrictions on our founder shares, that our public stockholders might deem to be material. For example, our letter agreement and the underwriting agreement contain certain lock-up provisions with respect to the founder share, private placement warrants and other securities held by our initial stockholders, sponsor, officers and directors. Amendments to such agreements would require the consent of the applicable parties thereto and would need to be approved by our board of directors, which may do so for a variety of reasons, including to facilitate our initial business combination. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Any such amendments would not require approval from our stockholders, may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible, and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.

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 stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders 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 common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of any second quarter of a fiscal year, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the end of such fiscal year. 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 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

 

79


Table of Contents

new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company or our company’s directors, officers or other employees.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for any (1) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our company, (2) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, or other employee of our company to our company or our stockholders, (3) action asserting a claim against our company or any director, officer or employee of our company arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, or (4) action asserting a claim against us or any director or officer of our company governed by the internal affairs doctrine except for, as to each of (1) through (4) above, any claim (a) as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (b) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, (c) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction or (d) any action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, as to which the federal district courts of the United States are the exclusive forum. Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions will not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware (a “foreign action”) in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such enforcement action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such stockholder. This forum selection clause may discourage claims or limit stockholders’ ability to submit claims in a judicial forum that they find favorable and may result in additional costs for a stockholder seeking to bring a claim. While we believe the risk of a court declining to enforce this forum selection clause is low, if a court were to determine the forum selection clause to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs in conjunction with our efforts to resolve the dispute in an alternative jurisdiction, which could have a negative impact on our results of operations and financial condition and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.

 

80


Table of Contents

An investment in this offering may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.

An investment in this offering may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we are issuing in this offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the Class A common stock and the one-half of a public warrant to purchase one Class A common stock included in each unit could be challenged by the IRS or courts. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of warrants are unclear under current law, and the adjustment to the exercise price and/or redemption price of the warrants could give rise to dividend income to investors without a corresponding payment of cash. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our common stock suspend the running of a U.S. Holder’s (as defined in “United States Federal Income Tax Considerations”) holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such U.S. Holder on the sale or exchange of Class A common stock is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered “qualified dividends” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See “United States Federal Income Tax Considerations” for a summary of the U.S. federal income tax considerations of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.

 

81


Table of Contents

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some statements contained in this prospectus are, and oral statements made from time to time by our representatives may be, forward-looking in nature. 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,” “target,” “goal,” “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 prospectus may include, for example, statements about:

 

   

our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;

 

   

our ability to complete our initial business combination;

 

   

our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses;

 

   

our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

 

   

our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;

 

   

our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;

 

   

our pool of prospective target businesses, including the location and industry of such target businesses;

 

   

our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases);

 

   

the ability of our officers, directors and advisors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities;

 

   

our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

 

   

the lack of a market for our securities;

 

   

the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;

 

   

the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or

 

   

our financial performance following this offering.

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under “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.

 

82


Table of Contents

USE OF PROCEEDS

We are offering 20,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table.

 

     Without Option to
Purchase
Additional Units
    Option to Purchase
Additional Units
Exercised in Full
 

Gross proceeds

    

Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1)

   $ 200,000,000     $ 230,000,000  

Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placements

     11,750,000       13,100,000  

Total gross proceeds

   $ 211,750,000     $ 243,100,000  

Estimated offering expenses(2)

    

Underwriting commissions (2.0% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding any proceeds from units sold pursuant to the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units)(3)

   $ 4,000,000     $ 4,600,000  

Legal fees and expenses

     300,000       300,000  

Printing and engraving expenses

     35,000       35,000  

Accounting fees and expenses

     60,000       60,000  

SEC expenses

     33,581       33,581  

FINRA expenses

     54,838       54,838  

Travel and road show

     10,000       10,000  

NYSE listing and filing fees

     85,000       85,000  

Miscellaneous expenses(4)

     61,581       61,581  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total estimated offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions)

     640,000       640,000  

Reimbursed Expenses(5)

     400,000       400,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Proceeds after estimated offering expenses

   $ 207,510,000     $ 238,260,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Held in trust account(3)

   $ 205,000,000     $ 235,750,000  

% of public offering size

     102.5     102.5
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Not held in trust account

   $ 2,510,000     $ 2,510,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The following table shows the use of the approximately $2,510,000 of estimated net proceeds not held in the trust account.(6)

 

     Amount     % of
Total(9)
 

Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses in connection with any business combination(7)

   $ 360,000       14.3

Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations

     150,000       6.0

Payment for office space and administrative and support services

     360,000 (8)      14.3

Directors and officers insurance premiums

     1,000,000       39.8

Reserve for liquidation expenses

     100,000       4.0

NYSE continued listing fees

     85,000       3.4

Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses (including franchise taxes net of anticipated interest income)

     455,000       18.1
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   $ 2,510,000       100.0

 

(1)

Includes amounts payable to public stockholders who properly redeem their public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.

 

83


Table of Contents
(2)

A portion of the offering expenses have been paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsor of up to $300,000, as described in this prospectus. As of September 30, 2021, we had not borrowed under such promissory note. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of $640,000 of offering proceeds that have been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions). These expenses are estimated only. In the event that offering expenses are less than as set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account.

(3)

The underwriter has agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination, $7,000,000, which constitutes the underwriter’s deferred commissions (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriter from the funds held in the trust account and the remaining funds, less amounts used to pay redeeming stockholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital purposes. The underwriter will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.

(4)

Includes organizational and administrative expenses and may include amounts related to above-listed expenses in the event actual amounts exceed estimates.

(5)

The underwriter has agreed to make a payment to us in an amount equal to $400,000 to reimburse certain of our expenses. This reimbursement will have the effect of increasing the proceeds available to us outside of the trust account.

(6)

These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring a business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify and select an acquisition target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account. Based on current interest rates, we would expect approximately $41,000 to be available to us annually from interest earned on the funds held in the trust account; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. This estimate assumes an interest rate of 0.02% per annum based upon current yields of securities in which the trust account may be invested. In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors, if any, 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.

(7)

Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our initial business combination to fund a “no shop” provision and commitment fees for financing.

 

84


Table of Contents
(8)

Assumes our sponsor exercises its two options to extend the completion window by an additional six months in the aggregate.

(9)

Percentages total to 99.9% due to rounding.

The rules of the NYSE provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $205,000,000 (or $235,570,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), including $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will, upon the consummation of this offering, be placed in a U.S. based trust account, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Based on current interest rates, we estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $41,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.02% per year. We will not be permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the trust account, except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the funds held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of: (1) the completion of our initial business combination; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law. Based on current interest rates, we expect that interest earned on the trust account will be sufficient to pay taxes.

The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt 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 redemption of our public 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 post-transaction businesses, 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 purposes. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination.

We believe that amounts not held in trust will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their respective affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation or other duty to loan funds to, or invest in, us.

We have entered into an administrative services agreement pursuant to which we will pay our sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for office space and administrative and support services upon completion of this offering, which includes up to approximately $13,750 per month payable to our Chief Financial Officer. The sponsor will also receive reimbursements for administrative expenses incurred prior to completion of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

 

85


Table of Contents

Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of September 30, 2021, we had not borrowed under such promissory note. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of June 30, 2022 and the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $640,000 of offering proceeds that have been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions).

In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans by our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors, if any, 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 seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may also purchase shares of Class A common stock in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. See “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities” for a description of how such persons will determine from which stockholders to seek to acquire shares. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its public shares in connection with our initial business combination. However, such persons have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If such persons engage in such transactions, they will be subject to restrictions in making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules.

We may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares or the business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).

A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) the completion of our initial business combination and then, only in connection with those public shares that such public stockholder has properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination

 

86


Table of Contents

activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Holders of public warrants will not have any rights of proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the public warrants.

Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive (1) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with our initial business combination and (2) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. In addition, our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates then hold any public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window.

 

87


Table of Contents

DIVIDEND POLICY

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of this offering, in which case we will effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in an amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

 

88


Table of Contents

DILUTION

The difference between the public offering price per share of Class A common stock, assuming no value is attributed to the public warrants or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of the public warrants and/or the private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public stockholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of Class A common stock which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock.

At September 30, 2021, our net tangible book deficit was $(109,496), or approximately $(0.02) per share of Class B common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 23,000,000 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at September 30, 2021 would have been $(4,484,496) or $(0.90) per share (or $(5,534,496), or $(0.96) per share if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), representing an immediate decrease in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of the approximately 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock that may be redeemed for cash in connection with our initial business combination (or 23,000,000 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $0.98 per share to our initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution of $10.90 per share or 109.0% (or $10.96 per share or 109.6% if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) to our public stockholders not exercising their redemption rights.

The following table illustrates the dilution to the public stockholders on a per share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the public warrants or the private placement warrants:

 

     No exercise of
over-allotment
option
    Exercise of
over-allotment
option in full
 

Public offering price

   $ 10.00     $ 10.00  

Net tangible book value before this offering

     (0.02     (0.02

Decrease attributable to the public stockholders and the sale of the private placement warrants

     (0.88     (0.94

Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants

   $ (0.90   $ (0.96
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Dilution to public stockholders

   $ 10.90     $ 10.96  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Percentage of dilution to new investors

     109.0     109.6
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units) by $205,000,000 because holders of up to approximately 100% of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per-share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering.

 

89


Table of Contents

The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial stockholders and public stockholders:

 

     Shares Purchased     Total Consideration     Average Price  
     Number      Percentage     Amount      Percentage     per Share  

Initial stockholders(1)(2)

     5,000,000        20.00   $ 25,000        0.01   $ 0.005  

Public stockholders

     20,000,000        80.00     200,000,000        99.99   $ 10.000  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   
     25,000,000      100.00%     $200,025,000      100.00%        
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

(1)

Assumes the full forfeiture of an aggregate of 750,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is not exercised.

(2)

Assumes conversion of Class B common stock into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis. The dilution to public stockholders would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the Class B common stock result in the issuance of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon such conversion.

(3)

Valuation of Class B common stock acquired by the underwriter in exchange for underwriter services.

The pro forma net tangible book value per share as of September 30, 2021 giving effect to the offering is calculated as follows:

 

     No exercise of
over-allotment
option
     Exercise of over-
allotment option
in full
 

Numerator:

     

Net tangible book value (deficit) before this offering

   $ (109,496    $ (109,496

Proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, net of expenses

     207,510,000        238,260,000  

Plus: Offering costs accrued for and paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value before this offering

     115,000        115,000  

Less: Deferred underwriter’s commissions payable

     (7,000,000      (8,050,000

Less: Amount of Class A common stock subject to redemption

     (205,000,000      (235,750,000
  

 

 

    

 

 

 
   $ (4,484,496    $ (5,534,496

Denominator:

     

Shares of Class B common stock outstanding prior to this offering

     5,750,000        5,750,000  

Shares forfeited if option to purchase additional units is not exercised

     (750,000      —    

Shares of Class B common stock

     

Shares of Class A common stock included in the units offered

     20,000,000        23,000,000  

Less: Shares subject to redemption

     (20,000,000      (23,000,000
  

 

 

    

 

 

 
     5,000,000      5,750,000  

 

90


Table of Contents

CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization at September 30, 2021 and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the sale of 20,000,000 units in this offering for $200,000,000 (or $10.00 per unit) and the sale of 11,750,000 private placement warrants for $11,750,000 (or $1.00 per private placement warrant) and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:

 

     September 30, 2021  
     Actual      As Adjusted(1)  

Notes payable to related party

   $ —        $ —    

Deferred underwriting commissions(2)

     —          7,000,000  

Class A common stock, subject to redemption(3)

     —          205,000,000  

Stockholders’ equity (deficit):

     

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized (actual and as adjusted); no shares issued or outstanding (actual and as adjusted)

     —          —    

Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 200,000,000 shares authorized (actual and as adjusted); no shares issued or outstanding (actual); no (3) shares issued and outstanding (excluding 20,000,000 shares subject to redemption) (as adjusted)

     —          —    

Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, 24,000,000 shares authorized (actual and as adjusted); 5,750,000(4) shares issued and outstanding (actual); 5,000,000(4) shares issued and outstanding (as adjusted)

     575        500  

Additional paid-in capital

     24,425        —    

Accumulated deficit

     (19,496      (4,484,996
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total stockholders’ equity

     5,504        (4,484,496
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total capitalization

   $ 5,504      $ 207,515,504  

 

(1)

Assumes the full forfeiture of an aggregate of 750,000 shares of Class B common stock that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised. The proceeds of the sale of such shares of Class B common stock will not be deposited into the trust account, such shares of Class B common stock will not be eligible for redemption from the trust account nor will they be eligible to vote upon the initial business combination.

(2)

The underwriter has agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination, $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), which constitutes the deferred underwriting commissions, will be paid to the underwriter from the funds held in the trust account and the remaining funds, less amounts used to pay redeeming public stockholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital purposes. The underwriter will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.

(3)

In connection with our initial business combination, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), subject to the limitations described herein whereby our net tangible assets will be maintained at a minimum of $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. The value of Class A common stock that may be redeemed is equal to

 

91


Table of Contents
  $10.25 per share (which is the assumed redemption price) multiplied by 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock.
(4)

Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares by our sponsor and the “as adjusted” share amount assumes no exercise of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units.

 

92


Table of Contents

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Overview

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, consolidation, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.

The issuance of additional shares of our stock in a business combination:

 

   

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

 

   

may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

 

   

could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock is 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 stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us;

 

   

may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or public warrants; and

 

   

may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants.

Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant indebtedness, it could result in:

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

 

   

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 common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;

 

   

limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

 

   

increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and

 

93


Table of Contents
   

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.

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, as of September 30, 2021, we had $21,619 in cash and working capital deficit of $109,496. Further, we expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.

Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events

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

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, we had $21,619 in cash and a working capital deficit of $109,496 at September 30, 2021. Our plans to raise capital or to consummate our initial business combination may not be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares and up to $300,000 in loans from our sponsor under an unsecured promissory note. As of September 30, 2021, we had not borrowed under such promissory note. Our sponsor extended $15,190 on our behalf in connection with a consulting agreement. We estimate that the net proceeds from: (1) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $640,000 (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full)); and (2) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $11,750,000, or $13,100,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full will be $207,510,000 (or $238,260,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full). Of this amount, $205,000,000 (or $235,750,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), which includes $7,000,000 (or up to $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will be deposited into the trust account. The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries. The remaining $2,510,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $640,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $640,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. The underwriter has agreed to make a payment to us in an amount equal to $400,000 to reimburse certain of our expenses. This reimbursement will have the effect of increasing the proceeds available to us outside of the trust account.

We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and excluding deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay taxes. Delaware franchise tax is based on our authorized shares or on our assumed par and non-par capital, whichever

 

94


Table of Contents

yields a lower result. Under the authorized shares method, each share is taxed at a graduated rate based on the number of authorized shares with a maximum aggregate tax of $200,000 per year. Under the assumed par value capital method, Delaware taxes each $1,000,000 of assumed par value capital at the rate of $350; where assumed par value would be (1) our total gross assets following this offering, divided by (2) our total issued shares of common stock following this offering, multiplied by (3) the number of our authorized shares following this offering. Based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding and our estimated total gross proceeds after the completion of this offering, our annual franchise tax obligation is expected to be capped at the maximum amount of annual franchise taxes payable by us as a Delaware corporation of $200,000. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We expect the only taxes payable by us out of the funds in the trust account will be income and franchise taxes. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our taxes. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.

Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us $2,510,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, structure, negotiate and complete a business combination, and to pay taxes to the extent the interest earned on the trust account is not sufficient to pay our taxes.

In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans by our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $360,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses in connection with any business combinations; $150,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $85,000 for the NYSE continued listing fees; $360,000 for office space and administrative and support services (assuming our sponsor does not exercise its two options to extend the completion window); $1,000,000 for director and officer liability insurance premiums; $100,000 as a reserve for liquidation expenses; and approximately $455,000 for working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses (including franchise taxes net of anticipated interest income).

These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an

 

95


Table of Contents

agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, a prospective target businesses.

We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities (which may include a specified future issuance) or incur debt in connection with such business combination.

Controls and Procedures

We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control reporting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we intend 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 independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.

Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor has our independent registered public accounting firm tested our systems of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and we may work with the target to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our initial business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:

 

   

staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties;

 

   

reconciliation of accounts;

 

   

proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate;

 

   

evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;

 

   

documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and

 

   

documentation of accounting policies and procedures.

Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expenses in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.

 

96


Table of Contents

Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain an independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target business’s internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Review

As of September 30, 2021, 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. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus as we have not conducted any operations to date.

Related Party Transactions

On August 13, 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, resulting in an effective purchase price per founder share of approximately $0.0043. In addition, if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is not exercised, our sponsor will forfeit to us an additional 750,000 founder shares upon the expiration of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to us by the number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Our sponsor does not intend to purchase any units in this offering.

We have entered into an administrative services agreement pursuant to which we will also pay our sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for office space and administrative and support services upon completion of this offering, which includes up to approximately $13,750 per month payable to our Chief Financial Officer. The sponsor will also receive reimbursements for administrative expenses incurred prior to completion of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

Our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or any of their respective affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 under an unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of September 30, 2021, we had not borrowed under such promissory note. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of June 30, 2022 and the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $640,000 of offering proceeds that have been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions).

 

97


Table of Contents

In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans by our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors, if any, 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.

Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 11,750,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant ($11,750,000 in the aggregate) in a private placement transaction that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our sponsor has also committed to purchase up to an additional 1,350,000 private placement warrants, depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised, at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant ($1,350,000 in the aggregate), to add to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. The private placement warrants are identical to the public warrants except that (1) they will not be redeemable by us, (2) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (4) the holders thereof (including with respect to the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights.

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement that we will enter into with our initial stockholders on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. Our initial stockholders, and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. However, the registration rights agreement provides that no sales of these securities will be effected until after the expiration of the applicable lock-up period, as described herein. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for additional information.

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 a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.

Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other

 

98


Table of Contents

things: (1) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; (2) 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; (3) 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 (4) 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 this offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.

 

99


Table of Contents

PROPOSED BUSINESS

Introduction

We are a newly formed blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation whose business purpose is to effect a merger, consolidation, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not identified any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with respect to any potential initial business combination with us.

KnightSwan, founded by Brandee Daly and Teresa Carlson, is an industry disruptor and catalyst for new and emerging technologies focused on accelerating innovation in cyber, cloud, and mission intelligence, a field focused on the collection, analysis, and delivery of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information for the purposes of improving decision-making. Through this platform, KnightSwan intends to invest in a company that provides technologically-differentiated products and solutions to the commercial and government markets.

KnightSwan believes that it has the chance to seize a timely and significant market opportunity. The U.S. Government continues to make large investments in cyber, cloud, and mission intelligence solutions, considering them critical to managing national security as well as integral to driving innovation and advancing technology. Our objective is to leverage the experience that the seasoned KnightSwan team has in leading and growing technology-focused organizations in both the public and private markets to effect an initial business combination that delivers value to our stockholders.

The KnightSwan team plans to implement a sourcing strategy that leverages its extensive network of long-standing relationships to identify potential business combination targets. We seek to undertake a business combination with a company or companies that we believe are likely to benefit from the operational experience and leadership of our collective team. The KnightSwan team intends to leverage its substantial industry experience and global relationships with the goal of providing potential business combination targets with benefits that will create long-term value to our stockholders. We believe we can facilitate operational, financial, strategic and managerial improvements in the prospective combination partner company in order to achieve long-term sustainable growth for its stockholders.

The KnightSwan team is comprised of Brandee Daly, our Chief Executive Officer, Teresa Carlson, our Non-Executive Chair of the board of directors, and Matthew McElroy, our Chief Financial Officer. Brandee Daly and Teresa Carlson are managing members of our sponsor, KnightSwan Sponsor LLC, a Delaware incorporated limited liability company.

We are not required to complete our initial business combination with a company or companies that provide technology-enabled solutions with high-growth, mission-critical applications in the government and commercial-end markets. We may pursue our initial business combination outside of such markets. We may seek to acquire established businesses that we believe are fundamentally sound but potentially in need of financial, operational, strategic, or board-level insight to maximize value. We may also look at earlier stage companies that exhibit the potential to change the industries in which they operate, and which may offer the potential of sustained high levels of revenue and earnings growth.

