UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Mark One)
For
the fiscal year ended
For the transition period from to
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| ||
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | (IRS Employer Identification Number) | |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) | (Zip Code) |
(Registrant Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Level 42, Suntec Tower Three
8 Temasek Blvd Singapore
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
(Commission File Number)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2)
has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule
405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant
was required to submit and such files).
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |
☒ | Smaller reporting company | |||
Emerging growth company |
If
an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying
with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
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by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness
of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered
public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
If
securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant
included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
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by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes
The
aggregate market value of the Registrant’s Class A ordinary shares outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed
affiliates of the Registrant, computed by reference to the closing price for the Class A ordinary shares as of the last business day
of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter ($10.48 as of June
30, 2023), as reported on the New York Stock Exchange, was $
As of June 17, 2024,
Documents
Incorporated by Reference:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
CERTAIN TERMS
Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”), or the context otherwise requires, references to:
● | “amended and restated memorandum and articles of association” are to the third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, adopted by special resolution on February 5, 2021, effective as of February 11, 2021, as amended by special resolutions on February 14, 2023, February 16, 2024 and May 15, 2024; |
● | “Catcha,” “we,” “us,” “our,” “company,” or “our company” are to Catcha Investment Corp, a Cayman Islands exempted company. |
● | “Companies Act” are to the Companies Act (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time; |
● | “equity-linked securities” are to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for our Class A ordinary shares 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 our Class B ordinary shares issued to our sponsor in a private placement prior to our initial public offering and the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares will not be “public shares”); |
● | “initial shareholders” are to holders of our founder shares prior to our initial public offering; |
● | “letter agreement” refers to the letter agreement, dated February 11, 2021, by and among the company, Catcha Holdings LLC, and each director and executive officer of the Company; |
● | “management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors; |
● | “ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares; |
● | “private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering and upon conversion of working capital loans, if any; “public shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they are purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market); |
● | “public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsor and management team to the extent our sponsor and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that our sponsor’s and each member of our management team’s status as a “public shareholder” will only exist with respect to such public shares; |
● | “sponsor” are to Catcha Holdings LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company; and |
● | “warrants” or “public warrants” are to warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they are purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market); |
ii
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Report includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. There can be no assurance that actual results will not materially differ from expectations. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our ability to consummate any acquisition or other business combination and any other statements that are not statements of current or historical facts.
The forward-looking statements contained in this Report 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, the following risks, uncertainties and other factors:
● | our ability to complete our initial business combination with Crown (defined below); |
● | our expectations around the performance of Crown or any other 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 public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
● | our ability to maintain the listing of our Class A ordinary shares on the NYSE American; |
● | the amount of redemptions made by public shareholders; |
● | 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 our initial public offering. |
Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. These risks and others described under “Risk Factors” may not be exhaustive.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. We caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and developments in the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this Report. In addition, even if our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and developments in the industry in which we operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this Report, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.
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SUMMARY OF RISK FACTORS
The following is a summary of the principal risks described below in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in this Report. We believe that the risks described in the “Risk Factors” section are material to investors, but other factors not presently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial may also adversely affect us. The following summary should not be considered an exhaustive summary of the material risks facing us, and it should be read in conjunction with the “Risk Factors” section and the other information contained in this Report:
● | Past performance of our management team, Catcha Group (“Catcha Group”), or their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us. |
● | Our shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our shareholders do not support such a combination. |
● | Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash. |
● | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote. |
● | The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target. |
● | The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure. |
● | The requirement that we consummate an initial business combination within 42 months after the closing of our initial public offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders. |
● | We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate. |
● | If the net proceeds of our initial offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate following the closing of our initial public offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and our ability to complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination. |
● | Our management concluded that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.” |
● | We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. |
● | NYSE American 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. |
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PART I
Item 1. Business
Introduction
We are a blank check company incorporated on December 17, 2020 as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Report as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us.
While we may pursue an acquisition or a business combination target in any business, industry, or geography, we focus our search on a target with operations or prospective operations in the technology, digital media, financial technology, or digital services sectors, which we refer to as the “new economy sectors”, across Asia Pacific.
Our team combines global industry knowledge with deep on-the-ground experience gained from a long history of operating and investing in new economy sectors in Asia. We believe that through their reputation and deep network of contacts, our team affords us with differentiated access to a wide range of investment opportunities in this space.
Our Sponsor
Founded in 1999 and led by Patrick Grove and Luke Elliott, our sponsor, Catcha Group, is one of the earliest and most established internet-focused investment groups in Southeast Asia and Australia. Headquartered in Singapore and Malaysia and with over 20 years of operating experience, Catcha Group has a strong focus and deep local understanding of the region. Since its inception, Catcha Group has made over 50 investments globally which are held directly or indirectly, and brought six digital business from their early stages to a public listing or sale, with an aggregate valuation of over $1 billion. These include iProperty Group, which was acquired by REA Group Limited in 2016, iCar Asia, which was acquired by Carsome in 2022, as well as Frontier Digital Ventures, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Business Combination Agreement
Proposed Business Combination
On August 3, 2023, we entered into a Business Combination Agreement (as amended on October 2, 2023, January 31, 2024, February 16, 2024 May 21, 2024 and June 11, 2024, the “Business Combination Agreement” and the transactions contemplated therein, collectively, the “Business Combination”) with Crown LNG Holding AS, a private limited liability company incorporated under the laws of Norway (“Crown”), Crown LNG Holdings Limited, a private limited company incorporated under the laws of Jersey, Channel Islands (“PubCo”), and CGT Merge II Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company limited by shares (“Merger Sub”). Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, Merger Sub will merge with and into Catcha (the “Merger”), with Catcha surviving as the surviving company and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of PubCo.
In connection with the Merger, each (a) of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary share will be converted into the right to receive one newly issued ordinary share, no par value, of PubCo (together, the “PubCo ordinary shares” and each individually, a “PubCo ordinary share”), (b) of our issued and outstanding Class B ordinary share will be converted into the right to receive one newly issued PubCo ordinary share, and (c) of our outstanding and unexercised public and private placement warrant shall be converted into a warrant to purchase a PubCo ordinary share (together, the “PubCo warrants” and each individually, a “PubCo warrant”).
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Following the Merger, subject to the terms and procedures set forth under the Business Combination Agreement, the Crown shareholders will transfer to PubCo, and PubCo will acquire from the Crown shareholders, all of the ordinary shares of Crown held by the shareholders in exchange for the issuance of PubCo ordinary shares (the “Exchange”). In consideration for such transfer, PubCo shall issue to each of the Crown shareholders its pro rata share of the exchange consideration, which is a number of newly issued PubCo ordinary shares equal to (a) a transaction value of $600 million divided by (b) a per share price of $10.00.
The terms of the Business Combination Agreement, which contains customary representations and warranties, covenants, closing conditions and other terms relating to the mergers and the other transactions contemplated thereby, are summarized below.