KnightSwan Team

The KnightSwan team is led by Brandee Daly, our Chief Executive Officer, Teresa Carlson, our Non-Executive Chair of the board, and Matthew McElroy, our Chief Financial Officer. We believe KnightSwan is one of the first women-owned and led SPACs in the Government sector. Teresa Carlson and Brandee Daly have substantial government and commercial experience in leading disruptive and innovative growth companies.

 

100


Table of Contents

They plan to leverage their deep technology expertise and experience as entrepreneurs in the DoD and IC to assess the feasibility and differentiation of our targets’ solutions. Our management is further supported by our independent directors Anne K. Altman, Dr. Merlynn Carson, S. Leslie Ireland, Dawn Meyerriecks and Laura Price.

Brandee Daly, the CEO of KnightSwan, is one of the leading women technology experts in government and business and has led an impressive 25-year career spanning roles at Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, and the CIA. In 2021, Daly was named one of the “Top 20 Cloud Execs to Watch in 2021” by WashingtonExec.

Prior to KnightSwan, Ms. Daly was the founder and CEO of C2S Consulting Group (“C2SCG”), a leading provider of innovative solutions, prototypes, and delivery of Cloud Cyber Security to the U.S. Intelligence Community, DoD, and U.S. Federal Civilian Agencies. At C2SCG, Daly guided hundreds of businesses and public sector organizations to successfully migrate, manage, and optimize their technology and cloud automation. From 2018 to 2021, Ms. Daly successfully grew firm-wide revenue significantly, expanding the service offering to encompass cloud migration, cyber, architecture, DevOps / DevSecOps, and cloud business strategy. Under Ms. Daly’s leadership, C2SCG became a multi-service global consulting firm, providing a range of technology consulting solutions to all 17 intelligence agencies, broader public sector, and commercial markets.

Before founding C2SCG in 2015, Ms. Daly served as a Federal Account Executive at Amazon Web Services (“AWS”), cultivating executive relationships and accelerating sales and cloud adoption across IC and DoD government agencies. In this role, Ms. Daly directed a highly skilled team of personnel to offer a range of solutions to meet government missions including cloud defense and security solutions, AWS cloud architecture, application migration, DevOps, solutions to accelerate research and development (R&D), and IT business strategy services.

At AWS, Ms. Daly built a highly skilled team of personnel with innovative technical expertise that is the leading provider of high-end cloud computing cyber security primarily supporting agencies across the U.S. Intelligence Community, offering Cloud Defense and Security solutions, AWS Cloud Architecture, Application Migration, DevOps, R&D, and IT Business Strategy services. While at Amazon, Ms. Daly won the 2015 Federal 100 award for “Leading the Cloud Migration,” one of the annual awards presented to the 100 women and men who personify what’s possible in how the federal government acquires, develops, and manages IT.

Prior to AWS, Ms. Daly held a similar role at Microsoft as a Principal Architect, responsible for managing customers, projects, and budgets in the government sector. Ms. Daly joined Microsoft from the CIA, where she developed a five-year IT strategy for the Agency and started four new divisions, including one directed at Cloud Transformation. While at the CIA, Ms. Daly won several “Excellence Awards” for her work in supporting the Mission.

Ms. Daly’s early career was spent at Oracle, where she served as the Technical Project Lead focused on application development for The President’s Council for the “Y2K Information Coordination Center.” In this role, Ms. Daly built and designed requirements for an information portal with over 100,000 users worldwide and in 72 countries. Ms. Daly’s work, and that of her team, became a foundation for what the cyber security industry is today.

In 2000, under President Clinton, Ms. Daly was awarded the Directors Award for her work in preparing the U.S. Government for Y2K. That same year, Daly and her team received the Vice Presidential Hammer Award for Reinventing Government from Vice President Gore.

Ms. Daly is a fierce advocate for supporting women’s initiatives in both technology and sports and is a proud sponsor of the Washington Spirit, the women’s professional soccer team in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Daly received a Bachelor of Science in Systems and Industrial Engineering from University of Arizona and a Masters of Business Administration from American University.

 

101


Table of Contents

Teresa Carlson, the Non-Executive Chair of the board of directors of KnightSwan, is the President and Chief Growth Officer at Splunk Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLK). Ms. Carlson leads efforts to align and drive Splunk’s ongoing business transformations and go-to-market segments.

Prior to Splunk, Ms. Carlson spent a decade at Amazon, successfully launching Amazon’s Worldwide Public Sector and Industries Division for AWS. During her tenure, Ms. Carlson grew the Public Sector Division from its inception and pioneered the U.S. Government’s technological shift to the Cloud. Under her direction, AWS established the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) compliant GovCloud (U.S.-East) region in 2011, the commercial cloud services (C2S) contract for the intelligence community in 2014, and a second GovCloud region (U.S.-West) in 2018, setting the stage for future cloud regions for the defense and intelligence community.

More broadly, Ms. Carlson’s strong belief that public sector customers should have access to the same advanced and innovative technology as startups led her to expand the scope of AWS in the public sector. Ms. Carlson has opened over 35 offices around the world, which now serve customers in over 172 countries. Ms. Carlson also created a startup, Envision Engineering, which was designed to quickly respond to the needs of governments and citizens during emergencies. Envision Engineering was instrumental in speeding governmental entities’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, and as a result of Ms. Carlson’s vision and early incubation efforts, over 7,500 government agencies, over 14,000 academic institutions, and over 35,000 nonprofit organizations use AWS to meet their missions.

Outside of the U.S., Ms. Carlson worked closely with governmental bodies, educational institutions, telecommunications providers, and other businesses to guide the launch of AWS in Bahrain in 2019. Ms. Carlson has worked closely across the Middle East to promote the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in region, expanding opportunities for businesses to leverage cloud technologies within Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Ms. Carlson actively cultivates diversity, and formed “We Power Tech,” the backbone of AWS’ diversity and inclusion initiatives, to ensure that underrepresented groups are reflected throughout all of AWS’ outreach efforts. Ms. Carlson and her team developed and launched other education initiatives including AWS Educate, which created two and four year cloud curricula for colleges and universities worldwide, as well as Tech U, a program designed to recruit and cultivate diverse talent through the organization.

Prior to joining AWS, Ms. Carlson spent nearly a decade at Microsoft where she successfully launched the company’s government agency division, Microsoft Federal. In her role, Ms. Carlson led strategy, execution of sales, partnering, contracting, business development, and performance world-wide. While overseeing Microsoft Federal, Ms. Carlson led Microsoft’s first cloud-based U.S. Government Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS) Region, closed the first ever Office 365 deal with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and closed the then-largest Enterprise Agreement with the U.S. Air Force, valued at over $330 million. As the leader of the U.S. Federal team, Ms. Carlson oversaw one of Microsoft’s largest divisions. Ms. Carlson received a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and a Master’s Degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Western Kentucky University.

Ms. Carlson is a highly accomplished and award-winning Government IT executive, and was named as one of the 39 most important people in the cloud by Insider. The many awards acknowledging her contributions include: winning the Wash100 Award six times, being one of Washingtonian’s Tech Titans, winning the Fed100 Eagle Award, being named one of the top 12 executives in Fast Company’s most influential women in technology category, being inducted into The Washington Life Tech Hall of Fame by ACT-IAC, being acknowledged for her Distinguished Leadership by the Committee for Economic Development (CED), and being given the Lifetime Achievement Award by Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC).

Ms. Carlson is currently on the board of directors of Commure, Inc.. Ms. Carlson is the Vice Chair of the White House Historical Association (WHHA), is Secretary of the Economic Club of Washington, and sits on the

 

102


Table of Contents

boards of the Atlantic Council, 9-11 Pentagon Memorial Fund, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), and the National Security Institute (NSI) at George Mason University.

Matthew McElroy, the Chief Financial Officer of KnightSwan, is an experienced M&A accounting and finance leader. We believe Mr. McElroy’s previous experience in providing consulting and audit services to the Aerospace, Defense, and Government Services (“ADG”) industry qualifies him to lead KnightSwan’s due diligence processes on potential target companies.

Prior to joining KnightSwan, from September 2018 to August 2021, Mr. McElroy led rigorous buy-side and sell-side financial due diligence engagements at Pipaya, a leading boutique M&A consulting firm that specializes in the ADG industry. In addition to providing financial due diligence services to corporate clients in the ADG industry, Mr. McElroy also acted in interim Chief Financial Officer roles, providing financial reporting and corporate accounting expertise and executive leadership.

Prior to Pipaya, from September 2016 to September 2018, Mr. McElroy served in various roles, including as a Manager, in the Transaction Services Group at Grant Thornton, one of the world’s largest independent audit, tax, and advisory firms. While at Grant Thornton, Mr. McElroy executed numerous buy-side, sell-side, and divestiture transactions for both private equity and corporate clients across the ADG, technology, healthcare, and manufacturing industries.

Before joining the Transaction Services Group, Mr. McElroy was an Engagement Lead in the Audit practice at Grant Thornton, focusing on the ADG and technology sectors for both publicly-traded and privately-held companies. Mr. McElroy received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Economics & Finance from University of Hartford and graduated summa cum laude.

Since January 2020, Mr. McElroy has been the Vice President of the Alumni Association and ex officio Board of Trustee Members for Camp Dudley.

Our Board of Directors

Anne K. Altman is an independent director nominee and a respected global business leader, having worked for IBM for over three decades addressing complex business challenges within the government and commercial industries. Ms. Altman re-established IBM as a major force in the U.S. Federal market. Ms. Altman also led the company’s mainframe business, System Z, through one of the most significant product launches in the history of the industry. Ms. Altman is widely recognized for the development, growth, and mentoring of leaders both within IBM and the broader business community.

Ms. Altman retired from IBM as General Manager, IBM U.S. Federal and Government Industries. In that role, Ms. Altman was responsible for IBM’s multi-billion dollar business with federal government clients and related industries in the United States. Prior to that role, Ms. Altman served as General Manager, IBM Public Sector, and had global responsibilities for government, healthcare, life sciences, and education. In this capacity, Ms. Altman also led IBM’s Smarter Cities initiative, helping organizations, states, and countries focus on transforming infrastructure, citizen-based services, healthcare, and education— all directed at improving economic vitality.

In 2017, Ms. Altman co-founded “Everyone Matters, Inc.”, an organization focused on the advancement of individuals and social causes. Ms. Altman also serves as an independent director on the boards of SPX FLOW, Inc. (NYSE: FLOW) since March 2015, Maximus Inc. (NYSE: MMS) since January 2017, TechFlow, Inc. since July 2016, Siemens Government Technologies, Inc. since February 2018, and Gunnison Consulting Group since September 2019. Across these boards, Ms. Altman serves as a member of Audit, Compensation, Nominating and Governance, and Information Technology committees. Ms. Altman also serves on the Board of the National

 

103


Table of Contents

Symphony Orchestra and the Dean’s Council of George Mason University, School of Business. Ms. Altman is also a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). Ms. Altman received a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from George Mason University.

Dr. Merlynn Carson is an independent director nominee and the founder of Myriddian, a leading health IT consultancy serving both the government and private sectors. Dr. Carson has been CEO/President of Myriddian since 2012. Dr. Carson, a physician by training, has been a persistent innovator in healthcare through her integration of technology, data, and clinical medicine to help better understand our public health needs and improve overall outcomes for providers, payors, and patients. Under Dr. Carson’s leadership, Myriddian has won numerous awards, including Inc. 5,000 Fastest-Growing Companies and the Moxie Award for boldness in innovation.

Dr. Carson is actively involved in both political and philanthropic initiatives. Dr. Carson is currently an engaged member of the Congressional Club, an Advisory Board Member of Winning for Women, and a Board Director of the White House Historic Association. Dr. Carson received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Maryland and a Doctorate of Medicine from American University of Antigua Manipal School of Medicine.

Dr. Carson’s professional accolades have been recognized through numerous awards: Smart CEO Brava Award, which honors Female CEOs that are exemplary leaders of both their company and their community; the Maryland Tech Council’s 2021 Industry Awards Celebration, which named Myriddian as a finalist in the “Emerging Technology Company of the Year” category; American Excellence in Consulting and Leadership; and the Baltimore Business Journal “Rising Star,” a joint award with the Living Classrooms Foundation recognizing outstanding young leaders for their achievements and philanthropic efforts.

S. Leslie Ireland is an independent director nominee and the former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Intelligence and Analysis. Ms. Ireland joined the Treasury in 2010 after 25 years at the CIA, where she specialized in Iran and the Middle East. Ms. Ireland retired in November 2016 after more than 31 years in the IC.

From 2008 to 2010, Ms. Ireland served as the daily intelligence briefer to President Obama and from 2005 to 2008, Ms. Ireland served as the principal advisor to the Director of National Intelligence on Iran and was responsible for overseeing the intelligence process on Iran for the entire U.S. Government.

Since September 2017, Ms. Ireland has been on the board of directors of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). Since October 2017, Ms. Ireland has been on the board of directors of The Stimson Center. Ms. Ireland has been a member of Chubb Insurance’s Cyber Security Advisory Board since March 2021. She has also been a member of Cyber Risk Directors Network, Tapestry Networks since December 2019 and also a member of the Board of Advisors of Cyber Florida: The Florida Center for Cybersecurity since November 2020. Ms. Ireland has also been an advisor to the CEO/Founder of Enveil, Inc. since March 2019. She was also the chairperson of the Financial Threats Council, Intelligence and National Security Alliance from May 2017 to February 2017. Ms. Ireland received a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Franklin and Marshall College. She received a Master’s Degree in Russian Studies from Georgetown University.

Ms. Ireland is the recipient of the Alexander Hamilton Award, the highest award bestowed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Ms. Ireland is also the recipient of the Intelligence Community Seal Medallion, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal (2008 and 2016), and the CIA Intelligence Commendation Medal.

Dawn Meyerriecks is an independent director nominee and the former Deputy Director of CIA for Science and Technology at the CIA. From 2014 to 2021, Ms. Meyerriecks led a global team of government and contract engineers, scientists, and project managers, providing technical, programmatic, operational, and policy oversight to multi-billion dollar programs focusing on national security objectives.

Prior to the CIA, Ms. Meyerriecks served as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Acquisition, Technology & Facilities, delivering complex technologies that underpinned national missions. Before that,

 

104


Table of Contents

Ms. Meyerriecks served as the Senior Vice President for Product Technology at AOL, where she was responsible for full lifecycle development and integration of all consumer-facing AOL products and services.

Before joining AOL, Ms. Meyerriecks worked for nearly ten years at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), where she was the Chief Technology Officer and Technical Director for the Joint Interoperability and Engineering Organization (JIEO). Ms. Meyerriecks received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration from Carnegie-Mellon University. Ms. Meyerriecks received a Master of Science in Computer Science from Loyola Marymount University.

In addition to holding senior leadership positions in Government, Ms. Meyerricks has extensive board and advisory experience, having served on the STRATCOM C2 Advisory Group, the Defense Science Board, the NCTC Advisory Board, the National Academy of Sciences, the Unisys Federal Advisory Board, and the SunFed Advisory Board. Her professional accomplishments have been recognized through numerous awards including: Tech Titans 2019: Washington’s Top Tech Leaders, the Government Computer News Department of Defense Person of the Year, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, InfoWorld CTO of the Year, and she was featured in Fortune magazine as one of the top 100 intellectual leaders in the world.

Laura Price is an independent director nominee and former partner at KPMG, where she served for over 25 years specializing in providing financial reporting and risk management services to clients in the federal government. From June 2000 to September 2021, Ms. Price served as an audit and advisory partner in KPMG’s federal consulting practice, where she helped build the firm’s federal advisory presence and led a variety of financial management and operational improvement engagements for numerous federal agencies in all sectors including the U.S. intelligence agencies, DoD components, legislative agencies and a number of federal civilian agencies. Prior to becoming a partner at KPMG, Ms. Price was an audit senior manager and audit manager at KPMG. While at KPMG, Ms. Price authored multiple publications on a litany of topics ranging from human capital risk to managing cultural assets.

From 2008 until November 2021, Ms. Price served as treasurer of the board of the DC Youth Orchestra Program, which provides music education to youth from all socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, Ms. Price is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the National Association of Government Accountants. Ms. Price received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Michigan Technical University and received a Master of Arts in organization management from George Washington University.

Our Business Strategy and Market Opportunity

KnightSwan will identify technologically-differentiated and innovative technology companies that it believes will address needs of government and commercial areas such as cyber, cloud, and mission intelligence, and accelerate the transformation of federal technology by providing funding and strategic and operational enhancements to those companies. We are targeting companies in the most innovative sectors of government and commercial-end markets with compelling sources of alpha generation in three key sectors:

 

   

Cloud: The shift of infrastructure and software to the cloud has enabled more rapid computing, processing, analytics, and computational efficacy. While legacy systems providers remain tethered to on-site processing resources and local insights, the opportunity of cloud enables exponential expansion of inputs and delivered outputs. Our substantial experience leading and scaling large cloud providers has shown us how transformational and expansive cloud technology can be. Management believes that near-limitless computation enables unforeseen innovation and enables significant upside opportunity for best-in-class technology product providers to excel. All of this opportunity is supported by significant cloud spending growth, which globally in 2022 is expected to grow 47% over 2020, from $270 billion to $397 billion; which suggests a CAGR of 21.3%.

 

105


Table of Contents

LOGO

Source: Gartner (April 2021).

 

   

Cyber: Due to the combination of increasingly complex IT estates, growing attack surfaces, the scarcity of IT security professionals, and the proliferation of highly motivated, sophisticated, and aggressive cyber criminals, the already robust market for cybersecurity solutions has only grown since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and spans both commercial and government sectors. The opportunity to leverage cross-sector commercial capabilities to drive government technology expansion remains a differentiating capability; which we believe we can take advantage of due to the KnightSwan team’s significant experiential diversity. Addressable market within cyber remains favorable as the global cybersecurity market is projected to grow nearly 60% from $173 billion in 2020 to $270 billion in 2026; this suggests a 7.7% CAGR supporting strong growth and demand within the sector. We believe truly comprehensive cyber focus remains a nascent opportunity within most organizations and presents an immense opportunity for new products to disrupt the market.

 

LOGO

Source: Australian Cyber Security Growth Network.

 

   

Mission Intelligence: As the global threat level sustains and near-peer adversaries (Russia, China) threaten the United States and its allies, mission intelligence and derived insights are an essential requirement. The ability to ingest, interpret, and analyze critical signals and insights remains not only a competitive advantage while on the military battlefield, but also commercially, as it relates to the

 

106


Table of Contents
 

success of allied economies and maintaining proprietary domestic technologies across civil agencies, as well. Federal agency spending is projected to be 39% of the United States’ GDP for a total estimated spending opportunity across military and civil government agencies of $9.0 trillion for 2021. KnightSwan’s focus across both landscapes enables a broader addressable market and opportunity set for acquisitions. Most SPAC opportunities are focused on either military or civil agencies, but KnightSwan leadership has extensive experience across the entire landscape of the federal government opportunity. Within this substantial spending opportunity, the total DoD opportunity is immense, representing an addressable market of over $700 billion of spending in recent years as these elevated spending levels have endured with strong bipartisan support. KnightSwan has specific expertise within the DoD and has the ability to tap into this military-focused spending. On a more narrow view, the combined addressable market for the IC and DoD IT spending accounts for nearly $125 billion in GFY 2022. Both markets have both shown a consistent CAGR of 3.5%+ annually. These dollars are significant, and within the intelligence community specifically, only begin to scratch the surface of the true funding amount; privately, the budget is known to be significantly larger as many “dark” and counter-intelligence programs are not included in this figure.

 

   

This demand for constant intelligence gathering and analysis is only exacerbated by the continued threat of allied enemies continuing to push the technology envelope, which drives the need for constant innovation. Near-peer allies have shown an increasing ability to outpace the U.S. on a variety of technological fronts, specifically in the cyber domain. The battleground is changing, with a renewed focus on technology driving the mission over local intelligence gathering and support. Management believes that this trend has only been exacerbated by the limited local presence afforded the U.S. and its allies within Russia and China; this is a stark difference to prior engagements where boots-on-the-ground provided a local veil of filtering for intelligence interpretation. We believe this shift in war-focus drives an enhanced need for new mission intelligence products, as software and code alone cannot guarantee security given the ever-changing hacker environment. Though difficult to quantify given the clandestine nature of this work, this opportunity significantly outpaces the broader topline growth rate.

 

   

As these trends relate to cyber and IT spending going forward, this path has been firmly laid out through stated DoD cyber and modernization strategies, which represent the DoD’s vision for addressing threats and implementing the priorities of the National Security Strategy across all warfighting domains. These cyberspace objectives are broad reaching, and have impact well beyond the military – for instance, these dollars are supporting critical U.S. infrastructure domestically, as well as the broader DoD network and cyber domain. Modernization is at the forefront of driving this IT growth as legacy systems continue to operate pervasively within the DoD. Years of spending cutbacks through prior sequestration has led to the immediate need to upgrade and secure national security systems at an unprecedented level; no longer can the U.S. government delay spending while near-peer allies have the advantage of starting their ascent from a modern launching point. As such, these efforts continue to see bipartisan support and are expected to significantly support the next layer of defense and mission intelligence products providers.

 

107


Table of Contents

LOGO

Source: Federal Reserve

U.S. Department of Defense Budget Over Time ($, billions)

 

LOGO

Source: Office of the Comptroller of the U.S. Department of Defense.

 

108


Table of Contents

U.S. Intelligence Community Budget Over Time ($, billions)

 

LOGO

Source: Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Department of Defense - Total IT Spending Over Time ($, billions)

 

LOGO

Source: Federal IT Dashboard – Department of Defense Agency.

Acquisition Criteria

Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use 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 that:

 

   

Operate in attractive and growing subsectors within cloud, cyber, and mission intelligence

 

   

Are mission-driven

 

   

Benefit from strategic/operational enhancements

 

   

Have products/solutions that are technologically differentiated and create significant value for customers

 

   

Have scalable business models with visible monetization solutions

 

   

Have experienced management teams with demonstrated customer success

 

   

Are poised for penetration into either government and/or commercial customer markets

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 on other considerations, factors, and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter

 

109


Table of Contents

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 stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, 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, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities where applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital planning experience.

The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, 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.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any member of the KnightSwan team. Our President and Chief Executive Officer, Brandee Daly, and the Chair of our board of directors, Teresa Carlson, are currently restricted by non-compete and non-solicitation provisions contained in certain employment and other agreements, which provisions are expected to be in effect for at least part of the time following the consummation of this offering. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Management Team—Our President and Chief Executive Officer, Brandee Daly, and the Chair of our board of directors, Teresa Carlson, are party to certain agreements that limit the types of companies that we can target for an initial business combination, among other restrictions, which could limit our prospects for an initial business combination or make us a less attractive buyer to certain target companies.” 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 member of the KnightSwan team, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. The KnightSwan team has not individually identified a business target nor has it had any substantive discussions regarding potential combination partners with our underwriter or other advisors. The KnightSwan team is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with our company.

Members of the KnightSwan team will directly or indirectly own our founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering and may be affiliated with entities that purchase forward purchase securities 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. The low acquisition cost of the founder shares creates an economic incentive whereby members of the KnightSwan team could potentially make a substantial profit even if we acquire a target business that subsequently declines in value and is unprofitable for public stockholders. Further, each member of the KnightSwan team may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such member is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement in connection with our initial business combination.

In addition, certain members of the KnightSwan team presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, and contractual duties to other entities. As a result, if any member of the KnightSwan

 

110


Table of Contents

team 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 Delaware law, or contractual obligations, 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 believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of any members of the KnightSwan team will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.

In addition, our sponsor and members of the KnightSwan team may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. Members of the KnightSwan team 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. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.

Initial Business Combination

The rules of the NYSE require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust). If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make such independent determination of fair market value, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board of directors determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. As any such opinion, if obtained, would only state that the fair market value meets the 80% of net assets threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of the target or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our stockholders. However, if required by Schedule 14A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, any proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we will file with the SEC in connection with our initial business combination will include such opinion.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business

 

111


Table of Contents

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 target management team or stockholders 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 stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock 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 stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business (or businesses) that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the NYSE’s 80% of fair market value test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as our initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder 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 the Operating Partners 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.

Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets

We believe our management team’s significant operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. We believe this network provides us with a robust and consistent flow of acquisition opportunities which were proprietary or where a limited group of investors were invited to participate in the sale process. We believe that this network of contacts and relationships will provide us with important sources of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, its members, or our officers or directors. Our President and Chief Executive Officer, Brandee Daly, and the Chair of our board of directors, Teresa Carlson, are currently restricted by non-compete and non-solicitation provisions contained in certain employment and other agreements, which provisions are expected to be in effect for at least part of the time following the consummation of this offering. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Management Team—Our President and Chief Executive Officer, Brandee Daly, and the Chair of our board of directors, Teresa Carlson, are party to certain agreements that limit the types of companies that we can target for an initial business combination, among other restrictions, which could limit our prospects for an initial business combination or make us a less attractive buyer to certain target companies.” In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsor, its members, or our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will

 

112


Table of Contents

obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm, 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.

As discussed above and under “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if our sponsor, any of its members, or any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for one or more entities to which it, he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, it, he or she will honor these obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us (including as described above). In addition, we may, at our option, pursue an affiliated joint acquisition opportunity with an entity to which our sponsor, any of its members, or an officer, director or advisor has a fiduciary, contractual or other obligation or duty. Any such parties may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by making a specified future issuance to any such parties.

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 target businesses an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger, consolidation, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our stock or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts 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. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter; and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

Additionally, we will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.

Financial Position

With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $198,000,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of $7,000,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $227,700,000 assuming no

 

113


Table of Contents

redemptions and after payment of $8,050,000 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), in each case, after estimated offering expenses of $640,000 and estimated working capital expenses of $2,510,000, 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

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, 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 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 redemption of our public 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 post-transaction businesses, 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.

Members of our management team are from time to time made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue, for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with us. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or select any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or select any such acquisition candidate.

We may seek to raise additional funds in connection with the completion of our initial business combination through a private offering of equity securities (including pursuant to a specified future issuance) or debt securities or loans, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offerings or loans rather than using the amounts held in the trust account.

In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by applicable law or we decide to do so for business or other reasons, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately (including pursuant to a specified future issuance) or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.

Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination

The NYSE rules require that an initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts

 

114


Table of Contents

disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount). The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In any case, we will only complete an initial 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 business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If less than 100% of the outstanding 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 by us is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.

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 of the significant risk factors.

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, 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.

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.

By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks. 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.

 

115


Table of Contents

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.

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. 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 highly 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 post-business combination 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 our initial 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.

Stockholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination

We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.

 

Type of Transaction

   Whether
Stockholder
Approval is
Required
 

Purchase of assets

     No  

Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company

     No  

Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company

     No  

Merger of the company with a target

     Yes  

Under the NYSE’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:

 

   

we issue (other than in a public offering for cash) shares of common stock that will either (a) be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of common stock then outstanding or (b) have voting power equal to or in excess of 20% of the voting power then outstanding;

 

   

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 and if the number of shares of common stock to be issued, or if the number of shares of common stock into which the securities may be convertible or exercisable, exceeds either (a) 1% of the number of shares of common stock or 1% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any of our directors and

 

116


Table of Contents
 

officers or (b) 5% of the number of shares of common stock or 5% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any substantial securityholders; or

 

   

the issuance or potential issuance will result in our undergoing a change of control.

The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which stockholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange rule will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:

 

   

the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine stockholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek stockholder 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 stockholder vote;

 

   

the risk that the stockholders 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 stockholders.

Permitted purchases and other transactions with respect to our securities

In the event we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of public shares or public warrants such persons may purchase. Any such price per public share may be different than the amount per public share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its public shares in connection with our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such purchases or other transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such purchases or other transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such persons will be subject to restrictions in making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our public shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. We will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to clear all trades with our legal counsel, our chief financial officer or another officer prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.

In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial

 

117


Table of Contents

business combination. 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 be required to comply with such rules. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will be restricted from making purchases if such purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. We expect that any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.

The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such public warrants on any matters submitted to the public warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) 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. Any such transactions may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of Class A common stock 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, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders (in the case of public shares) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their public shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination. Such persons would select the stockholders from whom to acquire public shares based on the number of shares available, the negotiated price per share and such other factors as any such person may deem relevant at the time of purchase. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its public shares in connection with our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates will be restricted from purchasing public shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or any of their respective affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will be restricted unless such purchases are made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or any of their respective affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of public shares if such purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.

Redemption rights for public stockholders in connection with our initial business combination

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares in connection with our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes

 

118


Table of Contents

payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. At the time of our business combination, we will be required to purchase any public shares properly delivered for redemption and not withdrawn. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.25 per public share. Such amount will be increased by an anticipated $0.10 per public share pursuant to our sponsor’s deposit of additional funds into the trust account for each 3-month extension of the completion window that our sponsor elects to effectuate. The per public share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their public 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 public shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our public warrants. Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with our initial business combination.

Manner of conducting redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock either: (1) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination; or (2) by means of a tender offer. Except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder 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 an initial business combination. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would typically require stockholder approval. If we structure a business combination transaction with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed business combination. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons.

If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

   

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.

Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock 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 stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash

 

119


Table of Contents

requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more public shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

   

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.

We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any stockholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our NYSE listing or Exchange Act registration.

In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above in connection with the initial business combination.

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds and agreements may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting and, if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed initial business combination. In addition, our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) 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 public 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, and any such condition is not waived, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any public shares, all public shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target).

 

120


Table of Contents

Limitation on redemption in connection with our initial business combination if we seek stockholder approval

Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder 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 certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its public shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the public shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage public stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares and subsequent attempts by such public stockholders to use their ability to redeem their public shares as a means to force us or our sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their public shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the public shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against an initial business combination if such public stockholder’s shares are not purchased by us or our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our public stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the public shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of public stockholders 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 public stockholders’ ability to vote all of their public shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.

Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials 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, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its public shares. In the event we do not proceed with the proposed business combination, we will promptly return any public shares delivered for redemption. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its public shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a stockholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit / Withdrawal At Custodian) System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming public stockholder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require public stockholders seeking to exercise

 

121


Table of Contents

redemption rights to tender their public shares. The need to deliver public 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 stockholders’ 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 stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder 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 stock 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 stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder 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 holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.

Any request to redeem such public shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or two business days prior to the scheduled date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable (unless we elect to allow additional withdrawal rights). 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 public 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 stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their public 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 public shares.

If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination until the expiration of the completion window.

Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will have only the completion window to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our public warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window.

Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to

 

122


Table of Contents

any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates then hold any public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. The underwriter has agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.

Our sponsor, officers, directors and advisory board members have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of 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.

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 estimated $2,510,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.

If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this 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 and any tax payments or expenses for the dissolution of the trust, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders upon our dissolution would be $10.25. 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 stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.25. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, an Initial Business Combination—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 stockholders may be less than $10.25 per public share” and other risk factors described above. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. 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 (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), 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 stockholders, 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 perform an analysis

 

123


Table of Contents

of the alternatives available to it 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 significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. 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 we are 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, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.25 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account 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 taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this 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. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.25 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (1) $10.25 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account 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 taxes, 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 certain instances. For example, the cost of such legal action may be deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or the independent directors may determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.25 per public share. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, an Initial Business Combination—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 stockholders may be less than $10.25 per public share” and other risk factors described above.

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 (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), 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 monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to an estimated $2,510,000 from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants with which to pay

 

124


Table of Contents

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, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $640,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $640,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the expiration of the completion window in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more), and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280 of the DGCL, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the ten years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, consultants, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective

 

125


Table of Contents

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.

As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below (1) $10.25 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account 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 taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of this 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.

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 stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.25 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders 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 stockholders. 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 stockholders 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. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, an Initial Business Combination—If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, 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.”

A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) the completion of our initial business combination and then, only in connection with those public shares that such stockholder has properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described in this prospectus; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with our initial business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its public shares for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. Holders of public warrants will not have any rights of proceeds held in the trust account with respect to their public warrants.

Amended and restated certificate of incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. If we

 

126


Table of Contents

seek to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with any such vote. Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have agreed to waive any redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with our initial business combination. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:

 

   

prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall either: (1) seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose, in connection with which stockholders may seek to redeem their public shares without voting and, if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed initial business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the completion of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable); or (2) provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to tender their public shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the completion of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), in each case subject to the limitations described herein;

 

   

we will not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination and, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will proceed with the initial business combination if a majority of the outstanding shares voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination or such other vote as required by law or stock exchange rule;

 

   

if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law; and

 

   

prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation on any initial business combination or any amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock.

Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock that are voted is required to approve any matter voted on by our stockholders.

 

127


Table of Contents

Comparison of redemption or purchase prices in connection with our initial business combination and if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window

The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with our initial business combination and if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window.

 

    

Redemptions in Connection
with Our Initial Business
Combination

  

Other Permitted

Purchases of
Public Shares by Our
Affiliates

  

Redemptions if We Fail to
Complete Our Initial
Business Combination
Within the Completion
Window

Calculation of redemption price    Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our public stockholders may redeem their public shares for 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 (which is initially anticipated to be $10.25 per public share), including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our    If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Such purchases will be restricted except to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions.    If we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.25 per public share), including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Such amount will be increased by an anticipated $0.10 per public share pursuant to our sponsor’s deposit of additional funds into the trust account for each 3-month extension of the completion window that our sponsor elects to effectuate.

 

128


Table of Contents
    

Redemptions in Connection
with Our Initial Business
Combination

  

Other Permitted

Purchases of
Public Shares by Our
Affiliates

  

Redemptions if We Fail to
Complete Our Initial
Business Combination
Within the Completion
Window

   initial business combination. Such amount will be increased by an anticipated $0.10 per public share pursuant to our sponsor’s deposit of additional funds into the trust account for each 3-month extension of the completion window that our sponsor elects to effectuate.      
Impact to remaining stockholders    The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and interest withdrawn in order to pay our taxes (to the extent not paid from amounts accrued as interest on the funds held in the trust account).    If the permitted purchases described above are made, there will be no impact to our remaining stockholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us.   

Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419

The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriter will not exercise its option to purchase additional units. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.

 

    

Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Escrow of offering proceeds    The rules of the NYSE provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. $205,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account with    At least $174,352,500 of the offering proceeds, representing the gross proceeds of this offering less allowable underwriting commissions, expenses and company deductions under Rule 419, would be required to be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank

 

129


Table of Contents
    

Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.    account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account.
Investment of net proceeds    $205,000,000 of the net offering proceeds and the sale of the private placement warrants held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act.    Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States.

Receipt of interest on escrowed funds

   Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to stockholders is reduced by: (1) any taxes paid or payable; and (2) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation.    Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination.

Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business

   The NYSE rules require that an initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount).    The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.
Trading of securities issued    The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and public warrants will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless RBC Capital    No trading of the units or the underlying common stock and public warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account.

 

130


Table of Contents
    

Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   Markets, LLC informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering. If the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units.   
Exercise of the warrants    The warrants cannot be exercised until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.    The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account.

Election to remain an investor

  

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest, which interest shall be net of taxes payable, in connection with our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.

 

We may not be required by applicable law or stock exchange rules to hold a stockholder vote. If we are not required by applicable law or stock exchange rules and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of

   A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a stockholder of the company or require the return of his, her or its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient

 

131


Table of Contents
    

Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, we hold a stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem public shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a stockholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting and, if they do vote,    number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued.

 

132


Table of Contents
    

Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.   
Business combination deadline    If we have not completed an initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.    If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors.
Release of funds    Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the funds held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of: (1) the completion of our initial business combination; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated    The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination and the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

 

133


Table of Contents
    

Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, subject to applicable law.   

Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a stockholder vote

   If we seek stockholder 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 certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect Excess Shares (more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering) without our prior consent. Our public stockholders’ inability to redeem Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and they could suffer a material loss on their investment in us if they sell Excess Shares in open market transactions.    Most blank check companies provide no restrictions on the ability of stockholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such stockholders in connection with an initial business combination.

Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights

   We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether    In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, holders

 

134


Table of Contents
    

Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve our initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials 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, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its public shares. In the event we do not proceed with the proposed business combination, we will promptly return any public shares delivered for redemption. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its public shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights.    could vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holders were seeking to exercise their redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholders to arrange for them to deliver their certificate to verify ownership.

 

135


Table of Contents

Competition

We 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 will be numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this 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. Our sponsor or any of its affiliates may make additional investments in us, although our sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation or other duty to do so. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders 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 target businesses. Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating and completing an initial business combination.

Facilities

We currently maintain our executive offices at 99 Wall Street, Suite 460, New York, New York 10005. The cost for this space is included in the $20,000 per month fee that we will pay our sponsor for office space and administrative and support services, which includes up to approximately $13,750 per month payable to our Chief Financial Officer. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

Human Capital Management

We currently have two officers and one full-time employee. Members of our management team 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 that any such person will devote in any time period to our company will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

We will register our units, Class A common stock and public warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accounting firm.

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, GAAP or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with PCAOB standards. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

 

136


Table of Contents

We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements on our internal control over financial reporting. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

Prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.

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 stockholder 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.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter; and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.

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, and we and the members of our management team have not been subject to any such proceeding in the 12 months preceding the date of this prospectus.

 

137


Table of Contents

MANAGEMENT

Executive Officers, Directors and Director Nominees and Advisors

Our officers, directors and director nominees are as follows:

 

Name

   Age     

Title

Teresa Carlson      59      Non-Executive Chair of the Board of Directors
Brandee Daly      46      Chief Executive Officer and Director
Matthew McElroy      32      Chief Financial Officer
Anne K. Altman      62      Director Nominee
Dr. Merlynn Carson      38      Director Nominee
S. Leslie Ireland      62      Director Nominee
Dawn Meyerriecks      62      Director Nominee
Laura Price      60      Director Nominee

Executive Team

Ms. Brandee Daly

Brandee Daly, the CEO of KnightSwan, is one of the leading women technology experts in government and business and has led an impressive 25-year career spanning roles at Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, and the CIA. In 2021, Daly was named one of the “Top 20 Cloud Execs to Watch in 2021” by WashingtonExec.

Prior to KnightSwan, Ms. Daly was the founder and CEO of C2S Consulting Group (“C2SCG”), a leading provider of innovative solutions, prototypes, and delivery of Cloud Cyber Security to the U.S. Intelligence Community, DoD, and U.S. Federal Civilian Agencies. At C2SCG, Daly guided hundreds of businesses and public sector organizations to successfully migrate, manage, and optimize their technology and cloud automation. From 2018 to 2021, Ms. Daly successfully grew firm-wide revenue significantly, expanding the service offering to encompass cloud migration, cyber, architecture, DevOps / DevSecOps, and cloud business strategy. Under Ms. Daly’s leadership, C2SCG became a multi-service global consulting firm, providing a range of technology consulting solutions to all 17 intelligence agencies, broader public sector, and commercial markets.

Before founding C2SCG in 2015, Ms. Daly served as a Federal Account Executive at Amazon Web Services (“AWS”), cultivating executive relationships and accelerating sales and cloud adoption across IC and DoD government agencies. In this role, Ms. Daly directed a highly skilled team of personnel to offer a range of solutions to meet government missions including cloud defense and security solutions, AWS cloud architecture, application migration, DevOps, solutions to accelerate research and development (R&D), and IT business strategy services.

At AWS, Ms. Daly built a highly skilled team of personnel with innovative technical expertise that is the leading provider of high-end cloud computing cyber security primarily supporting agencies across the U.S. Intelligence Community, offering Cloud Defense and Security solutions, AWS Cloud Architecture, Application Migration, DevOps, R&D, and IT Business Strategy services. While at Amazon, Ms. Daly won the 2015 Federal 100 award for “Leading the Cloud Migration,” one of the annual awards presented to the 100 women and men who personify what’s possible in how the federal government acquires, develops, and manages IT.

Prior to AWS, Ms. Daly held a similar role at Microsoft as a Principal Architect, responsible for managing customers, projects, and budgets in the government sector. Ms. Daly joined Microsoft from the CIA, where she developed a five-year IT strategy for the Agency and started four new divisions, including one directed at Cloud Transformation. While at the CIA, Ms. Daly won several “Excellence Awards” for her work in supporting the Mission.

Ms. Daly’s early career was spent at Oracle, where she served as the Technical Project Lead focused on application development for The President’s Council for the “Y2K Information Coordination Center.” In this role,

 

138


Table of Contents

Ms. Daly built and designed requirements for an information portal with over 100,000 users worldwide and in 72 countries. Ms. Daly’s work, and that of her team, became a foundation for what the cyber security industry is today.

In 2000, under President Clinton, Ms. Daly was awarded the Directors Award for her work in preparing the U.S. Government for Y2K. That same year, Daly and her team received the Vice Presidential Hammer Award for Reinventing Government from Vice President Gore.