Representations, Warranties and Covenants
The parties to the Business Combination Agreement have agreed to customary representations and warranties for transactions of this type, which will not survive the closing. No party will have any liabilities to such other parties, other than claims for fraud, with respect to the making of its applicable representations and warranties. In addition, the parties agreed to be bound by certain covenants generally customary for transactions of this type, including, among others, covenants with respect to the conduct of business of Crown (including its subsidiaries) and Catcha during the period between execution of the Business Combination Agreement and the closing and a covenant by Crown to deliver to Catcha the draft financial statements no later than 15 days after the date of the Business Combination Agreement. Each of the parties has agreed to use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the Business Combination to be consummated after the date of the execution of the Business Combination Agreement in the most expeditious manner practicable.
Conditions to Closing
Under the Business Combination Agreement, the obligations of the parties (or, in some cases, some of the parties) to consummate the Business Combination are subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain regulatory or other customary closing conditions of the respective parties, including, without limitation: (i) the completion of the KGLNG Transaction and the GBTron Transaction (each as described in the Business Combination Agreement); (ii) the approval and adoption of the Business Combination Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby and certain other matters by the requisite vote of Catcha’s shareholders; (iii) the execution of the Registration Rights Agreement and the Lock-Up Agreement (each as described below); (iv) the effectiveness of the proxy statement / registration statement; (v) the approval of the listing of the shares of PubCo ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) or Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) or another national securities exchange acceptable to Crown; and (vi) Catcha having net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001.
Termination
The Business Combination Agreement may be terminated under certain customary circumstances at any time prior to the closing, including, without limitation, (i) upon the mutual written consent of Catcha and Crown, (ii) by either Catcha or Crown, if any of the conditions to the closing has not been satisfied or waived by June 28, 2024, (iii) by Catcha, on the one hand, or Crown, on the other hand, as a result of certain material breaches by the counterparties to the Business Combination Agreement that remain uncured after any applicable cure period, (iv) by either Catcha or Crown, if a governmental authority of competent jurisdiction shall have issued an order or taken any other action permanently prohibiting the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, (v) by Catcha, on the one hand, or Crown, on the other hand, as a result of the failure by the counterparties to obtain approvals required for the Business Combination, (vi) by Catcha, if there has been a material adverse effect on Crown and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, and (vii) by Crown in the event that prior to June 28, 2024, the parties do not receive notice from NASDAQ, NYSE American, or another national securities exchange acceptable to Crown, that the post-business combination public company common stock shall be approved for listing upon the closing of the Business Combination.
In addition, the non-solicitation provisions of the Business Combination Agreement were amended to expire on May 31, 2024, unless Crown has received notice that the post-business combination public company ordinary shares shall be approved for listing upon the closing of the Business Combination on Nasdaq, NYSE American or another national securities exchange acceptable to Crown.
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Other Agreements
The Business Combination Agreement contemplates the execution of various additional agreements and instruments, including, among others, as follows:
Registration Rights Agreement
The Business Combination Agreement contemplates that, as a condition to the closing, Catcha, Crown, PubCo, certain Crown shareholders, Catcha’s directors and officers and our sponsor will enter into the Registration Rights Agreement pursuant to which, among other things, PubCo will provide certain registration rights for the PubCo ordinary shares and PubCo warrants held by the applicable parties to the Registration Rights Agreement. In particular, PubCo shall file, in no event later than sixty (60) days after the closing, a registration statement for a shelf registration covering the resale of all registrable securities of the applicable holders. The holders are entitled to make up to three demands for shelf takedowns within any 12-month period, after the shelf has been declared effective. In addition, the holders have certain piggyback registration rights with respect to registration statements filed in connection with any PubCo’s registered offering of equity securities after the Business Combination, subject to certain exceptions.
Lock-Up Agreement
The Business Combination Agreement contemplates that, as a condition to the closing, Catcha, Crown, PubCo, certain Crown shareholders, our sponsor, and Crown’s and Catcha’s directors and officers will enter into the Lock-Up Agreement pursuant to which, among other things, the applicable parties will agree not to transfer, sell, assign or otherwise dispose of any PubCo’s equity securities held by such persons for 12 months following the closing, in each case subject to certain exceptions.
Exchange and Support Agreement
Concurrently with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, Catcha, PubCo, Crown and certain Crown shareholders entered into the Exchange and Support Agreement, pursuant to which, such Crown shareholders agreed to (i) exchange all of their Crown shares for PubCo ordinary shares as part of the Exchange, (ii) to vote their Crown shares in favor of the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement and (iii) to provide a power of attorney to Crown to take certain actions in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement on behalf of such Crown shareholders. The Crown Shareholders that are party to the Exchange and Support Agreement are expected to represent approximately 90% of issued and outstanding Crown shares immediately before the closing.
Shareholder Approval
On June 12, 2024, Catcha held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders pursuant to which the shareholders of record as of January 16, 2024 approved Catcha’s previously proposed Business Combination with Crown.
Our Competitive Advantages
Our Operating Excellence
Our team has a rich operating track record with demonstrated ability to launch, operate, and scale digital business, creating significant value for our stakeholders. We believe the collective experience of our team positions us uniquely to assess promising candidates and support companies to achieve their long-term objectives.
For example, in 2007, Catcha Group founded iProperty, an online real estate portal with presence across Southeast Asia, and exited in 2016 at a valuation of A $751 million, which was one of the largest exits in the region at the time. Leveraging insights from its experience with iProperty, Catcha Group founded Frontier Digital Ventures to establish leading online classifieds businesses in the other emerging markets across the world. Today, Frontier Digital Ventures has invested in a portfolio of online classifieds assets worth over US$750 million comprising of real estate, automotive and general classifieds platforms across Asia Pacific, Central and South America, and MENA. Catcha Group also founded iFlix in 2015, a video-on-demand platform focused on emerging markets in Asia and was acquired by Tencent Group in 2020. Another Catcha Group company, iCar Asia, has grown to become a leading online automotive-focused portal in Southeast Asia, and was acquired by Carsome for approximately $200 million.
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Our Sourcing Network
Our team has a rich and long track record as entrepreneurs, operators and investors providing them with deep understanding of the entrepreneurial journey. Our team is regarded as thought leaders and mentors with a long history of successfully helping other founders and businesses in the region develop and scale their businesses.
Our team has developed a large and deep network within the technology and digital ecosystem globally and across Asia Pacific, including strong relationships with many leading founders, executives, and investors. For example, Wild Digital Conference, which is a regional premier technology-focused conference organized by Catcha Group since 2015, saw participation from over 2,600 attendees in 2021.
Additionally, we leverage the extensive global network brought by members of our Board of Directors and Advisors. Their deep experience and reputation helps to position us well to source attractive prospects.
Our transaction experience
Our team includes seasoned dealmakers with experience in investments with a wide range of sizes and structures, across multiple macroeconomic and industry cycles. Catcha Group has invested in over 50 new economy companies, held either directly or indirectly and has conducted over 70 corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings and capital raisings over the last 20 years.
Our commitment to supporting our business combination partner
Our team is committed to ensuring the longer term success of the business combination partner we identify and pursue, and intend to bring our unique expertise to drive efficiencies following a business combination to steer our partner through their short-term and long-term challenges.
Our rich transaction and operating experience makes us well-suited to guide our partner through variety of macroeconomic and industry cycles as they build and scale their business, and help them assess potential strategic opportunities as the technology and competitive landscape continue to change. Our team is committed to leveraging its large network globally to help our partner companies find the best available talent and operate with excellence.
Having brought several companies public and with a successful track record as operators of public companies, our sponsor is well-positioned to lead our partner on their journey to public capital markets and guide them through the potential opportunities and challenges as a newly publicly listed company.
Our Management Team, Directors, and Advisors
Our officers, directors, and advisors consist of seasoned investors and industry executives with an extensive track record of identifying, investing in, building, operating, and advising leading businesses. In particular, the team possesses a deep understanding of the technology space and market opportunities globally and in our focus region. We believe our management team, together with the support of our advisors and directors, is well-positioned to identify and access a differentiated range of investment opportunities in the new economy sectors by capitalizing on their reputation and deep network of relationships.
Our management team and board of directors comprises of Patrick Grove, chairman of our board of directors and chief executive officer since our inception, Luke Elliott, director and president since our inception, Wai Kit Wong, chief financial officer, James A. Graf, independent director, Rick Hess, independent director, and Yaniv Ghitis, independent director. For more information on the experience and background of our team and directors, see “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance.”
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Our Business Strategy
While we may pursue an acquisition or a business combination target in any business, industry, or geography, we have focused our search on a target with operations or prospective operations in the technology, digital media sectors, financial technology, or digital services, which we refer to as the “new economy sectors,” across Asia Pacific. We believe that Asia Pacific will continue to enjoy an outsized growth trajectory, particularly in the new economy sectors, and that this will result in opportunities for attractive risk-adjusted returns from our initial business combination. We’ve focused on companies that complement the experience of our management team and that can benefit from the management team’s operational expertise. Our selection process has leveraged our management team’s and our sponsor’s broad and deep network of relationships, industry expertise, and proven deal-sourcing capabilities, providing us with a strong pipeline of potential targets. Our management and sponsor have experience in:
● | investing and building businesses in the new economy sectors; |
● | managing and operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, mentoring and recruiting top-notch talent; |
● | developing and growing companies, both organically and inorganically, and expanding the product ranges and geographic footprints of portfolio businesses; |
● | executing merger and acquisition strategies to accelerate growth and create integrated value chains; |
● | sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses in various markets; |
● | partnering with other industry-leading companies to increase sales and improve the competitive position of companies; |
● | fostering relationships with users, sellers, capital providers and target management teams; and |
● | accessing the capital markets across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with the transition to public ownership. |
Business Combination Criteria
Consistent with our business strategy, we have focused on businesses with:
● | Operations or prospects in new economy sectors in Southeast Asia and Australia. Based upon our management team’s experience, we have increased access to investment opportunities and a competitive advantage in our ability to negotiate a business combination with potential targets in Southeast Asia and Australia’s new economy sectors. Our management team’s extensive experience and network of contacts provides them with an opportunity to source a target, evaluate a target, consummate a business combination with the target and help grow the target’s business. |
● | Strong management team and culture. We intend to acquire one or more businesses that have strong management teams with a proven track record of driving growth, building long-term competitive advantage and making sound strategic decisions, as well as operating with a transparent corporate culture anchored in strong values. |
● | Large addressable markets. We intend to invest in one or more businesses that address a large market that creates the opportunity for attractive long-term growth prospects. |
● | Scalability. We seek to invest in one or more businesses that will be able to significantly scale their operations to take advantage of their opportunities. We intend to leverage our experience in scaling businesses in order to help accelerate growth. |
● | Sound fundamentals with the potential to further improve their performance under our ownership. We believe our management team’s experience in our target sectors as well as their network of industry contacts will create opportunities to enhance the revenue and operational efficiencies of the target business, and potentially generate higher returns for our investors. |
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● | Market leadership. We intend to seek one or more targets that have a leading presence across an industry or segment or have leading technology or product capabilities. |
● | Appropriate valuations. We are a disciplined and valuation-centric investor that will invest on terms that we believe are attractive relative to market comparables and intrinsic value that provide significant upside potential. |
● | Opportunities for inorganic growth. We seek companies that can serve as a platform for future synergistic acquisitions, and can benefit from the public currency afforded by access to equity capital markets. |
We used these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, though we may decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines.
Our Business Combination Process
In evaluating Crown and other prospective target businesses, we conducted a thorough due diligence review that encompassed, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as reviewing financial and other information that were made available to us. We also utilized our operational and capital allocation experience.
Our acquisition criteria, due diligence processes, and value creation methods are not exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this Report, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Initial Business Combination
The rules of the NYSE require that 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 (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust). We refer to this as the “80% of net assets test.” 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. Additionally, pursuant to NYSE rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm, another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying for a target is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the business judgment of our board of directors, which will have significant discretion in choosing the standard used to establish the fair market value of the target or targets, and different methods of valuation may vary greatly in outcome from one another. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
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We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons. However, we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and 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 (the “Investment Company Act”). Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding capital stock, shares, and/or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If 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. We intend to satisfy the 80% requirement even if our securities are not listed on the NYSE at the time of our initial business combination.
We filed 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 are 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.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure makes us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock, shares or other equity interests in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method to be a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.
While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds makes us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
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Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
● | subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination; and |
● | cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services. |
Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of Crown or any other prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge, or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, subject to the provisions of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
Under NYSE listing rules, shareholder approval would typically be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
● | we issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our ordinary shares then-outstanding (other than in a public offering); |
● | any of our officers, directors or substantial security holders (as defined by the NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise, and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in issued and outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 1% or more (or 5% or more if the related party involved is classified as such solely because such person is a substantial security holder); or |
● | the issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control. |
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The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
● | the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company; |
● | the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote; |
● | the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination; |
● | other time and budget constraints of the company; and |
● | additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders. |
Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material non-public information), our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or 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, they have no current commitments, plans, or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
In the event that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors, or their affiliates purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial 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.
The purpose of any such transaction could be to (i) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (ii) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination, or (iii) 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 purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates may identify the shareholders with whom they may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of tender offer or proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination, but only if such shares have not already been voted at the general meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors, or their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will be restricted from purchasing shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
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Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. We expect any such purchases would be reported by such person pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon the Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There were no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Further, we will not proceed with redeeming our public shares, even if a public shareholder has properly elected to redeem its shares, if a business combination does not close. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). However, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes, or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on NYSE, we will be required to comply with the NYSE rules.
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If we held a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will, pursuant to our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
● | conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
● | file proxy materials with the SEC. |
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon the completion of our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the ordinary shares represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon and who vote at a general meeting. In such case, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, as of June 10, 2024, in addition to the founder shares, we would need none (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted), of the public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. On June 12, 2024, such shareholder approval was obtained at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to approve our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors 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 public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
● | conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and |
● | file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination, which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
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 Class A ordinary shares 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 shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.
Shareholder Approval
On June 12, 2024, Catcha held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders pursuant to which the shareholders of record as of January 16, 2024 approved Catcha’s previously proposed Business Combination with Crown..
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Limitation on Redemption upon the Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, then, pursuant to our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares, as defined below) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
Public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/ Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
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The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the general meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming shareholder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, unless otherwise agreed to by us. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination
Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that we have until 42 months after the closing of our initial public offering to consummate an initial business combination. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 42 months from our initial public offering, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject, in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There are no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 42 month from the closing of our initial public offering. Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
Our sponsor, officers and directors 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 they hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period (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).
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations set forth in “Limitations on redemptions.” However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsor, officer, director or any other person.