Ms. Daly is a fierce advocate for supporting women’s initiatives in both technology and sports and is a proud sponsor of the Washington Spirit, the women’s professional soccer team in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Daly received a Bachelor of Science in Systems and Industrial Engineering from University of Arizona and a Masters of Business Administration from American University.

Ms. Teresa Carlson

Teresa Carlson, the Non-Executive Chair of the board of directors of KnightSwan, is the President and Chief Growth Officer at Splunk Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLK). Ms. Carlson leads efforts to align and drive Splunk’s ongoing business transformations and go-to-market segments.

Prior to Splunk, Ms. Carlson spent a decade at Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon”), successfully launching Amazon’s Worldwide Public Sector and Industries Division for AWS. During her tenure, Ms. Carlson grew the Public Sector Division from its inception and pioneered the U.S. Government’s technological shift to the Cloud. Under her direction, AWS established the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) compliant GovCloud (U.S.-East) region in 2011, the commercial cloud services (C2S) contract for the intelligence community in 2014, and a second GovCloud region (U.S.-West) in 2018, setting the stage for future cloud regions for the defense and intelligence community.

More broadly, Ms. Carlson’s strong belief that public sector customers should have access to the same advanced and innovative technology as startups led her to expand the scope of AWS in the public sector. Ms. Carlson has opened over 35 offices around the world, which now serve customers in over 172 countries. Ms. Carlson also created a startup, Envision Engineering, which was designed to quickly respond to the needs of governments and citizens during emergencies. Envision Engineering was instrumental in speeding governmental entities’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, and as a result of Ms. Carlson’s vision and early incubation efforts, over 7,500 government agencies, over 14,000 academic institutions, and over 35,000 nonprofit organizations use AWS to meet their missions.

Outside of the U.S., Ms. Carlson worked closely with governmental bodies, educational institutions, telecommunications providers, and other businesses to guide the launch of AWS in Bahrain in 2019. Ms. Carlson has worked closely across the Middle East to promote the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in region, expanding opportunities for businesses to leverage cloud technologies within Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Ms. Carlson actively cultivates diversity, and formed “We Power Tech,” the backbone of AWS’ diversity and inclusion initiatives, to ensure that underrepresented groups are reflected throughout all of AWS’ outreach efforts. Ms. Carlson and her team developed and launched other education initiatives including AWS Educate, which created two and four year cloud curricula for colleges and universities worldwide, as well as Tech U, a program designed to recruit and cultivate diverse talent through the organization.

Prior to joining AWS, Ms. Carlson spent nearly a decade at Microsoft where she successfully launched the company’s government agency division, Microsoft Federal. In her role, Ms. Carlson led strategy, execution of sales, partnering, contracting, business development, and performance world-wide. While overseeing Microsoft Federal, Ms. Carlson led Microsoft’s first cloud-based U.S. Government Business Productivity Online Services

 

139


Table of Contents

(BPOS) Region, closed the first ever Office 365 deal with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and closed the then-largest Enterprise Agreement with the U.S. Air Force, valued at over $330 million. As the leader of the U.S. Federal team, Ms. Carlson oversaw one of Microsoft’s largest divisions. Ms. Carlson received a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and a Master’s Degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Western Kentucky University.

Ms. Carlson is a highly accomplished and award-winning Government IT executive, and was named as one of the 39 most important people in the cloud by Insider. The many awards acknowledging her contributions include: winning the Wash100 Award six times, being one of Washingtonian’s Tech Titans, winning the Fed100 Eagle Award, being named one of the top 12 executives in Fast Company’s most influential women in technology category, being inducted into The Washington Life Tech Hall of Fame by ACT-IAC, being acknowledged for her Distinguished Leadership by the Committee for Economic Development (CED), and being given the Lifetime Achievement Award by Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC).

Ms. Carlson is currently on the board of directors of Commure, Inc. Ms. Carlson is the Vice Chair of the White House Historical Association (WHHA), is Secretary of the Economic Club of Washington, and sits on the boards of the Atlantic Council, 9-11 Pentagon Memorial Fund, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), and the National Security Institute (NSI) at George Mason University.

Mr. Matthew McElroy

Matthew McElroy, the Chief Financial Officer of KnightSwan, is an experienced M&A accounting and finance leader. We believe Mr. McElroy’s previous experience in providing consulting and audit services to the Aerospace, Defense, and Government Services (“ADG”) industry qualifies him to lead KnightSwan’s due diligence processes on potential target companies.

Prior to joining KnightSwan, from September 2018 to August 2021, Mr. McElroy led rigorous buy-side and sell-side financial due diligence engagements at Pipaya, a leading boutique M&A consulting firm that specializes in the ADG industry. In addition to providing financial due diligence services to corporate clients in the ADG industry, Mr. McElroy also acted in interim Chief Financial Officer roles, providing financial reporting and corporate accounting expertise and executive leadership.

Prior to Pipaya, from September 2016 to September 2018, Mr. McElroy served in various roles, including as a Manager, in the Transaction Services Group at Grant Thornton, one of the world’s largest independent audit, tax, and advisory firms. While at Grant Thornton, Mr. McElroy executed numerous buy-side, sell-side, and divestiture transactions for both private equity and corporate clients across the ADG, technology, healthcare, and manufacturing industries.

Before joining the Transaction Services Group, Mr. McElroy was an Engagement Lead in the Audit practice at Grant Thornton, focusing on the ADG and technology sectors for both publicly-traded and privately-held companies. Mr. McElroy received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Economics & Finance from University of Hartford and graduated summa cum laude.

Since January 2020, Mr. McElroy has been the Vice President of the Alumni Association and ex officio Board of Trustee Members for Camp Dudley.

Board of Directors

Ms. Anne K. Altman

Anne K. Altman is an independent director nominee and a respected global business leader, having worked for IBM for over three decades addressing complex business challenges within the government and commercial

 

140


Table of Contents

industries. Ms. Altman re-established IBM as a major force in the U.S. Federal market. Ms. Altman also led the company’s mainframe business, System Z, through one of the most significant product launches in the history of the industry. Ms. Altman is widely recognized for the development, growth, and mentoring of leaders both within IBM and the broader business community.

Ms. Altman retired from IBM as General Manager, IBM U.S. Federal and Government Industries. In that role, Ms. Altman was responsible for IBM’s multi-billion dollar business with federal government clients and related industries in the United States. Prior to that role, Ms. Altman served as General Manager, IBM Public Sector, and had global responsibilities for government, healthcare, life sciences, and education. In this capacity, Ms. Altman also led IBM’s Smarter Cities initiative, helping organizations, states, and countries focus on transforming infrastructure, citizen-based services, healthcare, and education— all directed at improving economic vitality.

In 2017, Ms. Altman co-founded “Everyone Matters, Inc.”, an organization focused on the advancement of individuals and social causes. Ms. Altman also serves as an independent director on the boards of SPX FLOW Inc. (NYSE: FLOW) since March 2015, Maximus Inc. (NYSE: MMS) since January 2017, TechFlow, Inc. since July 2016, Siemens Government Technologies, Inc. since February 2018, and Gunnison Consulting Group since September 2019. Across these boards, Ms. Altman serves as a member of Audit, Compensation, Nominating and Governance, and Information Technology committees. Ms. Altman also serves on the Board of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Dean’s Council of George Mason University, School of Business. Ms. Altman is also a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). Ms. Altman received a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from George Mason University.

Dr. Merlynn Carson

Dr. Merlynn Carson is an independent director nominee and the founder of Myriddian, a leading health IT consultancy serving both the government and private sectors. Dr. Carson has been CEO/President of Myriddian since 2012. Dr. Carson, a physician by training, has been a persistent innovator in healthcare through her integration of technology, data, and clinical medicine to help better understand our public health needs and improve overall outcomes for providers, payors, and patients. Under Dr. Carson’s leadership, Myriddian has won numerous awards, including Inc. 5,000 Fastest-Growing Companies and the Moxie Award for boldness in innovation.

Dr. Carson is actively involved in both political and philanthropic initiatives. Dr. Carson is currently an engaged member of the Congressional Club, an Advisory Board Member of Winning for Women, and a Board Director of the White House Historic Association. Dr. Carson received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Maryland and a Doctorate of Medicine from American University of Antigua Manipal School of Medicine.

Dr. Carson’s professional accolades have been recognized through numerous awards: Smart CEO Brava Award, which honors Female CEOs that are exemplary leaders of both their company and their community; the Maryland Tech Council’s 2021 Industry Awards Celebration, which named Myriddian as a finalist in the “Emerging Technology Company of the Year” category; American Excellence in Consulting and Leadership; and the Baltimore Business Journal “Rising Star,” a joint award with the Living Classrooms Foundation recognizing outstanding young leaders for their achievements and philanthropic efforts.

Ms. S. Leslie Ireland

S. Leslie Ireland is an independent director nominee and the former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Intelligence and Analysis. Ms. Ireland joined the Treasury in 2010 after 25 years at the CIA, where she specialized in Iran and the Middle East. Ms. Ireland retired in November 2016 after more than 31 years in the IC.

 

141


Table of Contents

From 2008 to 2010, Ms. Ireland served as the daily intelligence briefer to President Obama and from 2005 to 2008, Ms. Ireland served as the principal advisor to the Director of National Intelligence on Iran and was responsible for overseeing the intelligence process on Iran for the entire U.S. Government.

Since September 2017, Ms. Ireland has been on the board of directors of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). Since October 2017, Ms. Ireland has been on the board of directors of The Stimson Center. Ms. Ireland has been a member of Chubb Insurance’s Cyber Security Advisory Board since March 2021. She has also been a member of Cyber Risk Directors Network, Tapestry Networks since December 2019 and also a member of the Board of Advisors of Cyber Florida: The Florida Center for Cybersecurity since November 2020. Ms. Ireland has also been an advisor to the CEO/Founder of Enveil, Inc. since March 2019. She was also the chairperson of the Financial Threats Council, Intelligence and National Security Alliance from May 2017 to February 2017. Ms. Ireland received a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Franklin and Marshall College. She received a Master’s Degree in Russian Studies from Georgetown University.

Ms. Ireland is the recipient of the Alexander Hamilton Award, the highest award bestowed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Ms. Ireland is also the recipient of the Intelligence Community Seal Medallion, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal (2008 and 2016), and the CIA Intelligence Commendation Medal.

Ms. Dawn Meyerriecks

Dawn Meyerriecks is an independent director nominee and the former Deputy Director of CIA for Science and Technology at the CIA. From 2014 to 2021, Ms. Meyerriecks led a global team of government and contract engineers, scientists, and project managers, providing technical, programmatic, operational, and policy oversight to multi-billion dollar programs focusing on national security objectives.

Prior to the CIA, Ms. Meyerriecks served as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Acquisition, Technology & Facilities, delivering complex technologies that underpinned national missions. Before that, Ms. Meyerriecks served as the Senior Vice President for Product Technology at AOL, where she was responsible for full lifecycle development and integration of all consumer-facing AOL products and services.

Before joining AOL, Ms. Meyerriecks worked for nearly ten years at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), where she was the Chief Technology Officer and Technical Director for the Joint Interoperability and Engineering Organization (JIEO). Ms. Meyerriecks received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration from Carnegie-Mellon University. Ms. Meyerriecks received a Master of Science in Computer Science from Loyola Marymount University.

In addition to holding senior leadership positions in Government, Ms. Meyerricks has extensive board and advisory experience, having served on the STRATCOM C2 Advisory Group, the Defense Science Board, the NCTC Advisory Board, the National Academy of Sciences, the Unisys Federal Advisory Board, and the SunFed Advisory Board. Her professional accomplishments have been recognized through numerous awards including: Tech Titans 2019: Washington’s Top Tech Leaders, the Government Computer News Department of Defense Person of the Year, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, InfoWorld CTO of the Year, and she was featured in Fortune magazine as one of the top 100 intellectual leaders in the world.

Ms. Laura Price

Laura Price is an independent director nominee and former partner at KPMG, where she served for over 25 years specializing in providing financial reporting and risk management services to clients in the federal government. From June 2000 to September 2021, Ms. Price served as an audit and advisory partner in KPMG’s federal consulting practice, where she helped build the firm’s federal advisory presence and led a variety of financial management and operational improvement engagements for numerous federal agencies in all sectors including the U.S. intelligence agencies, DoD components, legislative agencies and a number of federal civilian

 

142


Table of Contents

agencies. Prior to becoming a partner at KPMG, Ms. Price was an audit senior manager and audit manager at KPMG. While at KPMG, Ms. Price authored multiple publications on a litany of topics ranging from human capital risk to managing cultural assets.

From 2008 until November 2021, Ms. Price served as treasurer of the board of the DC Youth Orchestra Program, which provides music education to youth from all socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, Ms. Price is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the National Association of Government Accountants. Ms. Price received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Michigan Technical University and received a Master of Arts in organization management from George Washington University.

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we expect that our board of directors will consist of five members. Our board of directors is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being appointed in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of [        ], will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of [        ] and [        ], will expire at our second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of [        ] and [        ], will expire at our third annual general meeting.

Holders of our Class B common stock and holders of our Class A common stock will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote, on the election and removal of directors, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules. Approval of our initial business combination will require the affirmative vote of a majority of our board directors. Subject to any other special rights applicable to the stockholders, prior to our initial business combination, any vacancies on our board of directors may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present and voting at the meeting of our board of directors that includes any directors representing our sponsor then on our board of directors or by a plurality of the votes cast by the holders of our Class B common stock and holders of our Class A common stock voting together as a single class.

Our officers are elected 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 bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws will provide that our officers may consist of a Chief Executive Officer, a President, a Chief Financial Officer, Vice Presidents, a Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, a Treasurer, Assistant Treasurers and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors (including interim officers as it deems appropriate).

Director Independence

The rules of the NYSE require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person that, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, stockholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we expect to have three “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE rules and applicable SEC rules prior to completion of this offering. Our board of directors has determined that each of [        ], [        ] and [        ] is an “independent director” under applicable SEC and NYSE rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

 

143


Table of Contents

Executive Officer and Director Compensation

None of our officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Our sponsor, officers, directors and their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying or selecting potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or any of their respective affiliates.

After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other compensation from the combined company. All compensation will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time such materials are distributed, 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 officers after the completion of our initial business combination will be determined by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors.

We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business, and we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination should be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our board of directors will have three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee, each of which will be composed solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules, 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, and the rules of the NYSE require that the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Each committee will operate under a charter that will be approved by our board of directors and will have the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee will be available on our website following the closing of this offering.

Audit Committee

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. The members of our audit committee will be [        ], [        ] and [        ]. [        ] will serve as chairman of the audit committee. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent, within one year of our listing on the NYSE. Our board of directors has determined that each of [        ], [        ] and [        ] is an “independent director” under applicable SEC and NYSE rules.

Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that [        ] qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.

We will adopt an audit committee charter, which will detail the purpose and principal functions of the audit committee, including:

 

   

assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent public registered accounting firm’s qualifications and

 

144


Table of Contents
 

independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent registered public accounting firms;

 

   

the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us;

 

   

pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent public registered accounting firms or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures;

 

   

reviewing and discussing with the independent public registered accounting firms all relationships the public registered accounting firms have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence;

 

   

setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent public registered accounting firms;

 

   

setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

 

   

obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent public registered accounting firms describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the public registered accounting firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues;

 

   

meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent public registered accounting firm, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”;

 

   

reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and

 

   

reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities.

Compensation Committee

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors. The members of our compensation committee will be [        ], [        ] and [        ]. [        ] will serve as chair of the compensation committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of [        ], [        ] and [        ] is an “independent director” under applicable SEC and NYSE rules.

We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the purpose and responsibility of the compensation committee, including:

 

   

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

 

   

reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive-compensation and equity-based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers;

 

145


Table of Contents
   

reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans;

 

   

implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;

 

   

assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;

 

   

approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees;

 

   

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

 

   

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

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

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a nominating and corporate governance committee of the board of directors. The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee will be [        ], [        ] and [        ]. [        ] will serve as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of [        ], [        ] and [        ] is an “independent director” under applicable SEC and NYSE rules.

We will adopt a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which will detail the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:

 

   

identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of stockholders or to fill vacancies on the board of directors;

 

   

developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines;

 

   

coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and

 

   

reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary.

The charter will also provide that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.

We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.

 

146


Table of Contents

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

Prior to the closing of this offering, we will adopt a code of business conduct and ethics (our “Code of Ethics”) applicable to our directors, officers, advisors and employees. You will be able to review this document by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of our 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. See “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”

Corporate Governance Guidelines

Our board of directors will adopt corporate governance guidelines in accordance with the corporate governance rules of the NYSE that serve as a flexible framework within which our board of directors and its committees operate. These guidelines will cover a number of areas including board membership criteria and director qualifications, director responsibilities, board agenda, roles of the chairman of the board, chief executive officer and presiding director, meetings of independent directors, committee responsibilities and assignments, board member access to management and independent advisors, director communications with third parties, director compensation, director orientation and continuing education, evaluation of senior management and management succession planning. A copy of our corporate governance guidelines will be posted on our website.

Conflicts of Interest

Our management team is responsible for the management of our affairs. As described above and below, each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us (including as described under “Proposed Business—Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets”). These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business opportunity may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us.

We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

Our sponsor, its members, our officers and directors may become involved with subsequent special purpose acquisition companies similar to our company. Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:

 

   

None of our officers or directors is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities.

 

   

In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. See “—Directors, Director Nominees, Executive Officers and Advisors” for a description of our management’s other affiliations.

 

147


Table of Contents
   

Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the completion window. However, if our initial stockholders or any of our officers, directors, advisors or affiliates acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the completion window. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless.

 

   

With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial stockholders until the earlier of: (1) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (2) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) the date on which we consummate a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property and (y) if the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, 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. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the shares of common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers, directors and advisors 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. See “Principal Stockholders” for additional information.

 

   

Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. 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 to proceed with a particular business combination.

 

   

Our key personnel may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such key personnel was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.

In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:

 

   

the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity;

 

   

the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and

 

   

it would not be fair to the corporation and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation.

Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors have similar legal obligations and duties relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the doctrine of corporate opportunity will not apply with respect to any of our officers or directors in circumstances where the

 

148


Table of Contents

application of the doctrine would conflict with any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations they may have, and there will not be any expectancy that any of our directors or officers will offer any such corporate opportunity of which he or she may become aware to us. Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers, directors and director nominees currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may present a conflict of interest.

 

Name of Individual

  

Entity Name

  

Entity’s Business

  

Affiliation

Teresa Carlson    Splunk, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLK)    Software    President, Chief Growth Officer
   Commure, Inc.    Healthcare    Director
Brandee Daly    C2S Consulting Group/ Smartronix, LLC    Information Technology Services    Former CEO
Matthew McElroy    None.      
Anne K. Altman    Everyone Matters, Inc.    Social Impact Enterprise    CEO/Founder
   Maximus Inc. (NYSE: MMS)    Government Services    Vice Chairman, Chair of Nominating and Governance Committee, Chair of Tech. Committee, and member of Compensation Committee
   Gunnison Consulting Group    Government Services    Board Member, Member of Audit, Nominating/Governance, and Compensation Committees
   TechFlow, Inc.    Government Services    Board Member, Member of Audit, Nominating/Governance, and Compensation Committees
   SPX FLOW, Inc. (NYSE: FLOW)    Pumps and Plumbing Equipment    Board Member, Member of Audit and Compensation Committees, and Chair of Nominating and Governance, Committees
   Siemens Government Technologies, Inc.    Government Services    Chairman, Member of Audit, Nominating/Governance, and Compensation Committees
Dr. Merlynn Carson    Myriddian, LLC    Government Contracting    CEO and President
   Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C)    Financial Services    Member, Board of Directors

 

149


Table of Contents

Name of Individual

  

Entity Name

  

Entity’s Business

  

Affiliation

   Chubb Insurance    Insurance    Member, Board of Directors
S. Leslie Ireland    Cyber Florida: The Florida Center for Cybersecurity    Computer and Network Security; Education and Research   

Member, Cyber Security Advisory Board

Member, Board of Advisors

   Cyber Risk Directors Network, Tapestry Networks    Computer and Network Security; Corporate Board governance   

Member

   Enveil, Inc.    Data Security    Advisor to CEO/Founder
Dawn Meyerriecks    None.      
Laura Price    None.      

Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us (including as described under “Proposed Business—Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets”). These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business opportunity may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us.