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On February 14, 2023, we held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “First Extraordinary General Meeting”), where the shareholders approved a proposal (the “Trust Amendment Proposal”) to amend our investment management trust agreement, dated as of February 11, 2021 (the “IMTA”), by and between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (“CST”), to extend the date by which the we have to consummate a business combination from February 17, 2023 to February 17, 2024 or such earlier date as is determined by our board of directors (such date, the “Extended Date”). Following such approval by our shareholders, we and CST entered into the Amendment No. 1 to the IMTA on February 14, 2023 (the “IMTA Amendment No. 1”).
At the First Extraordinary General Meeting, our shareholders also approved an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which the Company has to consummate a business combination from February 17, 2023 to the Extended Date.
In connection with the votes taken at the First Extraordinary General Meeting, holders of 27,785,141 of our Class A ordinary shares properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $10.18 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $282,903,643.31. The funds were redeemed from the Trust Account on February 23, 2023.
On February 16, 2024, we held another extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Second Extraordinary General Meeting”), at which the shareholders approved to extend the date by which the Company has to consummate the Business Combination from February 17, 2024 up to three times by one month each to March 17, 2024, April 17, 2024, or May 17, 2024, subject to that our sponsor, or one or more of its affiliates, members or third-party designees (the “Lender”), will deposit into the Trust Account for each month $0.03 for each then-outstanding ordinary share issued in the Company’s initial public offering that is not redeemed, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by the Company to the Lender. At the Second Extraordinary General Meeting, our shareholders approved a proposal to approve a special resolution to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to provide our board of directors the ability to extend the date by which we must (1) consummate an initial business combination, (2) cease our operations except for the purpose of winding up if we fail to complete such business combination, and (3) redeem all of our Class A ordinary shares included as part of the units sold in our initial public offering that was consummated on February 17, 2021 from February 17, 2024 up to three times by one month each to March 17, 2024, April 17, 2024, or May 17, 2024. In addition, our shareholders approved a proposal to approve a special resolution to amend the Trust Agreement to extend the date on which Continental must liquidate the Trust Account if Catcha has not completed its initial business combination, up to three times for one month each from February 17, 2024 to March 17, 2024, April 17, 2024, or May 17, 2024.
In connection with the votes taken at the Second Extraordinary General Meeting on February 16, 2024, holders of an additional 641,303 of our Class A ordinary shares properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $11.29 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $7,241,004. The funds were redeemed from the Trust Account on February 23, 2024.
In connection with the votes taken at the Third Extraordinary General Meeting on May 15, 2024, holders of 208,674 of our Class A ordinary shares properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $11.52 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $2,403,928. The funds were redeemed from the Trust Account on May 20, 2024.
On May 15, 2024, we held another extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Third Extraordinary General Meeting”), at which the shareholders approved to extend the date by which the Company has to consummate the Business Combination from May 17, 2024 up to three times by one month each to June 17, 2024, July 17, 2024, or August 17, 2024, subject to that our sponsor, or one or more of its affiliates, members or third-party designees (the “Lender”), will deposit into the Trust Account for each month $0.03 for each then-outstanding ordinary share issued in the Company’s initial public offering that is not redeemed, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by the Company to the Lender. At the Third Extraordinary General Meeting, our shareholders approved a proposal to approve a special resolution to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to provide our board of directors the ability to extend the date by which we must (1) consummate an initial business combination, (2) cease our operations except for the purpose of winding up if we fail to complete such business combination, and (3) redeem all of our Class A ordinary shares included as part of the units sold in our initial public offering that was consummated on February 17, 2021 from May 17, 2024 up to three times by one month each to June 17, 2024, July 17, 2024, or August 17, 2024. In addition, our shareholders approved a proposal to approve a special resolution to amend the Trust Agreement to extend the date on which Continental must liquidate the Trust Account if Catcha has not completed its initial business combination, up to three times for one month each from June 17, 2024, July 17, 2024, or August 17, 2024.
On June 12, 2024, Catcha held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Fourth Extraordinary General Meeting”) pursuant to which the shareholders of record as of January 16, 2024 approved Catcha’s previously proposed Business Combination with Crown. In connection with the votes taken at this Extraordinary General Meeting, Catcha has received elections from certain holders of our Class A ordinary shares to exercise their right to redeem their shares for cash. As of the date of these financial statements, such elections are still within the time frame when such requests can be rescinded; thus the final redemption payout has not yet been determined.
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 held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose.
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If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors, which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities (other than our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm) with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will 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. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third-party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party for services rendered or products sold to us (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations, and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest that may be withdrawn to pay our income tax obligations, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per public share.
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We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $1,000,000 of the proceeds held in the trust account. In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors, however such liability will not be greater than the amount of funds from our trust account received by any such shareholder.
If we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you that we will be able to return $10.00 per public share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public shareholders are entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating, and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies, and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human, and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses is limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
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Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at 3 Raffles Place #06-01, Bharat Building, Singapore 048617. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space and administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have four executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
Our units, Class A ordinary shares, and warrants are registered 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 accountants.
We have already evaluated our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley Act”). Refer to the discussion below under “Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.” 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. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the 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 date of this Report, we filed 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 are 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 a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with the Tax Concessions Law of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of any relevant payment as defined in the Tax Concessions Law.
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We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 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 Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30 and (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30. 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.
Available Information
Our website address is https://www.catchagroup.com/. In addition to the information about us and our business contained in this Report, information about us can be found on our website. The information on our website is not a part of this Report and is included herein as an inactive textual reference only.
Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports (including exhibits) filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act are available free of charge through our website at https://www.catchagroup.com/chaa/ as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Additionally, the SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information. The address of the SEC’s website is www.sec.gov.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Report, including the financial statements. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition or results of operation may be materially and adversely affected. The risks described below are not necessarily exhaustive and you are encouraged to perform your own investigation with respect to us and our business.
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Risks Relating to our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
Our shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote before we complete our initial business combination if the business combination would not require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. For instance, if we were seeking to acquire a target business where the consideration we were paying in the transaction was all cash, we would typically not be required to seek shareholder approval to complete such a transaction. Except for as required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder approval. Accordingly, 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 shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Our initial shareholders owned, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares immediately following the completion of our initial public offering. As of June 12, 2024, our initial shareholders own approximately 84% of our outstanding ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. As a result, in addition to the shares held by our Sponsor, we would need no other shares in order to have our initial business combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders are entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants do not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
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The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If a large number of shares are submitted for redemption, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for additional third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
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The requirement that we consummate an initial business combination within 42 months after the closing of our initial public offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must consummate an initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering unless we obtain the required shareholder vote for any Extension Period. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate an initial business combination. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including, as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within such applicable time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject, in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law. In either such case, our public shareholders may receive only the cash available in trust on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such period before redemption from our trust account.
If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination and do not amend certain provisions of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or warrants, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions.
In the event that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the 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 purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or 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. 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.
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If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly redeem or tender public shares. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed.
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 target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies preparing for an initial public offering, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. 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 and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
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 have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our 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 are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable is limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
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If the net proceeds of our initial offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate following the closing of our initial public offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and our ability to complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
As of December 31, 2023, we had $30,850 available to us outside of the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that the funds available to us outside of the trust account, together with funds available from loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team, will be sufficient to allow us to operate for 42 months following the closing of our initial public offering; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate, and our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team are under no obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Of the funds available to us, we expect to use a portion of the funds to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, its affiliates, members of our management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor their affiliates is under any obligation to us in such circumstances. Any such advances may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon the completion of our initial business combination.
If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per public share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our management concluded that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. If the estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate the business prior to our business combination. Moreover, we will need to raise additional capital through loans from our sponsor, officers, directors, or third parties. None of our sponsor, officers or directors are under any obligation to advance funds to, or to invest in us. We cannot provide any assurance that new financing will be available to us on commercially acceptable terms, if at all. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of time within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued.
In addition, if we are not able to consummate a business combination before June 17, 2024, or, if our Sponsor deposits additional funds into the Trust Account for one or two additional one-month extensions, July 17, 2024 or August 17, 2024, as applicable, we will commence an automatic winding up, dissolution and liquidation. Management has determined that the automatic liquidation, should a business combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution also raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this Annual Report do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate a business combination or our inability to continue as a going concern.
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We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or if the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our officers and directors who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable for a fine of $18,293 and imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
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 NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to appoint directors and to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term.
We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors that may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s area of expertise if a business combination target is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination target, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this Report regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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Unlike some other similarly structured blank check companies, our sponsor will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we do not consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon the completion of our initial public offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued by the company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued or to be issued to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, its affiliates or any members of our management team upon conversion of working capital loans, unless the holders of a majority of the then-outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such adjustment with respect to such issuance or deemed issuance at the time thereof. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one-to-one. This is different than some other similarly structured blank check companies in which initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination. In connection with the votes taken at the First, Second and Third Extraordinary General Meetings, the holders of an aggregate of 28,635,118 Class A ordinary shares properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash. The balance in the Trust Account was approximately $15.79 million as of June 11, 2024.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through our initial public offering, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities.
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Our sponsor controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our initial shareholders own approximately 84% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our sponsor purchases any units in our initial public offering or if our sponsor purchases any additional Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase its control. Neither our sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Report. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our sponsor, is divided into three classes, each of which generally serves 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 election and our sponsor, because of its ownership position, will control the outcome, as only holders of our Class B ordinary shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors and to remove directors prior to our initial business combination. Accordingly, our sponsor will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our officers and directors will live outside the U.S. and all of our assets will be located outside the U.S.; therefore, investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our officers and directors will reside outside of the U.S. and all of our assets will be located outside of the U.S. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the U.S. to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our officers or directors or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our officers and directors under U.S. laws.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the U.S. securities laws. However, because we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,001 upon the completion of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and we filed a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means that since our units were immediately tradable, we have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our initial public offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would have prohibited the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.
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Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs or incur restructuring, 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 diligence will identify all material issues with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and may 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 holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value, unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to such holders, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under the securities laws that the tender offer materials or proxy statement related to our initial business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per 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, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will 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.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third-party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the ten years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to a letter agreement, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party (other than our independent registered public 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 amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
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However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations, and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per public share.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy or insolvency court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
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Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
We may pursue business combination opportunities in any sector, except that we are not, under our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such 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 guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an investment banking firm or another independent entity, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
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We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after the completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2023, there are 497,785,141 and 42,500,000 authorized but unissued share of our Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares, if any. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we do not consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described herein and in our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. There are no preference shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after the completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with our redeeming the warrants or upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth herein. However, our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides, among other things, that prior to or in connection with our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination or on any other proposal presented to shareholders prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. These provisions of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:
● | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in our initial public offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
● | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
● | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; |
● | may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; |
● | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and |
● | may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants. |
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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 have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents, and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate a business combination, require substantial financial and management resources and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2023. 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 the 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.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications, or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources, or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications, or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Report to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following our initial public offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers and directors 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; |
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● | 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 Class A ordinary shares; |
● | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
● | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
● | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
● | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business that may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants provided us $300,000,000 that we may use to complete our initial business combination.
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single-target business or multiple-target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive, and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities that 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.
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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 (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.
Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, US GAAP or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
● | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
● | restrictions on the issuance of securities, |
each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may be subject to burdensome requirements, including:
● | registration as an investment company with the SEC; |
● | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
● | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to. |
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In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business is to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our principal activities subjects us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act that invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act.
An investment in our securities is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares; or (iii) absent our completing an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
The provisions of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares (and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of a special resolution, which requires the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter that prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those that relate to the rights of a company’s shareholders, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s shareholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s shareholders. Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that any of its provisions related to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our initial public offering and the placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, meaning holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our ordinary shares participated in the vote, provided that the provisions of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association governing the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination may only be amended by a special resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at our general meeting. Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees, if any, who collectively beneficially own, 84% of our ordinary shares, will participate in any vote to amend our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
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Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, executive officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants is sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment may make it difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors, or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
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We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened, and the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this Report, or defective provision, (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement, or (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
If our initial business combination is subject to CFIUS jurisdiction, the initial business combination may not be able to be completed prior to Catcha’s deadline for completing an initial business combination, or CFIUS could impose conditions on the initial business combination or our investors.
Certain investments that involve the acquisition of, or investment in, a “U.S. business” by a non-U.S. individual or entity (a “foreign person”) may be subject to review and approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). Whether CFIUS has jurisdiction to review an acquisition or investment transaction depends on the nationality of the buyer or investor, the extent to which the target of the investment or acquisition is engaged in interstate commerce in the United States, and the nature of the interests and rights afforded to the buyer or investor in the target entity. For example, transactions that result in “control” of a U.S. business by a foreign person always are subject to CFIUS jurisdiction. CFIUS also has jurisdiction to review non-control transactions that afford a foreign person certain information and/or governance rights in a U.S. business that has a qualifying nexus to “critical technologies,” “critical infrastructure,” and/or “sensitive personal data” (collectively, a “TID U.S. business”) as those terms are defined in the CFIUS regulations. Certain foreign person investments in TID U.S. businesses may also be subject to mandatory pre-closing CFIUS filing requirements. Failure to make a required CFIUS filing may subject the transacting parties to significant civil fines.
Crown is unlikely to be a “U.S. business” (i.e., an entity engaged in interstate commerce in the United States) given its limited nexus to the United States. However, Catcha and its sponsor may each be regarded as a “foreign person” for CFIUS purposes. The sponsor is managed by non-U.S. persons. Accordingly, because CFIUS retains broad discretion in determining whether an entity is a “foreign person” and/or a “U.S. business,” Pubco, Catcha and Crown are unable to assure that the Business Combination would not be subject to CFIUS jurisdiction.
This risk of CFIUS intervention could impede the relevant parties’ ability to complete the Business Combination. CFIUS policies and practices are rapidly evolving, and in the event of a CFIUS review of a foreign acquisition or investment transaction, there can be no assurances that the foreign buyer or investor will be able to maintain, or proceed with, such transactions on terms acceptable to the parties. For example, CFIUS could seek to impose limits on purchasing Pubco’s stock, impose limits on information sharing with foreign person investors, require a voting trust or governance modifications, or force divestiture by certain investors, among other things. CFIUS may also prohibit the consummation of the Business Combination altogether should it determine that the transaction presents a significant national security risk. Even if we are able to successfully resolve questions of CFIUS jurisdiction or of national security risks in a favorable manner, we may be unable to do so prior to Catcha’s deadline for completion of an initial business combination. This delay may thus force Catcha to wind up and redeem all public shares and completely liquidate, which would result in shareholders being forced to forgo the investment opportunity in Crown, lose out on potential price appreciation in the combined company, and lead to the expiration of warrants in connection with the transaction.