We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. Our President and Chief Executive Officer, Brandee Daly, and the Chair of our board of directors, Teresa Carlson, are currently restricted by non-compete and non-solicitation provisions contained in certain employment and other agreements, which provisions are expected to be in effect for at least part of the time following the consummation of this offering. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Management Team—Our President and Chief Executive Officer, Brandee Daly, and the Chair of our board of directors, Teresa Carlson, are party to certain agreements that limit the types of companies that we can target for an initial business combination, among other restrictions, which could limit our prospects for an initial business combination or make us a less attractive buyer to certain target companies.” In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm, 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.

In addition, our sponsor or any of its affiliates may make additional investments in the company in connection with the initial business combination through a specified future issuance or otherwise, although our sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation or current intention to do so. If our sponsor or any of its affiliates elects to make additional investments, such proposed investments could influence our sponsor’s motivation to complete an initial business combination.

 

150


Table of Contents

In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have agreed to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination, and our officers, directors and advisors have also agreed to vote public shares purchased by them (if any) during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination.

In addition, none of our advisors are officers or directors of our company and, therefore, owe us no fiduciary duties as such. While we expect that they will assist us in identifying business combination targets, they have no obligation to do so and may devote a substantial portion of their business time to activities unrelated to us. Our advisors may have fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to other organizations to present business combination opportunities to such other organizations rather than to us. Accordingly, if any advisor becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which such advisor has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, such advisor will honor those obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and such advisor determines to present the opportunity to us. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential business opportunity may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Furthermore, while none of our advisors will have any duty to offer acquisition opportunities to us, they may become aware of a potential transaction that is an attractive opportunity for us, which they may decide to share with us. Conflicts may arise from their affiliation with our company, their provision of services both to us and to third-party clients, as well as from actions undertaken by them for their own account. In performing services for other clients and also when acting for their own account, they may take commercial steps which may have an adverse effect on us. Any of our advisors’ other activities may, individually or in the aggregate, have an adverse effect on us, and the interests of our advisors or their respective clients or counterparties may at times be averse to ours.

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us or stockholders for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted by the DGCL.

We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also permit us to maintain insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We will obtain 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.

A stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against 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.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

 

151


Table of Contents

PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:

 

   

each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock;

 

   

each of our executive officers, directors, director nominees and advisors; and

 

   

all our executive officers, directors, director nominees and advisors as a group.

Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.

The post-offering ownership percentage column below assumes that the underwriter does not exercise its option to purchase additional units, that our sponsor forfeits an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares and that there are 25,000,000 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding after this offering.

 

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1)

   Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned(2)
     Approximate Percentage of
Outstanding Common Stock
 
   Before
Offering
    After
Offering(2)
 

KnightSwan Sponsor LLC (our sponsor)(3)

     5,750,000        20.0     [     ]% 

Teresa Carlson(3)

     —          —         —    

Brandee Daly(3)

     —          —         —    

Matthew McElroy

     —          —         —    

Anne K. Altman

     —          —         —    

Dr. Merlynn Carson

     —          —         —    

S. Leslie Ireland

     —          —         —    

Dawn Meyerriecks

     —          —         —    

Laura Price

     —          —         —    

All directors, executive officers and advisors as a group (8 individuals)

        20.0     [     ]% 

 

(1)

Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is in care of the company at 99 Wall Street, Suite 460, New York, New York 10005.

(2)

Interests shown consist solely of shares of Class B common stock which are referred to herein as founder shares. Such shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described under “Description of Securities.”

(3)

Our sponsor is the record holder of such shares of Class B common stock. Ms. Carlson and Ms. Daly are the members of our sponsor and share voting and investment discretion with respect to the shares of Class B common stock held of record by our sponsor. In addition, each of Ms. Carlson and Ms. Daly may be entitled to distributions of private placement warrants from our sponsor following the consummation of our initial business combination. Each of Ms. Carlson and Ms. Daly disclaims any beneficial ownership of the securities held by our sponsor, other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest he may have therein, directly or indirectly.

Upon the completion of this offering, our initial stockholders will beneficially own approximately [   ]% of the then issued and outstanding shares of our common stock (assuming our initial stockholders do not purchase any units in this offering). Because of this ownership block, our initial stockholders may be able to effectively

 

152


Table of Contents

influence the outcome of all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, election and removal of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.

Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 11,750,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant ($11,750,000 in the aggregate) in a private placement transaction that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our sponsor has also committed to purchase up to an additional 1,350,000 private placement warrants, depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised, at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant ($1,350,000 in the aggregate), to add to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account.

Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. Proceeds from the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Our sponsor and our executive officers are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions” for additional information regarding our relationships with our promoters.

Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our securities following this offering. See “—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants” and “Management—Conflicts of Interests.”

Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants

The founder shares, private placement warrants and any shares of Class A common stock issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in the letter agreement with us to be entered into by our initial stockholders. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (1) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination, (x) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property or (y) if the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, 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, and (2) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A common stock underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (a) to our officers, directors or advisors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers, directors, or advisors, any direct or indirect members, partners or stockholders of our sponsor or any employee or partner of any such member, partner or stockholder, or any affiliates of our sponsor, (b) in the case of an individual, transfers by gift to a member of the individual’s immediate family, to a trust, the beneficiaries of which are one or more of the individual’s immediate family or an affiliate of such person, or to a charitable organization, (c) in the case of an individual, transfers by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of such individual, (d) in the case of an individual, transfers pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, (e) transfers by virtue of law or our sponsor’s operating agreement upon dissolution of a person other than an individual, (f) transfers by private transfers or sales and transfers made in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities

 

153


Table of Contents

were originally purchased, (g) to an entity that is an affiliate of such holder, (h) transfers in the event of our liquidation prior to the completion of our initial business combination, (i) to us for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination, (j) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination or (k) to a nominee or custodian of a person or entity to whom a disposition or transfer would be permissible under clauses (a) through (h) above; provided, however, that, in the case of clauses (a) through (f) and (j), these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement with us agreeing to be bound by the transfer restrictions in the letter agreement.

Registration Rights

The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to shares of Class A common stock). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that no sales of these securities will be effected until after the expiration of the applicable lock-up period, as described herein.

 

154


Table of Contents

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

On August 13, 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, resulting in an effective purchase price per share of approximately $0.0043. In addition, if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is not exercised, our sponsor will forfeit to us an additional 750,000 founder shares upon the expiration of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units.

Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 11,750,000 private placement warrants for a purchase price of $1.00 per private placement warrant in a private placement transaction that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. As such, our sponsor’s interest in this transaction is valued at an aggregate of $11,750,000. Our sponsor has also committed to purchase up to an additional 1,350,000 private placement warrants, depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised, at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant ($1,350,000 in the aggregate), to add to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

As described under “Proposed Business—Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets” and “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us. Our officers and directors currently have other relevant fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties that may take priority over their duties to us.

We have entered into an administrative services agreement pursuant to which we will also pay our sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for office space and administrative and support services upon completion of this offering, which includes up to approximately $13,750 per month payable to our Chief Financial Officer. The sponsor will also receive reimbursements for administrative expenses incurred prior to completion of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. Accordingly, in the event the consummation of our initial business combination takes the full completion window, assuming our sponsor exercises its two options to extend the completion window by an additional 6 months in the aggregate, our sponsor will be paid a total of $480,000 ($20,000 per month) for office space and administrative and support services and will be entitled to be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses.

Our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying or selecting potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or any of their respective affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of September 30, 2021, we had not borrowed under such promissory note. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of June 30, 2022 and the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $640,000 of offering proceeds that have been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions). The value of our sponsor’s interest in this loan transaction corresponds to the principal amount outstanding under any such loan.

 

155


Table of Contents

In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans by our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors, if any, 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.

After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us, if any, may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive officer and director compensation.

We have entered into a letter agreement with our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors pursuant to which (x) they have agreed to waive: (1) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them, as applicable, in connection with our initial business combination; (2) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame), and (y) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described under “Description of Securities—Founder Shares.”

We have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans (if any), which is described under “Principal Stockholders—Registration Rights.”

Related Party Transactions Policy

We have not yet adopted a formal policy for the review, approval or ratification of related party transactions. Accordingly, the transactions discussed above were not reviewed, approved or ratified in accordance with any such policy.

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt our Code of Ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board of directors) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our Code of Ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company.

 

156


Table of Contents

In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter that we will adopt prior to the consummation of this offering, will be responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present will be required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee will constitute a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party transaction. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or any of their affiliates.

These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.

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 and disinterested directors, have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or other cash payments made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors or our or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:

 

   

repayment of an aggregate of up to $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;

 

   

payment to our sponsor of a total of $20,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for office space and administrative and support services, assuming our sponsor exercises its two options to extend the completion window by an additional 6 months in the aggregate, which includes up to approximately $13,750 per month payable to our Chief Financial Officer;

 

   

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, an affiliate of our sponsor or 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 $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender.

These payments may be funded using the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account or, upon completion of the initial business combination, from any amounts remaining from the proceeds of the trust account released to us in connection therewith.

 

157


Table of Contents

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our authorized capital stock will consist of 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 24,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value. The following description summarizes the material terms of our capital stock. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.

Units

Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable public warrant. Each whole public warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Pursuant to the public warrant agreement, a public warrant holder may exercise its public warrants only for a whole number of shares of the company’s Class A common stock. This means only a whole public warrant may be exercised at any given time by a public warrant holder.

The common stock and public warrants will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus (or, if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless RBC Capital Markets, LLC informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and public warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and public warrants. Additionally, the units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination. No fractional public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole public warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole public warrant.

In no event will the Class A common stock and public warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet of our company reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K that includes this audited balance sheet promptly after the closing of this offering. If the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units.

Common Stock

Upon the closing of this offering, 25,000,000 shares of our common stock will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units and the corresponding forfeiture of an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares by our sponsor), including:

 

   

20,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock underlying the units being offered in this offering; and

 

   

5,000,000 shares of Class B common stock held by our initial stockholders.

If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.

Common stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Holders of our Class B common stock and holders of our Class A common stock will vote together

 

158


Table of Contents

as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote, on the election and removal of directors and any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. Directors are elected for a term of three years. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the common stock voted for the election of directors can elect all of the directors. Our stockholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor. However, in connection with our initial business combination, we may enter into a stockholders’ agreement or other arrangements with the stockholders of the target or other investors to provide for voting or other corporate governance arrangements that differ from those in effect upon completion of this offering.

Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of shares of common stock which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our stockholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination.

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. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares in connection with our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), 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 $10.25 per public share. Such amount will be increased by an anticipated $0.10 per public share pursuant to our sponsor’s deposit of additional funds into the trust account for each 3-month extension of the completion window that our sponsor elects to effectuate. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their public 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 owner must identify itself in order to validly redeem its public shares. Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Permitted transferees of our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors will be subject to the same obligations. Unlike many blank check companies that hold stockholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash in connection with such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, if a stockholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require these tender

 

159


Table of Contents

offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem public shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates in privately negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds and agreements may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.

If we seek stockholder 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 certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its public shares with respect Excess Shares (more than an aggregate of 15% of the public shares sold in this offering) without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their public shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our public stockholders’ inability to redeem Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and they could suffer a material loss on their investment in us if they sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, such public stockholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the business combination. And, as a result, such public stockholders will continue to hold that number of public shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such public shares would be required to sell their stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have agreed (and their permitted transferees, as applicable, will agree) to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination.

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors, advisors or

 

160


Table of Contents

any of their respective affiliates then hold any public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window.

In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our stockholders at such time will be entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of stock, if any, having preference over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), in connection with our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.

Founder Shares

The founder shares are identical to the shares of common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: (1) our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive: (a) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with our initial business combination, (b) their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (c) their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window); (2) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described herein; (3) the founder shares are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein; and (4) the holders of founder shares are entitled to registration rights. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors have agreed (and their permitted transferees, as applicable, will agree) to vote any founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination.

The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in this offering and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination (net of the number of shares of Class A common stock redeemed in connection with our initial business combination), excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller of an interest in the target to us in our initial business combination.

With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers, directors and advisors and other persons or entities affiliated with the holders of the founder shares, each

 

161


Table of Contents

of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination, and (B) subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination, (x) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their public shares for cash, securities or other property or (y) if the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, 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.

In addition, at the time of our initial business combination, our sponsor may agree to vesting or other terms relating to the founder shares that it then holds that it believes best align our sponsor’s objectives with that of our post-initial business combination stockholders. For example, in connection with initial business combinations, sponsors of other blank check companies have, in the recent past, subjected a certain number of their founder shares to vesting conditions based on the stock price of the blank check companies’ public stock, which our sponsor may elect to pursue if it believes it will help effectuate a business combination, although our sponsor has no obligation or other duty to do so.

Preferred Stock

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock and will provide that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering.

Warrants

Public Stockholders’ Warrants

Each whole public warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination provided that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis” under the circumstances specified in the public warrant agreement) and such shares of Class A common stock are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities or blue sky laws of the state of residence of the holder. Pursuant to the public warrant agreement, a public warrant holder may exercise its public warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means only a whole public warrant may be exercised at a given time by a public warrant holder. No fractional public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole public warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole public warrant. The public warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

We will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a public warrant and will have no obligation to settle such public warrant exercise unless a registration statement under

 

162


Table of Contents

the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No public warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares of Class A common stock to holders seeking to exercise their public warrants, unless the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of residence of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a public warrant, the holder of such public warrant will not be entitled to exercise such public warrant and such public warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any public warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised public warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such public warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Class A common stock underlying such unit.

We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than twenty business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or a new registration statement and have an effective registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants, and we will thereafter use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to be effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the public warrants expire or the public warrants are redeemed as specified in the public warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a public warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their public warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will (x) not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants and (y) use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the public warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the public warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (as defined below) less the exercise price of the public warrants by (y) the “fair market value.” The “fair market value” as used in this paragraph shall mean the volume-weighted average last reported sale price of the shares of Class A common stock for the ten trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the date that notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent from the holder of such public warrants or its securities broker or intermediary.

We have agreed that any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the City of New York, County of New York, State of New York, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York or the federal district courts of the United States, and we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. However, the enforceability of similar exclusive forum provisions (including exclusive forum provisions for actions, suits or proceedings asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act) in other companies’ organizational documents has been challenged in legal proceeds, and there is uncertainty as to whether courts would enforce the exclusive forum provisions in our warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act, Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. Additionally,

 

163


Table of Contents

our stockholders cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Securities—Our warrant agreements will designate the courts of the City of New York, County of New York, State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of holders of our warrants to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.”

Redemption of Public Warrants

Once the public warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding public warrants:

 

   

in whole and not in part;

 

   

at a price of $0.01 per public warrant;

 

   

upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, or the 30-day redemption period; and

 

   

if, and only if, the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock has been at least $18.00 per share (subject to adjustment in compliance with the public warrant agreement) for any ten trading days within a 20-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which notice of redemption is given to the public warrant holders.

We will not redeem the public warrants for cash as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period or we have elected to exercise the warrants on a “cashless basis” as described below. If and when the public warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem public warrants even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their public warrants.

If we call the public warrants for redemption as described above, we will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise public warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their public warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management team will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of public warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our public warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the public warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the public warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (as defined below) of the shares of Class A common stock over the exercise price of the public warrants by (y) the “fair market value.” For purposes of this paragraph, the “fair market value” means the volume-weighted average last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for the ten trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the public warrants pursuant to the public warrant agreement. If we take advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Class A common stock to be received upon exercise of the public warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a public warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the public warrants after our initial business combination.

We have established the $18.00 per share (as adjusted) redemption criteria discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the public warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the public warrants, each public warrant holder will be entitled to exercise its public warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. Any such

 

164


Table of Contents

exercise would not be done on a “cashless basis” basis and would require the exercising public warrant holder to pay the exercise price for each public warrant being exercised. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 public warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.

Redemption Procedures

A holder of a public warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such public warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of Class A common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.

Anti-Dilution Adjustments

If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Class A common stock, or by a split-up of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each public warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Class A common stock. A rights offering to all or substantially all holders of Class A common stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Class A common stock at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the product of (1) the number of shares of Class A common stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock) multiplied by (2) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A common stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the “historical fair market value.” For these purposes, if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock, in determining the price payable for Class A common stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion. For purposes of this paragraph, the “historical fair market value” means the volume-weighted average price of the shares of Class A common stock during the ten trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Class A common stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, no shares of Class A common stock shall be issued at less than their par value.

In addition, if we, at any time while the public warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay to all or substantially all of the holders of Class A common stock a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Class A common stock on account of such shares of Class A common stock (or other shares of our capital stock into which the public warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (I) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our Class A common stock if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (II) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (e) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the public warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Class A common stock in respect of such event.

 

165


Table of Contents

If the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each public warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Class A common stock.

Whenever the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the public warrants is adjusted, as described above, the public warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the public warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the public warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.

In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock 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 share of Class A common stock, (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 our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (ii) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share of Class A common stock, then the exercise price of the public 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 prices described under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Redemption of public warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another entity or conversion of the company into another type of entity (other than a merger or consolidation in which we are the continuing entity and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the public warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the public warrants and in lieu of the shares of our Class A common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the public warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their public warrants immediately prior to such event. However, if such holders were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such merger or consolidation, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets for which each public warrant will become exercisable will be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by such holders in such merger or consolidation that affirmatively make such election, and if a tender, exchange or redemption offer shall have been made to and accepted by us (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by us in connection with redemption rights held by our stockholders as provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or as a result of the redemption of the shares of Class A common stock by us if a proposed initial business combination is presented to our stockholders for approval) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) securities representing more than 50% of the aggregate voting power, including the power to vote on the election of our directors, of our issued and outstanding equity securities, and (for the avoidance of doubt) such tender

 

166


Table of Contents

offer results in a change of control of us, the holder of a public warrant shall be entitled to receive as the alternative issuance, the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a stockholder if such public warrant holder had exercised the public warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the shares of Class A common stock held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustments (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in the public warrant agreement. Additionally, if less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of Class A common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the public warrant properly exercises the public warrant within 30 days following public disclosure of such transaction, the public warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the public warrant agreement based on the per share consideration minus Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined in the public warrant agreement) of the public warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the public warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the public warrants pursuant to which the holders of the public warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the public warrants.

The public warrants will be issued in registered form under the public warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The public warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correcting any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the public warrants and the public warrant agreement as set forth in this prospectus, (ii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the public warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants and (iii) providing for the delivery of an “alternative issuance” (as defined in the public warrant agreement); provided, however, that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required to make any other modification or amendment, including any modification or amendment to increase the exercise price of the public warrants or shorten the exercise period. The public warrant agreement provides that we may not increase the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants, extend the duration of the exercise period of the public warrants or otherwise make the terms of the public warrants more favorable to the public warrant holders without taking the same action with respect to the private placement warrants. You should review a copy of the public warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the public warrants.

The public warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Class A common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their public warrants and receive shares of Class A common stock. After the issuance of shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of the public warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.

No fractional public warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole public warrants will trade.

Private Placement Warrants

Except as described below and in the private warrant agreement, the private placement warrants are identical to the public warrants. With respect to the private placement warrants: (1) they will not be redeemable by us; (2) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder

 

167


Table of Contents

Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” to our officers, directors and advisors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor); (3) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis as described below; and (4) the holders thereof (including with respect to the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) are entitled to registration rights.

If holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “sponsor fair market value” (as defined below) of the Class A common stock over the exercise price of the private placement warrants by (y) the “sponsor fair market value.” For purposes of this paragraph, the “sponsor fair market value” shall mean the volume-weighted average last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for the ten trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise of the private placement warrants is sent to the warrant agent.

In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor.

The private warrant agreement provides that we may not increase the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, extend the duration of the exercise period of the private placement warrants or otherwise make the terms of the private placement warrants more favorable to the private placement warrant holders without taking the same action with respect to the public warrants. You should review a copy of the private warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the private placement warrants.

Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to a 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 stock dividends in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of this offering, in which case we will effect a stock dividend with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.

 

168


Table of Contents

Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of the holders of at least 65% of our outstanding common stock. Our initial stockholders, who collectively will beneficially own approximately [    ]% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming our initial stockholders do not purchase any units in this offering), may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:

 

   

if we have not completed our initial business combination within the completion window, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law;

 

   

prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to: (1) receive funds from the trust account; or (2) vote pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation on any initial business combination;

 

   

although we do not currently intend to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, its members, our directors or our officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm that such a business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view;

 

   

if a stockholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by applicable law or stock exchange rules and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act;

 

   

our initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount);

 

   

if our stockholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon such approval at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares; and

 

169


Table of Contents
   

we will not effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination.

Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

We have elected to be exempt from the restrictions imposed under Section 203 of the DGCL. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain similar provisions providing that we may not engage in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that such stockholder becomes an “interested stockholder” unless:

 

   

prior to such time, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an “interested stockholder”;

 

   

upon consummation of the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an “interested stockholder,” the “interested stockholder” owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced (excluding certain shares); or

 

   

on or subsequent to such time, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the “interested stockholder.”

Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale to the “interested stockholder.” Subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with that person’s affiliates and associates, owns, or within the previous three years owned, 15% or more of our voting stock.

Under some circumstances, this provision will make it more difficult for a person who is an “interested stockholder” to effect various business combinations with us for a three-year period.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our sponsor and its various affiliates, successors and transferees will not be deemed to be “interested stockholders” regardless of the percentage of our voting stock owned by them, and accordingly will not be subject to this provision.

Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.

Exclusive Forum For Certain Lawsuits

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (b) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (c) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (d) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal

 

170


Table of Contents

affairs doctrine shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, except for, as to each of (a) through (d) above, any claim (i) as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (ii) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, (iii) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction or (iv) any action arising under the Securities Act, as to which the federal district courts are the exclusive forum. Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions will not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Although we believe this forum provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of Delaware (a “foreign action”) in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to (i) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (ii) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such enforcement action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such stockholder.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not purport to require suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act to be brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or another court of the State of Delaware. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all claims brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As noted above, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provision, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Special Meeting of Stockholders

Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors, by our chief executive officer or by our chairman, if any.

Class B Common Stock Consent Right

For so long as any shares of Class B common stock remain outstanding, we may not, without the prior vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B common stock then outstanding, voting separately as a single class, amend, alter or repeal any provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, if such amendment, alteration or repeal would alter or change the powers, preferences or relative, participating, optional or other or special rights of the Class B common stock. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the holders of Class B common stock may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of the outstanding Class B common stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of Class B common stock were present and voted.

 

171


Table of Contents

Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations

Our bylaws will provide for advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of our board of directors or a committee of our board of directors. In order for any matter to be “properly brought” before a meeting, a stockholder will have to comply with advance notice requirements and provide us with certain information. Generally, to be timely, a stockholder’s notice must be received at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the notice periods contained therein. Our bylaws will also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. Our bylaws will allow the chairman of the meeting at a meeting of the stockholders to adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of meetings which may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the rules and regulations are not followed. These provisions may also defer, delay or discourage a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of us.

Securities Eligible for Future Sale

Immediately after this offering, we will have 20,000,000 (or 23,000,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) shares of Class A common stock outstanding. Of these shares, the 20,000,000 shares (or 23,000,000 shares if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) sold in this offering will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the remaining 5,000,000 (or 5,750,000 if the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) founder shares and all 11,750,000 private placement warrants (and the up to an additional 1,350,000 private placement warrants our sponsor has committed to purchase, depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units is exercised, to add to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account) are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and are subject to transfer restrictions as set forth elsewhere in this prospectus.

Rule 144

Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that: (1) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale; and (2) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.

Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:

 

   

1% of the total number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 250,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 287,500 if the underwriter exercise its option to purchase additional units in full); or

 

   

the average weekly reported trading volume of the common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale.

Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.

 

172


Table of Contents

Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies

Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than a business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:

 

   

the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company;

 

   

the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act;

 

   

the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Current Reports on Form 8-K; and

 

   

at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company.

As a result, our initial stockholders will be able to sell their founder shares and our sponsor will be able to sell its private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.

Registration Rights

The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to shares of Class A common stock). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that no sales of these securities will be effected until after the expiration of the applicable lock-up period, as described under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.” We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Listing of Securities

We have applied to list our units, Class A common stock and public warrants on the NYSE under the symbols “KNSW.U,” “KNSW” and “KNSW WS,” respectively. We expect that our units will be listed on the NYSE on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Following the date the shares of our Class A common stock and public warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the shares of our common stock and public warrants will be listed separately and as a unit on the NYSE. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on the NYSE.

 

173


Table of Contents

UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

The following discussion is a summary of the U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to the ownership and disposition of our units, shares of Class A common stock and public warrants, which we refer to collectively as our securities. Because the components of a unit are separable at the option of the holder, the holder of a unit generally should be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as the owner of the underlying Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant components of the unit, as the case may be. As a result, the discussion below with respect to actual holders of Class A common stock and warrants should also apply to holders of units (as the deemed owners of the underlying Class A common stock and warrants that comprise the units). This summary is based upon U.S. federal income tax law as of the date of this prospectus, which is subject to change or differing interpretations, possibly with retroactive effect. This summary does not discuss all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be important to particular investors in light of their individual circumstances, including investors subject to special tax rules (e.g., financial institutions, insurance companies, broker-dealers, partnerships (including entities or arrangements treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes) and their partners, tax-exempt organizations (including private foundations), taxpayers that have elected mark-to-market accounting, S corporations, regulated investment companies, real estate investment trusts, investors that will hold Class A common stock or public warrants as part of a straddle, hedge, conversion, or other integrated transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, investors that have a functional currency other than the U.S. dollar, or persons that acquired our securities pursuant to an exercise of employee share options, in connection with employee share incentive plans or otherwise as compensation or in connection with services) all of whom may be subject to tax rules that differ materially from those summarized below. In addition, this summary does not discuss other U.S. federal tax consequences (e.g., estate or gift tax), any state, local, or non-U.S. tax considerations or the additional tax on net investment income or alternative minimum tax. In addition, this summary is limited to investors that will hold our securities as “capital assets” (generally, property held for investment) within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and that acquired the securities pursuant to this offering (or, in the case of Class A common stock, upon exercise of public warrants so acquired). No ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) has been or will be sought regarding any matter discussed herein. No assurance can be given that the IRS would not assert, or that a court would not sustain a position contrary to any of the tax aspects set forth below.

For purposes of this summary, a “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial holder of securities who or that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes is:

 

   

an individual who is a United States citizen or resident of the United States;

 

   

a corporation or other entity treated as a corporation for United States federal income tax purposes created in, or organized under the law of, the United States or any state or political subdivision thereof;

 

   

an estate the income of which is includible in gross income for United States federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or

 

   

a trust (A) the administration of which is subject to the primary supervision of a United States court and which has one or more United States persons (within the meaning of the Code) who have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (B) that has in effect a valid election under applicable Treasury regulations to be treated as a United States person.

A “non-U.S. Holder” is a beneficial holder of securities who or that is neither a U.S. Holder nor a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

If a partnership (including an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes or other pass-through entity) holds our securities, the tax treatment of a partner, member or other beneficial owner in such partnership (or other pass-through entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes) will generally depend upon the status of the partner, member or other beneficial owner, the activities of the

 

174


Table of Contents

partnership (or other pass-through entity) and certain determinations made at the partner, member or other beneficial owner level. If you are a partner, member or other beneficial owner of a partnership (or other pass-through entity) holding our securities, you are urged to consult your own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of our securities.

THIS DISCUSSION OF U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TAX ADVICE. WE URGE PROSPECTIVE HOLDERS TO CONSULT THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS CONCERNING THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF OWNING AND DISPOSING OF OUR SECURITIES, AS WELL AS THE APPLICATION OF ANY, STATE, LOCAL AND NON-U.S. INCOME, ESTATE AND OTHER TAX CONSIDERATIONS.

Personal Holding Company Status

We would be subject to a second level of U.S. federal income tax on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company, or PHC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A U.S. corporation will generally be classified as a PHC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a given taxable year if (1) at any time during the last half of such taxable year, five or fewer individuals (without regard to their citizenship or residency and including as individuals for this purpose certain entities such as certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds, and charitable trusts) own or are deemed to own (pursuant to certain constructive ownership rules), directly or indirectly, more than 50% of the stock of the corporation by value and (2) at least 60% of the corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, for such taxable year consists of PHC income (which includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain royalties, annuities and, under certain circumstances, rents).

Depending on the date and size of our initial business combination, it is possible that at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income as discussed above. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds, and charitable trusts, it is possible that more than 50% of our stock will be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by five or fewer such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not become a PHC following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed PHC income, which generally includes our taxable income, subject to certain adjustments.

General Treatment of Units

There is no statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addressing the treatment, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, of instruments with terms substantially the same as the units and, therefore, their treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of one share of our Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable public warrant to acquire one share of our Class A common stock. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in this manner and, by purchasing a unit, you agree to adopt such treatment for tax purposes. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, each holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the share of Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable public warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. A holder’s initial tax basis in the Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable public warrant included in each unit should equal the portion of the purchase price of the unit allocated thereto. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the share of Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable public warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the Class A common stock and the one-half of one redeemable public warrant based on their respective relative fair market values at the time of disposition. The separation of the Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable public warrant constituting a unit or the

 

175


Table of Contents

combination of two halves of warrants into a single warrant should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Under U.S. federal income tax law, each investor must make his or her own determination of such values based on all the relevant facts and circumstances. Therefore, we strongly urge each investor to consult his or her tax advisor regarding the determination of value for these purposes.

The foregoing treatment of the units and a holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts. Because there is no authority that directly addresses instruments that are similar to the units, no assurance can be given that the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Each prospective investor is urged to consult its own tax advisors regarding the U.S. federal, state, local and any foreign tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit and its components). The following discussion is based on the assumption that the characterization of the Class A common stock and public warrants and the allocation methodology described above are respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

U.S. Holders

Taxation of Distributions

If we pay distributions in cash or other property (other than certain distributions of our stock or rights to acquire our stock) to U.S. Holders of shares of our Class A common stock, such distributions will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits will constitute a return of capital that will be applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in our Class A common stock. Any remaining excess will be treated as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock and will be treated as described under “—U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock.”

Dividends we pay to a U.S. Holder that is a taxable corporation generally will qualify for the dividends received deduction if the requisite holding period is satisfied. With certain exceptions (including, but not limited to dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations), and provided certain holding period requirements are met, dividends we pay to a non-corporate U.S. Holder will generally constitute “qualified dividends” that will be subject to tax at preferential long-term capital gains rates. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may prevent a U.S. Holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements with respect to the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income, as the case may be. If the holding period requirements are not satisfied, then a corporation may not be able to qualify for the dividends received deduction and would have taxable income equal to the entire dividend amount, and non-corporate holders may be subject to tax on such dividend at regular ordinary income tax rates instead of the preferential rate that applies to qualified dividend income.

Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock

A U.S. Holder will recognize gain or loss on the sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition (which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window) of our Class A common stock. Any such gain or loss will be capital gain or loss, and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock so disposed of exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. If the running of the holding period for the Class A common stock is suspended, then non-corporate U.S. Holders may not be able to satisfy the one-year holding period requirement for long-term capital gain treatment, in which case any gain on a sale or taxable disposition of the shares would be subject to short-term

 

176


Table of Contents

capital gain treatment and would be taxed at regular ordinary income tax rates. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. Holders will be eligible to be taxed at reduced rates.

The amount of gain or loss recognized will generally be equal to the difference between (1) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the Class A common stock is held as part of a unit at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the Class A common stock based upon the then fair market values of the Class A common stock and the one-half of one redeemable public warrant included in the unit) and (2) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock so disposed of. A U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock will generally equal the U.S. Holder’s acquisition cost (that is, as discussed above, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a share of Class A common stock or, as discussed below, the U.S. Holder’s initial basis for Class A common stock received upon exercise of a public warrant) less any prior distributions treated as a return of capital. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.

Redemption of Class A Common Stock

In the event that a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock is redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described under “Description of Securities—Common Stock” or if we purchase a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock in an open market transaction (each of which we refer to as a “redemption”), the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as a sale of the Class A common stock under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale of Class A common stock under the tests described below, the tax consequences to the U.S. Holder will be the same as described under “—U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock.” If the redemption does not qualify as a sale of Class A common stock, the U.S. Holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution, the tax consequences of which are described under “—U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions.” Whether the redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend primarily on the total number of shares of our stock treated as held by the U.S. Holder (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. Holder as a result of owning warrants) relative to all shares of our common stock outstanding both before and after the redemption. The redemption of Class A common stock will generally be treated as a sale of the Class A common stock (rather than as a corporate distribution) if the redemption (1) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. Holder, (2) results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. Holder’s interest in us or (3) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the U.S. Holder. These tests are explained more fully below.

In determining whether any of the foregoing tests are satisfied, a U.S. Holder takes into account not only stock actually owned by the U.S. Holder, but also shares of our stock that are constructively owned by it. A U.S. Holder may constructively own, in addition to stock owned directly, stock owned by certain related individuals and entities in which the U.S. Holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. Holder, as well as any stock the U.S. Holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include common stock which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of the warrants. A redemption of a U.S. Holder’s stock will be substantially disproportionate with respect to the U.S. Holder if the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately following the redemption of common stock is, among other requirements, less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately before the redemption. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. Holder’s interest if either (1) all of the shares of our stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed or (2) all of the shares of our stock actually owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed and the U.S. Holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of stock owned by certain family members and the U.S. Holder does not constructively own any other stock (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. Holder as a result of owning warrants). The redemption of the Class A common stock will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend if the redemption results in a “meaningful reduction” of the U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and

 

177


Table of Contents

circumstances. The IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority stockholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a “meaningful reduction.” Each U.S. Holder is urged to consult its own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption, including the application of the constructive ownership rules described above.

If none of the foregoing tests is satisfied, the redemption will be treated as a corporate distribution, the tax consequences of which are described under “—U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions.” After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. Holder in the redeemed Class A common stock should be added to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining stock, or, if it has none, to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other stock constructively owned by it.

Exercise of a Warrant

Except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. Holder will not recognize gain or loss upon the exercise of a warrant. The U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the share of our Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrant will generally be an amount equal to the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in the warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the warrant, as described under “—General Treatment of Units”) and the exercise price of such warrant. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrant would commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant; however, in either case the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrants.

The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant are not clear under current tax law. A cashless exercise may be nontaxable, either because the exercise is not a realization event or because the exercise is treated as a recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either situation, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A common stock received would generally equal the holder’s tax basis in the warrant. If the cashless exercise were treated as not being a realization event, it is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock would commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant. If, however, the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A common stock would include the holding period of the warrant. Although we expect a U.S. Holder’s cashless exercise of our warrants (including after we provide notice of our intent to redeem warrants for cash) to be treated as a recapitalization, a cashless exercise could alternatively be treated as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized.

It is also possible that a cashless exercise could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss is recognized. In such event, a portion of the warrants to be exercised on a cashless basis could, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, be deemed to have been surrendered in consideration for the exercise price of the remaining warrants, which would be deemed to be exercised. For this purpose, a U.S. Holder would be deemed to have surrendered a number of warrants having an aggregate value equal to the exercise price for the total number of warrants deemed exercised. The U.S. Holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between exercise price for the total number of warrants deemed exercised and the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrants deemed surrendered. Such gain or loss would be long-term or short-term depending on the U.S. Holder’s holding period in the warrants deemed surrendered. In this case, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A common stock received would equal the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in the warrants deemed exercised (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for the units that is allocated to the warrant, as described under “—General Treatment of Units”) and the exercise price of such warrants. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock would commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period would not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrant.

 

178


Table of Contents

Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, including when a U.S. Holder’s holding period would commence with respect to the Class A common stock received, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, each U.S. Holder is urged to consult its own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.

Sale, Exchange, Redemption or Expiration of a Warrant

Upon a sale, exchange (other than by exercise), redemption (other than a redemption for Class A common stock), or expiration of a warrant, a U.S. Holder will recognize taxable gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between (1) the amount realized upon such disposition or expiration (or, if the warrant is held as part of a unit at the time of the disposition of the unit, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the warrant based on the then fair market values of the warrant and the Class A common stock constituting such unit) and (2) the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrant (that is, the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the warrant, as described under “—General Treatment of Units”). Such gain or loss will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the warrant is held by the U.S. Holder for more than one year at the time of such disposition or expiration. If a warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the warrant. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to certain limitations.

Possible Constructive Distributions

The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of Class A common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution is generally not a taxable event. Nevertheless, a U.S. Holder of warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the holder’s proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of Class A common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the warrants, including, for example, the decrease to the exercise price of the warrants where additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock, as described under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Anti-Dilution Adjustments”), including as a result of a distribution of cash or other property, such as securities, to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of shares of our Class A common stock, in each case which is taxable to such U.S. Holders as described under “—U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions.” Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as described under that section in the same manner as if such U.S. Holder received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest. Generally, a U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrant would be increased to the extent any such constructive distribution is treated as a dividend.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding.

In general, information reporting requirements may apply to dividends paid to a U.S. Holder and to the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of our units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants, unless the U.S. Holder is an exempt recipient. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if the U.S. Holder fails to provide a taxpayer identification number, a certification of exempt status or has been notified by the IRS that it is subject to backup withholding (and such notification has not been withdrawn).

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules will be allowed as a refund or a credit against a U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability provided the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

 

179


Table of Contents

Non-U.S. Holders Taxation of Distributions

In general, any distributions (including constructive distributions) we make to a non-U.S. Holder of shares of our Class A common stock or warrants, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles), will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, provided such dividends are not effectively connected with the non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (or, if any income tax treaty applies, are not attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment or fixed-base maintained by the non-U.S. holder), we (or another applicable withholding agent)will be required to withhold tax from the gross amount of the dividend at a rate of 30%, unless such non-U.S. Holder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and provides proper certification of its eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, as applicable). In the case of any constructive dividend, it is possible that this tax would be withheld from any amount owed to a non-U.S. Holder by the applicable withholding agent, including cash distributions on other property or sale proceeds from warrants or other property subsequently paid or credited to such holder. Any distribution not constituting a dividend will be treated first as reducing (but not below zero) the non-U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares of our Class A common stock and, to the extent such distribution exceeds the non-U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis, as gain realized from the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock, which will be treated as described under “—Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.” In addition, if we determine that we are classified as a “United States real property holding corporation” (see “—Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants”), we will withhold 15% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits.

Dividends we pay to a non-U.S. Holder that are effectively connected with such non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (or if a tax treaty applies are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the non-U.S. Holder) will generally not be subject to U.S. withholding tax, provided such non-U.S. Holder complies with certain certification and disclosure requirements (usually by providing an IRS Form W-8ECI). Instead, such dividends will generally be subject to U.S. federal income tax, net of certain deductions, at the same graduated individual or corporate rates applicable to U.S. Holders. If the non-U.S. Holder is a corporation, dividends that are effectively connected income may also be subject to a “branch profits tax” at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty).

Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant

The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a non-U.S. Holder’s exercise of a warrant, the lapse of a warrant, or the redemption of a warrant held by a non-U.S. Holder generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the exercise, lapse, or redemption of a warrant by a U.S. Holder, as described under “—U.S. Holders—Exercise of a Warrant” or “—U.S. Holders—Sale, Exchange, Redemption or Expiration of a Warrant,” although to the extent a cashless exercise results in a taxable exchange, the tax consequences to the non-U.S. Holder would be the same as those described under “—Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.”

Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants

A non-U.S. Holder will generally not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax in respect of gain recognized on a sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock, which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within the completion window, or warrants (including an expiration or redemption of our warrants), in each case without regard to whether those securities were held as part of a unit, unless:

 

   

the gain is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by the non-U.S. Holder within the United States (and, if an applicable tax treaty so requires, is attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the non-U.S. Holder);

 

180


Table of Contents
   

the non-U.S. Holder is an individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition and certain other conditions are met; or

 

   

we are or have been a “United States real property holding corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of disposition or the period that the non-U.S. Holder held our Class A common stock, and, in the case where shares of our Class A common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, the non-U.S. Holder has owned, directly or constructively, more than 5% of our Class A common stock at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or such non-U.S. Holder’s holding period for the shares of our Class A common stock. There can be no assurance that our Class A common stock will be treated as regularly traded on an established securities market for this purpose.

Unless an applicable treaty provides otherwise, gain described in the first bullet point above will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. Any gains described in the first bullet point above of a non-U.S. Holder that is a foreign corporation may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” at a 30% rate (or lower applicable treaty rate). Gain described in the second bullet point above will generally be subject to a flat 30% U.S. federal income tax. Non-U.S. Holders are urged to consult their own tax advisors regarding possible eligibility for benefits under income tax treaties.

If the third bullet point above applies to a non-U.S. Holder, gain recognized by such holder on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our Class A common stock or warrants will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. In addition, a buyer of our Class A common stock or warrants from such holder may be required to withhold U.S. income tax at a rate of 15% of the amount realized upon such disposition. We cannot determine whether we will be a United States real property holding corporation in the future until we complete an initial business combination. We will be classified as a United States real property holding corporation if the fair market value of our “United States real property interests” equals or exceeds 50% of the sum of the fair market value of our worldwide real property interests plus our other assets used or held for use in a trade or business, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If we are or have been a “United States real property holding corporation” you are urged to consult your own tax advisors regarding the application of these rules.

Possible Constructive Distributions

The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of Class A common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution is generally not a taxable event. Nevertheless, a non-U.S. Holder of warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the holder’s proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of Class A common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the warrants), including as a result of a distribution of cash or other property, such as securities, to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of shares of our Class A common stock, in each case which is taxable to such non-U.S. Holders as described under “—Non-U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions.” A non-U.S. Holder would be subject to U.S. federal income tax withholding under that section in the same manner as if such non-U.S. Holder received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest. Generally, a non-U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrant would be increased to the extent any such constructive distribution is treated as a dividend.

Redemption of Class A Common Stock

The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a non-U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock pursuant to the redemption provisions described under “Description of Securities—Common

 

181


Table of Contents

Stock” will generally correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption of a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock, as described under “—U.S. Holders—Redemption of Class A Common Stock,” and the consequences of the redemption to the non-U.S. Holder will be as described under “—Non-U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions” and “—Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants,” as applicable. It is possible that because the applicable withholding agent may not be able to determine the proper characterization of a redemption of a non-U.S. Holder’s shares of Class A common stock, the withholding agent might treat the redemption as a distribution subject to withholding tax.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code and the Treasury Regulations and administrative guidance promulgated thereunder (commonly referred as the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” or “FATCA”) generally impose withholding at a rate of 30% in certain circumstances on dividends in respect of our securities which are held by or through certain foreign financial institutions (including investment funds), unless any such institution (1) enters into, and complies with, an agreement with the IRS to report, on an annual basis, information with respect to interests in, and accounts maintained by, the institution that are owned by certain U.S. persons and by certain non-U.S. entities that are wholly or partially owned by U.S. persons and to withhold on certain payments, or (2) if required under an intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country, reports such information to its local tax authority, which will exchange such information with the U.S. authorities. An intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country may modify these requirements. Accordingly, the entity through which our securities are held will affect the determination of whether such withholding is required. Similarly, dividends in respect of our securities held by an investor that is a non-financial non-U.S. entity that does not qualify under certain exceptions will generally be subject to withholding at a rate of 30%, unless such entity either (1) certifies to us or the applicable withholding agent that such entity does not have any “substantial United States owners” or (2) provides certain information regarding the entity’s “substantial United States owners,” which will in turn be provided to the U.S. Department of Treasury. Prospective investors are urged to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible implications of FATCA on their investment in our securities.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

In general, information reporting requirements will apply to payments of dividends and proceeds from the sale of our securities to non-U.S. Holders that are not exempt recipients. We must report annually to the IRS and to each such holder the amount of dividends or other distributions we pay to such non-U.S. Holder on our shares of Class A common stock and the amount of tax withheld with respect to those distributions, regardless of whether withholding is required. The IRS may make copies of the information returns reporting those dividends and amounts withheld available to the tax authorities in the country in which the non-U.S. Holder resides pursuant to the provisions of an applicable income tax treaty or exchange of information treaty.

The gross amount of dividends and proceeds from the disposition of our Class A common stock or warrants paid to a holder that fails to provide the appropriate certification in accordance with applicable U.S. Treasury regulations generally will be subject to backup withholding at the applicable rate.

Information reporting and backup withholding are generally not required with respect to the amount of any proceeds from the sale by a non-U.S. Holder of Class A common stock or warrants outside the United States through a foreign office of a foreign broker that does not have certain specified connections to the United States. However, if a non-U.S. Holder sells Class A common stock or warrants through a U.S. broker or the U.S. office of a foreign broker, the broker will generally be required to report to the IRS the amount of proceeds paid to such holder, unless the non-U.S. Holder provides appropriate certification (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, as applicable) to the broker of its status as a non-U.S. Holder or such non-U.S. Holder is an exempt recipient. In addition, for information reporting purposes, certain non-U.S. brokers with certain relationships with the United States will be treated in a manner similar to U.S. brokers.

 

182


Table of Contents

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts we withhold under the backup withholding rules may be refunded or credited against a holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, if any, by the IRS if the required information is furnished in a timely manner to the IRS.

Non-U.S. Holders are urged to consult their own tax advisors regarding the application of the information reporting and backup withholding rules described above.

 

183


Table of Contents

UNDERWRITING

RBC Capital Markets, LLC is acting as sole book-running manager of the offering and the sole underwriter of the offering. Under the terms and subject to the conditions of the underwriting agreement, we have agreed to sell to the underwriter                units at a public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions set forth on the cover page of this prospectus.

The underwriting agreement provides that the underwriter is obligated to purchase all the units in the offering if any are purchased, other than those units covered by the over-allotment option described below.

We have granted to the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase on a pro rata basis up to 3,000,000 additional units at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The option may be exercised only to cover any over-allotments of units.

The underwriter proposes to offer the units initially at the public offering price on the cover page of this prospectus and to selling group members at that price less a selling concession of $                 per unit. After the initial public offering, the underwriter may change the public offering price and concession and discount to broker/dealers. The offering of the shares by the underwriter is subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriter’s right to reject any order in whole or in part.

The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriter in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option. $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), of deferred underwriting commissions will be paid to the underwriter upon the completion of our initial business combination:

 

     Per Unit(1)      Total(1)  
     Without Over-
allotment
     With Over-
allotment
     Without Over-
allotment
     With Over-
allotment
 

Underwriting discounts and commissions paid by us

   $ 0.55      $ 0.55      $ 11,000,000      $ 12,650,000  

 

(1)

Includes (i) $0.20 per unit (excluding any units sold pursuant to the underwriter’s option to purchase additional units), or $4,000,000 (or up to $4,600,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate, payable upon the closing of this offering in cash and (ii) $0.35 per unit, or $7,000,000 (or $8,050,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) payable to the underwriter for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein and released to the underwriter only upon the consummation of an initial business combination. A portion of the deferred underwriting commissions, not to exceed $0.10 per unit, may be paid to third parties not participating in this offering that assist us in consummating our initial business combination. The election to make such payments to third parties will be solely at the discretion of our management team, and such third parties will be selected by our management team in their sole and absolute discretion.

We estimate that our out-of-pocket expenses for this offering will be approximately $640,000. We have agreed to pay for the FINRA-related fees and expenses of the underwriter’s legal counsel, not to exceed $25,000. The underwriter has agreed to reimburse us for up to $400,000 of our expenses in connection with this offering.

The underwriter has informed us that it does not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.

Founder Shares

We, our sponsor and our officers, directors and advisors have agreed that, for a period of 180 days from the date of this prospectus, we and they will not, without the prior written consent of the underwriter, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any units, warrants, shares of common

 

184


Table of Contents

stock or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of common stock, subject to certain exceptions. The underwriter in its sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice.

Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property or (y) if the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, 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 (except as described under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares.

The private placement warrants (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except with respect to permitted transferees as described under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriter against certain liabilities under the Securities Act, or contribute to payments that the underwriter may be required to make in that respect.

We have applied to list our units on the NYSE, under the symbol “KNSW.U.” and, once the Class A common stock and public warrants begin separate trading, to have our Class A common stock and public warrants listed on the NYSE under the symbols “KNSW” and “KNSW WS,” respectively.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and the underwriter.

The determination of our per unit offering price was more arbitrary than would typically be the case if we were an operating company. Among the factors considered in determining the initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units, Class A common stock or public warrants will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units, Class A common stock or public warrants will develop and continue after this offering.

The underwriter has agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the completion window and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.

In connection with this offering the underwriter may engage in stabilizing transactions, over-allotment transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act.

 

   

Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase the underlying security so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum.

 

185


Table of Contents
   

Over-allotment involves sales by the underwriter of units in excess of the number of units the underwriter is obligated to purchase, which creates a syndicate short position. The short position may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of units over-allotted by the underwriter is not greater than the number of units that they may purchase in the option to purchase additional units. In a naked short position, the number of units involved is greater than the number of units in the option to purchase additional units. The underwriter may close out any covered short position by either exercising its option to purchase additional units and/or purchasing units in the open market.

 

   

Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of the units in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions. In determining the source of units to close out the short position, the underwriter will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the option to purchase additional units. If the underwriter sells more units than could be covered by the option to purchase additional units, a naked short position, the position can only be closed out by buying units in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriter is concerned that there could be downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in this offering.

 

   

Penalty bids permit the representatives to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the units originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions.

These stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of our units or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. As a result the price of our units may be higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the open market. These transactions may be effected on the NYSE or otherwise and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.

We are not under any contractual obligation to engage the underwriter to provide any services for us after this offering, but we may do so at our discretion. However, the underwriter may introduce us to potential target businesses, provide financial advisory services to us in connection with a business combination or assist us in raising additional capital in the future, including by acting as a placement agent in a private offering or underwriting or arranging debt financing. If the underwriter provides services to us after this offering, we may pay the underwriter fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with the underwriter and no fees for such services will be paid to the underwriter prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless such payment would not be deemed underwriter’s compensation in connection with this offering. We may pay the underwriter of this offering or any entity with which they are affiliated a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination. Any fees we may pay the underwriter or its affiliates for services rendered to us after this offering may be contingent on the completion of a business combination and may include non-cash compensation. The underwriter or its affiliates that provide these services to us may have a potential conflict of interest given that the underwriter is entitled to the deferred portion of its underwriting compensation for this offering only if an initial business combination is completed within the specified timeframe.

The underwriter and its affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include sales and trading, commercial and investment banking, advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, market making, brokerage and other financial and non-financial activities and services. The underwriter and its affiliates have engaged in, and may in the future engage in, investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates. They have received, or may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for these transactions.

 

186


Table of Contents

In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriter and its affiliates, officers, directors and employees may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriter and its affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.

A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the websites maintained by the underwriter, or selling group members, if any, participating in this offering and the underwriter participating in this offering may distribute prospectuses electronically. The underwriter may agree to allocate a number of units to underwriter and selling group members for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the underwriter and selling group members that will make internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations.

The units are offered for sale in those jurisdictions in the United States and elsewhere where it is lawful to make such offers.

The underwriter has represented and agreed that it has not offered, sold or delivered and will not offer, sell or deliver any of the units directly or indirectly, or distribute this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the units, in or from any jurisdiction except under circumstances that will result in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations thereof and that will not impose any obligations or other duties on us except as set forth in the underwriting agreement.

European Economic Area

In relation to each member state of the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom (each, a “relevant state”) no units have been offered or will be offered pursuant to the offering to the public in that relevant state prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the units that has been approved by the competent authority in that relevant state or, where appropriate, approved in another relevant state and notified to the competent authority in that relevant state, all in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation, except that offers of our units may be made to the public in that relevant state at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Regulation:

 

  (a)

to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under the Prospectus Regulation;

 

  (b)

to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives for any such offer; or

 

  (c)

in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation;

provided that no such offer of units shall require the issuer or the representatives to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation.

Each person in a relevant state who initially acquires any units or to whom any offer is made will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed to and with the company and the representatives that it is a qualified investor within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation.

In the case of any units being offered to a financial intermediary as that term is used in Article 5(1) of the Prospectus Regulation, each such financial intermediary will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and

 

187


Table of Contents

agreed that the units acquired by it in the offer have not been acquired on a non-discretionary basis on behalf of, nor have they been acquired with a view to their offer or resale to, persons in circumstances which may give rise to an offer to the public other than their offer or resale in a relevant state to qualified investors, in circumstances in which the prior consent of the representatives has been obtained to each such proposed offer or resale.

We, the representatives and each of our and the representatives’ respective affiliates will rely upon the truth and accuracy of the foregoing representations, acknowledgements and agreements.

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to any units in any relevant state means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any units, and the expression “Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.

References to the Prospectus Regulation include, in relation to the United Kingdom, the Prospectus Regulation as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

The above selling restriction is in addition to any other selling restrictions set out below.

In connection with the offering, the representatives are not acting for anyone other than the issuer and will not be responsible to anyone other than the issuer for providing the protections afforded to its clients nor for providing advice in relation to the offering.

Notice to Investors in the United Kingdom

This prospectus is for distribution only to persons who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments and who qualify as investment professionals within the meaning of Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended, the “Financial Promotion Order”), (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) (“high net worth companies, unincorporated associations etc.”) of the Financial Promotion Order, (iii) are outside the United Kingdom, or (iv) are persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended (“FSMA”)) in connection with the issue or sale of any securities may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). This document is directed only at relevant persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this document relates is available only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons.

Notice to Residents of Japan

The underwriter will not offer or sell any of our units directly or indirectly in Japan or to, or for the benefit of any Japanese person or to others, for re-offering or re-sale directly or indirectly in Japan or to any Japanese person, except in each case pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of, and otherwise in compliance with, the Securities and Exchange Law of Japan and any other applicable laws and regulations of Japan. For purposes of this paragraph, “Japanese person” means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan.

Notice to Residents of Hong Kong

The underwriter and its affiliates have not (1) offered or sold, and will not offer or sell, in Hong Kong, by means of any document, our units other than (A) to “professional investors” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) of Hong Kong and any rules made under that Ordinance, or (B) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” as defined in the Companies Ordinance

 

188


Table of Contents

(Cap. 32 of Hong Kong) or which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of that Ordinance or (2) issued or had in its possession for the purposes of issue, and will not issue or have in its possession for the purposes of issue, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere any advertisement, invitation or document relating to our units which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the securities laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to our securities which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance and any rules made under that Ordinance. The contents of this document have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in Hong Kong. You are advised to exercise caution in relation to the offer. If you are in any doubt about any of the contents of this document, you should obtain independent professional advice.

Notice to Residents of Singapore

This prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units has not been and will not be registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the units will be offered in Singapore pursuant to exemptions under Section 274 and Section 275 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “Securities and Futures Act”). Accordingly our units may not be offered or sold, or be the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, nor may this prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units be circulated or distributed, whether directly or indirectly, to the public or any member of the public in Singapore other than (a) to an institutional investor or other person specified in Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, (b) to a sophisticated investor, and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the Securities and Futures Act or (c) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the Securities and Futures Act.

Notice to Residents of Germany

Each person who is in possession of this prospectus is aware that no German sales prospectus (Verkaufsprospekt) within the meaning of the Securities Sales Prospectus Act (Wertpapier-Verkaufsprospektgesetz, the “Act”) of the Federal Republic of Germany has been or will be published with respect to our units. In particular, the underwriter has represented that they have not engaged and have agreed that they will not engage in a public offering (offentliches Angebot) within the meaning of the Act with respect to any of our units otherwise then in accordance with the Act and all other applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Notice to Residents of France

The units are being issued and sold outside the Republic of France and that, in connection with their initial distribution, it has not offered or sold and will not offer or sell, directly or indirectly, any units to the public in the Republic of France, and that it has not distributed and will not distribute or cause to be distributed to the public in the Republic of France this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the units, and that such offers, sales and distributions have been and will be made in the Republic of France only to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) in accordance with Article L.411-2 of the Monetary and Financial Code and decrét no. 98-880 dated October 1, 1998.

Notice to Residents of the Netherlands

Our units may not be offered, sold, transferred or delivered in or from the Netherlands as part of their initial distribution or at any time thereafter, directly or indirectly, other than to, individuals or legal entities situated in The Netherlands who or which trade or invest in securities in the conduct of a business or profession (which includes banks, securities intermediaries (including dealers and brokers), insurance companies, pension funds, collective investment institution, central governments, large international and supranational organizations, other institutional investors and other parties, including treasury departments of commercial enterprises, which as an

 

189


Table of Contents

ancillary activity regularly invest in securities; hereinafter, “Professional Investors”); provided that in the offer, prospectus and in any other documents or advertisements in which a forthcoming offering of our units is publicly announced (whether electronically or otherwise) in The Netherlands it is stated that such offer is and will be exclusively made to such Professional Investors. Individual or legal entities who are not Professional Investors may not participate in the offering of our units, and this prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units may not be considered an offer or the prospect of an offer to sell or exchange our units.

Notice to Prospective Investors in the Cayman Islands

No offer of invitation, whether directly or indirectly, may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands to subscribe for our securities.

Notice to Canadian Residents

Resale Restrictions

The distribution of units in Canada is being made only in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia on a private placement basis exempt from the requirement that we prepare and file a prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each province where trades of these securities are made. Any resale of the units in Canada must be made under applicable securities laws which may vary depending on the relevant jurisdiction, and which may require resales to be made under available statutory exemptions or under a discretionary exemption granted by the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority. Purchasers are advised to seek legal advice prior to any resale of the securities.

Representations of Canadian Purchasers

By purchasing units in Canada and accepting delivery of a purchase confirmation, a purchaser is representing to us and the dealer from whom the purchase confirmation is received that:

 

   

the purchaser is entitled under applicable provincial securities laws to purchase the units without the benefit of a prospectus qualified under those securities laws as it is an “accredited investor” as defined under National Instrument 45-106 — Prospectus Exemptions;

 

   

the purchaser is a “permitted client” as defined in National Instrument 31-103 — Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations;

 

   

where required by law, the purchaser is purchasing as principal and not as agent; and

 

   

the purchaser has reviewed the text above under Resale Restrictions.

Conflicts of Interest

Pursuant to section 3A.3 of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI 33-105), the underwriter is not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.

Statutory Rights of Action

Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if the prospectus (including any amendment thereto) such as this document contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser of these securities in Canada should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.

 

190


Table of Contents

Enforcement of Legal Rights

All of our directors and officers as well as the experts named herein may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible for Canadian purchasers to effect service of process within Canada upon us or those persons. All or a substantial portion of our assets and the assets of those persons may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible to satisfy a judgment against us or those persons in Canada or to enforce a judgment obtained in Canadian courts against us or those persons outside of Canada.

Taxation and Eligibility for Investment

Canadian purchasers of units should consult their own legal and tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences of an investment in the units in their particular circumstances and about the eligibility of the units for investment by the purchaser under relevant Canadian legislation.

 

191


Table of Contents

LEGAL MATTERS

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is acting as counsel in connection with the registration of our securities under the Securities Act and, as such, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this prospectus. Certain legal matters will be passed upon on behalf of the underwriter by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

EXPERTS

The financial statements of KnightSwan Acquisition Corporation as of September 30, 2021 and for the period from August 13, 2021 (inception) through September 30, 2021 appearing in this prospectus have been audited by Marcum LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon, which includes an explanatory paragraph as to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance on such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.

Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

 

192


Table of Contents


Table of Contents

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of

KnightSwan Acquisition Corporation

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of KnightSwan Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) as of September 30, 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the period from August 13, 2021 (inception) through September 30 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of September 30, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from August 13, 2021 (inception) through September 30 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company’s ability to execute its business plan is dependent upon its completion of the proposed public offering described in Note 3 to the financial statements. The Company has a working capital deficiency and lacks financial resources it needs to sustain its operations for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the issuance date of the financial statements. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans with regard to these matters are also described in Notes 1 and 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

/s/ Marcum LLP

Marcum LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.

Los Angeles, CA

December 8, 2021

 

F-2


Table of Contents

KNIGHTSWAN ACQUISITION CORPORATION

BALANCE SHEET

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

 

ASSETS

  

Cash

   $ 21,619  

Deferred offering costs

     115,000  
  

 

 

 

Total Assets

   $ 136,619  
  

 

 

 

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

  

Current Liabilities:

  

Accrued offering costs

   $ 115,000  

Accrued formation costs

     925  

Due to related party

     15,190  
  

 

 

 

Total Current Liabilities

     131,115  

Commitments and contingencies (Note 6)

  

Stockholder’s Equity:

  

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding

     —    

Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued and outstanding

     —    

Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 24,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 shares issued and outstanding(1)

     575  

Additional paid-in capital

     24,425  

Accumulated deficit

     (19,496
  

 

 

 

Total Stockholder’s Equity

     5,504  
  

 

 

 

Total Liabilities and Stockholder’s Equity

   $ 136,619  
  

 

 

 

 

(1)

Includes an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriter (see Note 5).