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Risks Related to our Securities
The securities in which we invest the proceeds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the interest income available for payment of taxes or reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The net proceeds of our initial public offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants, in the amount of $300,000,000, may only be invested in direct the United States Department of Treasury (“U.S. Treasury”) obligations having a maturity of 185 days or less, or in certain money market funds that invest only in direct U.S. Treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. Treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we may withdraw to pay income taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income. If the balance of the trust account is reduced below $275,000,000 as a result of negative interest rates, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, then, pursuant to our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And, as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
NYSE American may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our ordinary shares are listed on NYSE American. We cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on NYSE American in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on NYSE American prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum market capitalization (generally $25,000,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders).
Section 119(b) of the NYSE American Company Guide requires that a special purpose acquisition company complete one or more business combinations within 36 months of the effectiveness of its initial public offering registration statement, which, in the case of Catcha, would be February 17, 2024. The extension of Catcha’s termination date beyond February 17, 2024 exceeds the maximum 36 month period permitted by Section 119(b) of the NYSE American Company Guide.
On February 20, 2024, the Company received a letter from the NYSE American LLC (“NYSE American” or the “Exchange”) stating that the staff of NYSE Regulation has determined to commence proceedings to delist Catcha’s Class A ordinary shares pursuant to Sections 119(b) and 119(f) of the NYSE American Company Guide because the Company failed to consummate a Business Combination within 36 months of the effectiveness of its Initial Public Offering registration statement, or such shorter period that the Company specified in its registration statement.
On February 23, 2024, the Company submitted a written request to NYSE asking for the review of the delisting determination by a Committee of the Board of Directors of the Exchange. Up to the date the financial statements were issued, the Company’s Class A ordinary shares have not been suspended and will continue to trade.
The Company has an NYSE appeal hearing scheduled for July 17, 2024.
If our Class A Ordinary Shares are de-listed, there may no longer be an active trading market for such Class A Ordinary Shares. In addition, the potential or actual de-listing of the Catcha Class A Ordinary Shares may also adversely affect our ability to consummate an initial business combination.
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If NYSE American delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our 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 ordinary shares are a “penny stock,” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
● | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
● | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our ordinary shares are listed on NYSE American, they qualify as covered securities under the 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 NYSE American, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
Provisions in our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors, the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of our Class B ordinary shares, which have been issued to our sponsor, are entitled to vote on the appointment of directors, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Our warrant agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement do not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Accordingly, our exclusive forum provision does not relieve us of our duties to comply with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder, and holders of our warrants are not deemed to have waived our compliance with these laws, rules and regulations. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the issuance of such shares, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or 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, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, in which case, the number of Class A ordinary shares that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum amount of shares equal to 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment). However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of 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 file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. Exercising the warrants on a cashless basis could have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in our initial public offering. In such an instance, our sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our officers and directors) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth herein even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
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The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, and you will not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within 20 business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth herein even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants, or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price, which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, provided that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met, including that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (i) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (ii) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us (except as set forth under Exhibit 4.2 “Description of Registrant’s Securities” filed herewith) so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 10,000,000 of our Class A ordinary shares as part of the units offered in our initial public offering and, simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, the company consummated a private placement sale of an aggregate of 5,333,333 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. In addition, if the sponsor, its affiliates, or a member of our management team makes any working capital loans, it may convert up to $1,500,000 of such loans into up to an additional 1,000,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant.
To the extent we issue ordinary shares for any reason, including to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
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Because each unit contains one-third of one redeemable warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit contains one-third of one redeemable warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one whole warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon the completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if a unit included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike most blank check companies, if (i) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 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.
The grant of registration rights to our sponsor may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our securities that is expected when the securities owned by our sponsor or its permitted transferees are registered for resale.
Risks Related to Our Sponsor and Management Team
We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our executive officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our executive officers or directors. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our executive officers or directors could have a detrimental effect on us.
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Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management, director or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and, as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. In addition, pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement, our sponsor, upon and following the consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for appointment of our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon the completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs, which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
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Our officers and directors presently have, or may in the future have, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses or entities. Our officers and directors presently have, or may in the future have, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors presently are, or may in the future become affiliated with other blank check companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to such other blank check companies prior to its presentation to us, subject to our officers’ and directors’ fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as an officer or a director shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other hand.
Our executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our executive officers, directors, security holders, or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our executive officers’ and directors’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors. Our directors also serve as executive officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Management-Conflicts of Interest.” Our sponsor, executive officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, executive 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 and guidelines for a business combination and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers 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 shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
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Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. Upon the loss of control of a target business, new management may not possess the skills, qualifications, or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-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-business combination company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for their shares of stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger portion of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
Since our sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they have acquired during or may acquire after our initial public offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On December 28, 2020, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in consideration of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. On February 11, 2021, we effected a share capitalization resulting in our sponsor holding an additional 718,750 Class B ordinary shares for an aggregate of 7,906,250 of Class B ordinary shares. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering our sponsor also purchased an aggregate of 5,333,333 private placement warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $8,000,000, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. In addition, pursuant to the Convertible Promissory Notes described below under “Promissory Notes-Related Party,” such loans may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into private placement warrants. If we do not consummate an initial business combination within 42 months from the closing of our initial public offering, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 39-month anniversary of the closing of our initial public offering nears, which is the deadline for our consummation of an initial business combination subject to further extensions.
General Risk Factors
Past performance of our management team, Catcha Group or their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.
Information regarding performance is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience or performance of our management team, Catcha Group or their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) our ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (ii) success with respect to any business combination that we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team, Catcha Group or their respective affiliates as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. Our management has no experience in operating special purpose acquisition companies.
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Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption, and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications, and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early-stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We also lack sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have material adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional, and local governments. In particular, we are required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments, and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
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,” which could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
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Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 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 Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30 and (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30. 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.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our officers or directors, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our officers or directors.
Our corporate affairs are governed by our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We are also subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Cayman Islands would (i) recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; or (ii) entertain original actions brought in the Cayman Islands predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction at common law any re-examination of the merits of the underlying dispute provided that such judgment (i) is given by a foreign court of competent jurisdiction, (ii) imposes on the judgment debtor a liability to pay a liquidated sum for which the judgment has been given, (iii) is final, (iv) is not in the nature of taxes, a fine, or a penalty; and (v) was not obtained in a manner and is not of a kind the enforcement of which is contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands. However, there is uncertainty with regard to Cayman Islands law on whether judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any State will be determined by the courts of the Cayman Islands penal or punitive in nature. If such a determination is made, the courts of the Cayman Islands will not recognize or enforce the judgment against a Cayman Islands company, such as our company. Because such a determination in relation to judgments obtained from U.S. courts under civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws has not yet been made by a court of the Cayman Islands, it is uncertain whether such judgments would be enforceable in the Cayman Islands. A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
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Since only holders of our founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors NYSE may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
Only holders of our founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, NYSE may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards. Under the NYSE corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
● | we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of NYSE; |
● | we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and |
● | we have a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities. |
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of NYSE, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. Holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception. Depending on the particular circumstances, the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon written request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. investors to consult their tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders or warrant holders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Act, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay such taxes. Shareholders or warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
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Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
● | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations; |
● | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
● | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
● | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
● | exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
● | tariffs and trade barriers; |
● | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
● | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
● | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
● | longer payment cycles; |
● | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
● | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
● | rates of inflation; |
● | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
● | cultural and language differences; |
● | employment regulations; |
● | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
● | corruption; |
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● | protection of intellectual property; |
● | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
● | regime changes and political upheaval; |
● | terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; and |
● | deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Corporate governance standards in Southeast Asian countries may not be as strict or developed as in the United States and such weakness may hide issues and operational practices that are detrimental to a target business.
General corporate governance standards in Southeast Asian countries are weaker than those in the United States. This could result in unfavorable related party transactions, over-leveraging, improper accounting, family company interconnectivity and poor management. Local laws often do not go far enough to prevent improper business practices. Therefore, shareholders may not be treated impartially and equally as a result of poor management practices, asset shifting, conglomerate structures that result in preferential treatment to some parts of the overall company, and cronyism. The lack of transparency and ambiguity in the regulatory process also may result in inadequate credit evaluation and weakness that may precipitate or encourage financial crisis. In our evaluation of a business combination we will have to evaluate the corporate governance of a target and the business environment, and in accordance with United States laws for reporting companies take steps to implement practices that will cause compliance with all applicable rules and accounting practices. Notwithstanding these intended efforts, there may be endemic practices and local laws that could add risk to an investment we ultimately make and that result in an adverse effect on our operations and financial results.
If the government of the country in which we effect our initial business combination finds that the agreements we entered into to acquire control of a target business through contractual arrangements with one or more operating businesses do not comply with local governmental restrictions on foreign investment, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to significant penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.
Some countries in Asia currently prohibit and/or restrict foreign ownership in certain “important industries,” including telecommunications, food production, and heavy equipment. There are uncertainties under certain regulations whether obtaining a majority interest through contractual arrangements will comply with regulations prohibiting or restricting foreign ownership in certain industries. In addition, there can be restrictions on the foreign ownership of businesses that are determined from time to time to be in “important industries” that may affect the national economic security or those having “famous brand names” or “well-established brand names.”
If we or any of our potential future target businesses are found to be in violation of any existing or future local laws or regulations (for example, if we are deemed to be holding equity interests in certain of our affiliated entities in which direct foreign ownership is prohibited), the relevant regulatory authorities might have the discretion to:
revoke the business and operating licenses of the potential future target business;
● | confiscate relevant income and impose fines and other penalties; |
● | discontinue or restrict the operations of the potential future target business; |
● | require us or the potential future target business to restructure the relevant ownership structure or operations; |
● | restrict or prohibit our use of the proceeds of our initial public offering to finance our businesses and operations in the relevant jurisdiction; or |
● | impose conditions or requirements with which we or the potential future target business may not be able to comply. |
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Many of the economies in Asia are experiencing substantial inflationary pressures, which may prompt the governments to take action to control the growth of the economy and inflation that could lead to a significant decrease in our profitability following our initial business combination.
While many of the economies in Asia have experienced rapid growth over the last two decades, they have also experienced inflationary pressures. As governments take steps to address inflationary pressures, there may be significant changes in the availability of bank credits, interest rates, limitations on loans, restrictions on currency conversions and foreign investment. There also may be imposition of price controls. If prices for the products of our ultimate target business rise at a rate that is insufficient to compensate for the rise in the costs of supplies, it may have an adverse effect on our profitability. If these or other similar restrictions are imposed by a government to influence the economy, it may lead to a slowing of economic growth. Because we are not limited to any specific industry, the ultimate industry that we operate in may be affected more severely by such a slowing of economic growth.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues that may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in any such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political, and social conditions and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political, and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy, and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following the consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities, or capital.
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We are subject to changing laws and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure, which have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to laws and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which is charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from seeking a business combination target.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations, and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
Risks Associated with Our Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023. If we are unable to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our management is likewise required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation in those internal controls. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
As described elsewhere in this Annual Report, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2023, due to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting related to accounting for complex financial instruments. In light of this material weaknesses, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our audited financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
Any failure to maintain such internal control could adversely impact our ability to report our financial position and results from operations on a timely and accurate basis. If our financial statements are not accurate, investors may not have a complete understanding of our operations. Likewise, if our financial statements are not filed on a timely basis, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the stock exchange on which our ordinary shares are listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. In either case, there could result a material adverse effect on our business. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock.
We can give no assurance that the measures we have taken and plan to take in the future will remediate the material weaknesses identified or that any additional material weaknesses or restatements of financial results will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention of these controls. In addition, even if we are successful in strengthening our controls and procedures, in the future those controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of our financial statements.
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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity
As a blank check company, we do not have any operations and our sole business activity has been to search for and consummate an initial business combination. However, because we have investments in our trust account and bank deposits and we depend on the digital technologies of third parties, we and third parties may be subject to attacks on or security breaches in our or their systems. Because of our reliance on the technologies of third parties, we also depend upon the personnel and the processes of third parties to protect against cybersecurity threats, and we have no personnel or processes of our own for this purpose.
In the event of a cybersecurity incident impacting us, our management team will report to the Company’s board of directors and provide updates on our management team’s incident response plan for addressing and mitigating any risks associated with such an incident. As an early-stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We also lack sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have material adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss. For more information about the cybersecurity risks we face, see the risk factor entitled “General Risk Factors - Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption, and/or financial loss” in Item 1A. Risk Factors. As of the date of this Annual Report, we have not encountered any cybersecurity incidents since our initial public offering.
Item 2. Properties
We currently maintain our principal executive offices at 3 Raffles Place #06-01, Bharat Building, Singapore, Singapore 048617. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space and administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
To the knowledge of our management, there is no litigation currently pending or contemplated against us, any of our officers or directors in their capacity as such or against any of our property.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
(a) Market Information
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants began trading on the NYSE under the symbols “CHAA,” “CHAA.U” and “CHAA WS,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on February 12, 2021. Our Class A ordinary shares and warrants began trading on April 5, 2021.
On November 4, 2022, the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) notified the Company, and publicly announced, that the NYSE determined to commence proceedings to delist the Company’s warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share and listed to trade on NYSE under the symbol “CHAA WS”, from the NYSE and that trading in the Warrants would be suspended immediately, due to “abnormally low” trading price levels pursuant to Section 802.01D of the NYSE Listed Company Manual. The public warrants began to trade over-the counter (OTC) since then.
On March 23, 2023, the Company received approval to transfer the listing of Class A ordinary shares from the NYSE to the NYSE American and on March 28, 2023, the Class A ordinary shares began trading on the NYSE American under the symbol “CHAA”. In connection with the transfer, effective March 28, 2023, any remaining units were mandatorily separated into its component parts and the units are no longer traded on the NYSE.