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

 

F-3


Table of Contents

KNIGHTSWAN ACQUISITION CORPORATION

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

FOR THE PERIOD FROM AUGUST 13, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

 

Formation and operating costs

   $ 19,496  
  

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (19,496
  

 

 

 

Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted (1)

     5,000,000  

Basic and diluted net loss per common share

   $ (0.00
  

 

 

 

 

 

(1)

Excludes an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriter (see Note 5).

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

 

F-4


Table of Contents

KNIGHTSWAN ACQUISITION CORPORATION

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

FOR THE PERIOD FROM AUGUST 13, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

 

     Class B Common Stock      Additional
Paid-in
Capital
     Accumulated
Deficit
    Total
Stockholder’s
Equity
 
     Shares      Amount  

Balance, August 13, 2021 (inception)

     —        $ —        $ —        $ —       $ —    

Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor(1)

     5,750,000        575        24,425          25,000  

Net loss

     —          —          —          (19,496     (19,496
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance, September 30, 2021

     5,750,000      $ 575      $ 24,425      $ (19,496   $ 5,504  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

(1)

Includes an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriter (see Note 5).

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

 

F-5


Table of Contents

KNIGHTSWAN ACQUISITION CORPORATION

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE PERIOD FROM AUGUST 13, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

 

Cash flows from operating activities:

  

Net loss

   $ (19,496

Operating costs paid by related party

     15,190  

Changes in accrued formation and offering costs

     925  
  

 

 

 

Net cash used in operating activities

     (3,381
  

 

 

 

Cash flows from financing activities:

  

Proceeds from issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor

     25,000  
  

 

 

 

Net cash provided by financing activities

     25,000  
  

 

 

 

Net change in cash

   $ 21,619  

Cash at beginning of period

   $  
  

 

 

 

Cash at end of period

   $ 21,619  
  

 

 

 

Non-cash financing activities:

  

Deferred offering costs included in accrued offering costs

   $ 115,000  
  

 

 

 

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

 

F-6


Table of Contents

KNIGHTSWAN ACQUISITION CORPORATION

FOR THE PERIOD FROM AUGUST 13, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1 — DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION, BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND GOING CONCERN

KnightSwan Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on August 13, 2021. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.

As of September 30, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from August 13, 2021 (inception) through September 30, 2021, relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering (“Proposed Public Offering”), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.

The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a Proposed Public Offering of 20,000,000 Units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A common stock included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”) at $10.00 per Unit (or 23,000,000 Units if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 11,750,000 warrants (or 13,100,000 warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) (the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant in private placements to KnightSwan Sponsor LLC (the “Sponsor”) that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Public Offering.

The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed 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 with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the Trust Account). 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 business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, management has agreed that an amount equal to at least $10.00 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering, including proceeds of the Private Placement Warrants, will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”), located in the United States 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 certain conditions 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 funds held in the Trust Account, as described below.

The Company will provide the holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “Public Stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer in connection with the Business Combination. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business

 

F-7


Table of Contents

Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company. The Public Stockholders 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 $10.25 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest then in the Trust Account, net of taxes payable). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants. The Public Shares subject to redemption will be recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering in accordance with the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.”

The Company will not redeem Public Shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to the Business Combination. If the Company seeks stockholder approval of the Business Combination, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if a majority of the outstanding shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination, or such other vote as required by law or stock exchange rule. If a stockholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its second amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), 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, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or other 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. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor has agreed to vote its Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Proposed Public Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each Public Stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company seeks stockholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Certificate of Incorporation will provide that a Public Stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder 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% of the Public Shares, without the prior consent of the Company.

The holders of the Founder Shares have agreed (a) to waive their redemption rights with respect to the Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemptions in connection with a Business Combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period (as defined below) or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless the Company provides the Public Stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.

If the Company has not completed a Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (or 21 or 24 months, if three month extensions are taken) (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 pay taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject

 

F-8


Table of Contents

to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the Company’s warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period.

The holders of the Founders Shares 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 holders of Founder Shares acquire Public Shares in or after the Proposed Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account 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 assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Proposed Public Offering price per Unit ($10.25).

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 to below (i) $10.25 per Public Share or (ii) such lesser amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.25 per Public 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 taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account and except as to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriter of the Proposed 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 (except for the Company’s independent registered accounting firm), prospective target businesses and 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.

Going Concern Consideration

At September 30, 2021, the Company had cash and a working capital deficit of $21,619 and $109,496, respectively. Further, the Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. The Company lacks the financial resources it needs to sustain operations for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the date of the issuance of the financial statements. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management plans to address this uncertainty through the Proposed Public Offering. There is no assurance that the Company’s plans to raise capital will be successful. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Risks and Uncertainties

Management is currently evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations, close of the Proposed Public Offering and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

F-9


Table of Contents

NOTE 2 — SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying audited financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.

Emerging Growth Company

The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, as amended (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 independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires 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 of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period.

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.

Deferred Offering Costs

The Company follows ASC 340-10-S99-1 and the SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin Topic 5A — “Expenses of Offering.” The Company’s formation costs are related to the incorporation of the Company and are expensed to the statement of operations as incurred. The Company’s deferred offering costs consist of costs incurred in connection with preparation for the Proposed Public Offering and will be allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Proposed Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total

 

F-10


Table of Contents

proceeds received. Should the Proposed Public Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs, as well as additional expenses to be incurred, will be charged to operations. As of September 30, 2021, the Company had deferred offering costs of $115,000.

Income Taxes

The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of September 30, 2021. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.

The provision for income taxes was deemed to be de minimis for the period from August 13, 2021 (inception) through September 30, 2021. The Company’s deferred tax assets were deemed to be de minimis as of September 30, 2021.

Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption

The Company accounts for its shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance enumerated in ASC 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity”. Common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock 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, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. The shares of the Company’s Class A common stock feature certain redemption rights that are considered by the Company to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events.

Net Loss per Common Share

Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, excluding shares of common stock subject to forfeiture. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 750,000 shares of Class B common stock that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriter (see Note 5). At September 30, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into shares of common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share for the period presented.

 

F-11


Table of Contents

Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000. The Company has not experienced losses on this account.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.

Derivative Financial Instruments

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

Warrant Instruments

The Company accounts for the Public Warrants and the Private Placement Warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement in accordance with the guidance contained in FASB ASC 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”. Under ASC 816-40 the Public Warrants and the Private Placement Warrants meet the criteria for equity treatment and as such are recorded in stockholder’s equity. If the warrants no longer meet the criteria for equity treatment, they will recorded as a liability and remeasured each period with changes recorded in the statement of operations.

Recent Accounting Standards

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

In August 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2020-06, Debt — Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 from the Company’s inception. Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

NOTE 3 — PROPOSED PUBLIC OFFERING

Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale 20,000,000 Units (or 23,000,000 Units if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit will consist of one share of Class A common stock and one half of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).

 

F-12


Table of Contents

NOTE 4 — PRIVATE PLACEMENTS

The Sponsor has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 11,750,000 Private Placement Warrants (or 13,100,000 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment is exercised in full) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant ($11,750,000, or an aggregate of $13,100,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment is exercised in full) from the Company in private placements that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7). The proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be added to the net proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants (including the Common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of an Initial Business Combination, subject to certain exceptions.

NOTE 5 — RELATED PARTIES

Founder Shares

On September 3, 2021, the Sponsor received 5,750,000 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”) for $25,000. The Founder Shares include an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment is not exercised in full or in part, so that the number of Founder Shares will equal, on an as-converted basis, approximately 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock after the Proposed Public Offering.

The holders of the Founder Shares have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination and (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Public Stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Promissory Note — Related Party

On August 13, 2021, the Sponsor issued an unsecured promissory note to the Company (the “Promissory Note”), pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000. The Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) June 30, 2022 or (ii) the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering. As of September 30, 2021, there was nothing outstanding under the Promissory Note.

Due to Related Party

The Sponsor paid certain operating costs on behalf of the Company. These advances are due on demand and are non-interest bearing. As of September 30, 2021, there was $15,190 due to the related party.

General and Administrative Services

Commencing on the date the Units are first listed on The New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”), the Company has agreed to pay the Sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support for up to 18 months, assuming the Sponsor does not extend the period of time to complete

 

F-13


Table of Contents

an Initial Business Combination, which includes up to approximately $13,750 per month payable to our Chief Financial Officer. Upon completion of the Initial Business Combination or the Company’s liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees.

Consulting Services

Commencing on September 1, 2021, the Company has agreed to reimburse the Sponsor the employment costs for the CFO until the date the Units are first listed on the NYSE in an amount of approximately $13,750 a month. Upon completion of the Initial Public Offering, or the Company’s liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees. These costs were $15,190 as of September 30, 2021, and are included on the statement of operations under formation and operating costs.

Related Party Loans

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”). Such Working Capital Loans would be evidenced by promissory notes. The notes may be repaid upon completion of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $2,000,000 of the notes may be converted upon completion of a Business Combination into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of 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. As of September 30, 2021, there were no amounts outstanding under the Working Capital Loans.

NOTE 6 — COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Registration Rights

The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans and upon conversion of the Founder Shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of Proposed Public Offering requiring the Company to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion to shares of Class A common stock). The holders of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to completion of a Business Combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that the Company will not be required to effect or permit any registration or cause any registration statement to become effective until the securities covered thereby are released from their lock-up restrictions. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Underwriting Agreement

The Company will grant the underwriter a 45-day option from the date of Proposed Public Offering to purchase up to 1,500,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Proposed Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions.

The underwriter has agreed to make a payment to the Company in an amount equal to $400,000 to reimburse certain of our expenses.

The underwriter will be entitled to a cash underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $4,000,000 in the aggregate (or $4,600,000 in the aggregate if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), payable

 

F-14


Table of Contents

upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. In addition, the underwriter will be entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $7,000,000 in the aggregate (or $8,050,000 in the aggregate if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full). The deferred fee 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.

NOTE 7 — STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

Preferred Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of September 30, 2021, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.

Class A Common stock — The Company is authorized to issue 200,000,000 Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. As of September 30, 2021, there were no shares of Class A common stock issued or outstanding.

Class B Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 24,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. As of September 30, 2021, there were 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares of Class B common stock are subject to forfeiture.

Only holders of the Class B common stock will have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to the Business Combination. Holders of Class B common stock and holders of Class A common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders except as otherwise required by law. In connection with our initial business combination, we may enter into a stockholders agreement or other arrangements with the stockholders of the target or other investors to provide for voting or other corporate governance arrangements that differ from those in effect upon completion of this offering.

The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into Class A common stock at the time of a Business Combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in the Proposed Public Offering and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the then-outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of Proposed Public Offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination (net of the number of shares of Class A common stock redeemed in connection with a Business Combination), excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued or issuable to any seller of an interest in the target to us in a Business Combination.

Warrants — There are no warrants outstanding as of September 30, 2021. Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of Class A common stock. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of its initial Business Combination, the Company will use its best efforts to file with the SEC a post-

 

F-15


Table of Contents

effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or a new registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to cause such registration statement to become effective and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. In addition, if the shares of Class A common stock are at the time of any exercise of a public warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of the Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, the Company will not be required to (x) file or maintain in effect a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants or (y) use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify for sale the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is available.

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

 

   

at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

   

upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption given after the warrants become exercisable (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and

 

   

if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 10 trading days within a 20-trading day period commencing once the warrants become exercisable and ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company’s board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance), (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 Market Value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the greater of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the greater of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

The Private Placement Warrants are be identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the Common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants are not transferable, assignable or saleable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions.

NOTE 8 — SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date through December 8, 2021, the date that the financial statements were available to be issued. Based upon this review the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.

 

F-16


Table of Contents

 

 

KnightSwan Acquisition Corporation

20,000,000 Units

 

 

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

 

 

                , 2022

 

RBC CAPITAL MARKETS

 

Until                 , 2022, all dealers that effect transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealer’s obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to unsold allotments or subscriptions.

 

 

 

 


Table of Contents

PART II

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.

The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:

 

SEC expenses

   $ 33,581  

FINRA expenses

     54,838  

Accounting fees and expenses

     60,000  

Printing and engraving expenses

     35,000  

Legal fees and expenses

     300,000  

Stock exchange listing and filing fees

     85,000  

Travel and road show expenses

     10,000  

Miscellaneous

     61,581  
  

 

 

 

Total

   $ 640,000  
  

 

 

 

Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that all of our directors, officers, employees and agents shall be entitled to be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the DGCL. Section 145 of the DGCL concerning indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents is set forth below.

Section 145. Indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents; insurance.

(a) A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the person’s conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that the person’s conduct was unlawful.

(b) A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.


Table of Contents

(c) To the extent that a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith.

(d) Any indemnification under subsections (a) and (b) of this section (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the present or former director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because the person has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Such determination shall be made, with respect to a person who is a director or officer at the time of such determination, (1) by a majority vote of the directors who are not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, even though less than a quorum, or (2) by a committee of such directors designated by majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (3) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, or (4) by the stockholders.

(e) Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in this section. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by former officers and directors or other employees and agents may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the corporation deems appropriate.

(f) The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, the other subsections of this section shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in such person’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office. A right to indemnification or to advancement of expenses arising under a provision of the certificate of incorporation or a bylaw shall not be eliminated or impaired by an amendment to such provision after the occurrence of the act or omission that is the subject of the civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which indemnification or advancement of expenses is sought, unless the provision in effect at the time of such act or omission explicitly authorizes such elimination or impairment after such action or omission has occurred.

(g) A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under this section.

(h) For purposes of this section, references to “the corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a merger or consolidation which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under this section with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as such person would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued.

(i) For purposes of this section, references to “other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to any employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or


Table of Contents

beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the corporation” as referred to in this section.

(j) The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.

(k) The Court of Chancery is hereby vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all actions for advancement of expenses or indemnification brought under this section or under any by law, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise. The Court of Chancery may summarily determine a corporation’s obligation to advance expenses (including attorneys’ fees).

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers, and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person in a successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, we will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to the court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

In accordance with Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, will provide that no director shall be personally liable to us or any of our stockholders for monetary damages resulting from breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such limitation on or exemption from liability is not permitted under the DGCL. The effect of this provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is to eliminate our rights and those of our stockholders (through stockholders’ derivative suits on our behalf) to recover monetary damages against a director for breach of the fiduciary duty of care as a director, including breaches resulting from negligent or grossly negligent behavior, except, as restricted by Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL. However, this provision does not limit or eliminate our rights or the rights of any stockholder to seek non-monetary relief, such as an injunction or rescission, in the event of a breach of a director’s duty of care.

If the DGCL is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the liability of directors, then, in accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the liability of our directors to us or our stockholders will be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL, as so amended. Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation limiting or eliminating the liability of directors, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by applicable law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to further limit or eliminate the liability of directors on a retroactive basis.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also provide that we will, to the fullest extent authorized or permitted by applicable law, indemnify our current and former officers and directors, as well as those persons who, while directors or officers of our corporation, are or were serving as directors, officers, employees or agents of another entity, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, in connection with any threatened, pending or completed proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, against all expense, liability and loss (including, without limitation, attorney’s fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by any such person in connection with any such proceeding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person eligible for indemnification pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will be indemnified by us in connection with a proceeding initiated by such person only if such proceeding was authorized by our board of directors, except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification.


Table of Contents

The right to indemnification which will be conferred by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is a contract right that includes the right to be paid by us the expenses incurred in defending or otherwise participating in any proceeding referenced above in advance of its final disposition, provided, however, that if the DGCL requires, an advancement of expenses incurred by our officer or director (solely in the capacity as an officer or director of our corporation) will be made only upon delivery to us of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such officer or director, to repay all amounts so advanced if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified for such expenses under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or otherwise.

The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses will not be deemed exclusive of any other rights which any person covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may have or hereafter acquire under law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our bylaws, an agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation affecting indemnification rights, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by applicable law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing at the time of such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also permit us, to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law, to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other that those specifically covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Our bylaws, which we intend to adopt immediately prior to the closing of this offering, include the provisions relating to advancement of expenses and indemnification rights consistent with those which will be set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In addition, our bylaws provide for a right of indemnity to bring a suit in the event a claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses is not paid in full by us within a specified period of time. Our bylaws also permit us to purchase and maintain insurance, at our expense, to protect us and/or any director, officer, employee or agent of our corporation or another entity, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not we would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the DGCL.

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our bylaws affecting indemnification rights, whether by our board of directors, stockholders or by changes in applicable law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by applicable law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing thereunder with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision.

We will enter into indemnification agreements with each of our officers and directors a form of which is to be filed as Exhibit 10.7 to this Registration Statement. These agreements will require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law against liabilities that may arise by reason of their service to us, and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.

Pursuant to the underwriting agreement to be filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this Registration Statement, we have agreed to indemnify the underwriter and the underwriter has agreed to indemnify us against certain civil liabilities that may be incurred in connection with this offering, including certain liabilities under the Securities Act.


Table of Contents

Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.

On August 13, 2021, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.0043 per share, to cover certain of our offering and formation costs in consideration of 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001. Such securities were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

Our sponsor is an accredited investor for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D. Each of the equity holders in our sponsor is an accredited investor under Rule 501 of Regulation D. The sole business of our sponsor is to act as the company’s sponsor in connection with this offering.

Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 11,750,000 private placement warrants (or 13,100,000 private placement warrants if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($11,750,000 in the aggregate or $13,100,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. This issuance will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

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

Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.

 

  (a)

The Exhibit Index is incorporated herein by reference.

 

  (b)

The financial statements and notes thereto beginning on page F-1 are incorporated herein by reference.

Item 17. Undertakings.

 

  (i)

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriter at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriter to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.

 

  (ii)

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

  (iii)

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:

 

  1.

For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.

 

  2.

For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.


Table of Contents

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit No.

  

Description

  
  1.1*    Form of Underwriting Agreement.
  3.1    Certificate of Incorporation.
  3.2    Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.
  4.1    Specimen Unit Certificate.
  4.2    Specimen Class A Common Stock Certificate.
  4.3    Specimen Warrant Certificate.
  4.4    Form of Public Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.
  4.5    Form of Private Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.
  5.1    Opinion of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
10.1    Promissory Note, dated August 13, 2021, issued by the Registrant to the Sponsor.
10.2    Securities Subscription Agreement, dated as of August 13, 2021, between the Registrant and the Sponsor.
10.3    Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.
10.4    Form of Registration and Stockholder Rights Agreement among the Registrant, the Sponsor and the Holders signatory thereto.
10.5    Form of Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement between the Registrant and the Sponsor.
10.6    Form of Indemnity Agreement.
10.7    Form of Letter Agreement among the Registrant, the Sponsor and director and executive officer of the Registrant.
10.8    Administrative Support Agreement between the Registrant and the Sponsor.
23.1    Consent of Marcum LLP.
23.2    Consent of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (included on Exhibit 5.1 to this Registration Statement).
24.1    Power of Attorney (included on signature page to the initial filing of this Registration Statement).
99.1    Consent of Anne K. Altman.
99.2    Consent of Dr. Merlynn Carson.
99.3    Consent of S. Leslie Ireland.
99.4    Consent of Dawn Meyerriecks.
99.5    Consent of Laura Price.

 

*

To be filed by amendment.


Table of Contents

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the city of Bradenton, Florida on the 22nd day of December, 2021.

 

KNIGHTSWAN ACQUISITION CORPORATION

By:   /s/ Brandee Daly
  Name: Brandee Daly
  Title: Chief Executive Officer

We, the undersigned directors and officers of KnightSwan Acquisition Corporation, hereby severally constitute and appoint Brandee Daly and Matthew McElroy, each acting together or alone, his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for such person and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign this Registration Statement on Form S-1 (including all pre-effective and post-effective amendments and registration statements filed pursuant to Rule 462 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended), and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, each acting alone, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming that any such attorney-in-fact and agent, or his or her substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Signature

 

Title

 

Date

/s/ Teresa Carlson   Non-Executive Chair of the Board of Directors   December 22, 2021
Teresa Carlson    
/s/ Brandee Daly  

Chief Executive Officer

(Principal Executive Officer) and Director

  December 22, 2021
Brandee Daly    
/s/ Matthew McElroy  

Chief Financial Officer

(Principal Financial Officer and Principal

Accounting Officer)

  December 22, 2021
Matthew McElroy