On February 20, 2024, the Company received a letter from the NYSE American LLC (“NYSE American” or the “Exchange”) stating that the staff of NYSE Regulation has determined to commence proceedings to delist Catcha’s Class A ordinary shares pursuant to Sections 119(b) and 119(f) of the NYSE American Company Guide because the Company failed to consummate a Business Combination within 36 months of the effectiveness of its Initial Public Offering registration statement, or such shorter period that the Company specified in its registration statement.
On February 23, 2024, the Company submitted a written request to NYSE asking for the review of the delisting determination by a Committee of the Board of Directors of the Exchange. Up to the date the financial statements were issued, the Company’s Class A ordinary shares have not been suspended and will continue to trade.
On April 17, 2024, the Company received a written notice from NYSE American indicating that the Company was not in compliance with NYSE American’s continued listing standards because the Company did not timely file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 (the “Form 10-K”), which was due on April 16, 2024.
In accordance with Section 1007 of the NYSE American Company Guide, the Company will have six months from April 16, 2024 (the “Initial Cure Period”), to file the Form 10-K with the SEC. If the Company fails to file the Form 10-K during the Initial Cure Period, NYSE American may, in its sole discretion, provide an additional six-month cure period (the “Additional Cure Period”). The Company can regain compliance with the Exchange’s continued listing standards at any time during the Initial Cure Period or Additional Cure Period, as applicable, by filing the Form 10-K and any subsequent delayed filings with the SEC.
The Company has an NYSE appeal hearing scheduled for July 17, 2024.
(b) Holders
As of June 17, 2024, there were no holders of record of our units, 4 holders of record of our Class A ordinary shares, 215 holders of our Class B ordinary shares, and 2 holders of our warrants.
(c) Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we increase the size of our initial public offering, we will effect a share capitalization or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of our initial public offering in such amount as to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (excluding the private placement shares underlying the private placement units) upon the consummation of our initial public offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with a business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
(d) Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
(e) Performance Graph
Not applicable.
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(f) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings.
On February 17, 2021, we consummated our Initial Public Offering of 30,000,000 Units, inclusive of 2,500,000 Units sold to the underwriters exercising their over-allotment option. The Units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating total gross proceeds of $300,000,000. Each Unit consisted of one Class A ordinary share of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share, and one-third of one redeemable warrant of the Company. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as book-running manager of the offering. The securities sold in the offering were registered under the Securities Act on a registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-252389). The SEC declared the registration statement effective on February 11, 2021.
Simultaneously with the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated a private placement of 5,333,333 Private Placement Warrants to our Sponsor at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, generating total proceeds of $8,000,000. Such securities were issued pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
The Private Placement Warrants are the same as the warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that Private Placement Warrants are not transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants are exercisable on a cashless basis and are non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees.
Of the gross proceeds received from the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement Warrants, $300,000,000 was placed in the Trust Account.
We paid a total of $6,000,000 underwriting discounts and commissions and $531,183 for other costs and expenses related to the Initial Public Offering. On August 10, 2023, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, the underwriter in the IPO, waived its entitlement to the payment of $10,500,000 deferred underwriting fee in connection with its role as underwriter in the Company’s IPO.
In connection with the votes taken at the First Extraordinary General Meeting, holders of 27,785,141 of our Class A ordinary shares properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $10.18 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $282,903,643.31. The funds were redeemed from the Trust Account on February 23, 2023.
In connection with the votes taken at the Second Extraordinary General Meeting, holders of 641,303 our Class A ordinary shares properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $11.29 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $7,241,004. The funds were redeemed from the Trust Account on February 23, 2024.
In connection with the vote taken at the Third Extraordinary General Meeting, the holders of 208,674 Class A ordinary shares of the Company properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $11.52 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $2,403,928.46. The funds were redeemed from the Trust Account on May 20, 2024.
(g) Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
Item 6. Reserved.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
References in this report (the “Annual Report”) to “we,” “us” or the “Company” refer to Catcha Investment Corp. References to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, and references to the “Sponsor” refer to Catcha Holdings LLC. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Annual Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on December 17, 2020 as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds (net of any redemptions as discussed under the “Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern” section below) of the IPO and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, equity and debt.
We expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete a business combination will be successful.
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Business Combination Agreement
On August 3, 2023, the Company entered into a Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”) with Crown LNG Holding AS, a private limited liability company incorporated under the laws of Norway (“Crown”), Crown LNG Holdings Limited, a private limited company incorporated under the laws of Jersey, Channel Islands (“PubCo”), and CGT Merge II Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company limited by shares (“Merger Sub”).
Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions set forth therein, (i) Merger Sub will merge with and into the Company, with the Company being the surviving company and becoming the wholly owned subsidiary of PubCo, as a result of which (a) each of the Company’s Class A ordinary share and Class B ordinary share issued and outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the merger (the “Merger Effective Time”) shall automatically be cancelled and cease to exist in exchange for the right to receive one newly issued ordinary share of PubCo, and (b) each Company warrant outstanding immediately prior to the Merger Effective Time shall cease to be a warrant with respect to the Company Ordinary Shares and be assumed by PubCo and converted into a warrant to purchase one ordinary share of PubCo; and (ii) subject to the certain procedures and conditions, Crown shareholders will transfer their Crown shares to PubCo in exchange for their Pro Rata Share of the Exchange Consideration, which is a number of PubCo ordinary shares issued by PubCo equal to (a) a transaction value of $600 million divided by (b) a per share price of $10.00.
During the seven years following the Closing of the Business Combination, the persons who are Crown shareholders immediately prior to the Exchange Effective Time and who have participated in the Exchange shall have the contingent right to receive in the aggregate a number of ordinary shares of PubCo equivalent to 10% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of PubCo as of the Closing (the “Earnout Shares”), which will vest upon achievement of certain share prices and milestones as provided under the Business Combination Agreement. On October 2, 2023, the Business Combination Agreement was amended to delete the provisions with regards to the Earnout Shares in their entirety.
On January 31, 2024, the Business Combination Agreement was further amended to (i) remove the closing condition which would have required the Company to have satisfied the minimum cash condition of at least US$20,000,000 and (ii) allow for listing of the PubCo ordinary shares on either the NYSE or Nasdaq.
On February 14, 2024, the SEC declared the registration statement on Form F-4 with respect to the Business Combination effective.
On February 16, 2024, the Business Combination Agreement was further amended to extend the date on which the Business Combination Agreement may be terminated if the conditions to the Closing (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) have not been satisfied or waived from February 17, 2024 (and subsequently extended, see below. In addition, the Company agreed to waive its right under its amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to withdraw up to $100,000 of the interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account to pay dissolution expenses in the event of the liquidation of the Trust Account.
On May 21, 2024, the Business Combination Agreement was further amended to extend the date on which the Business Combination Agreement may be terminated if the conditions to the Closing have not been satisfied or waived from May 17, 2024 to June 17, 2024. Also, the parties have agreed that the Business Combination Agreement may be terminated by Crown in the event that prior to June 17, 2024, the parties do not receive notice from Nasdaq, NYSE American, or another national securities exchange acceptable to Crown, that the post-business combination public company common stock shall be approved for listing upon the closing of the Business Combination. The non-solicitation provisions of the Business Combination Agreement were amended to expire on May 31, 2024, unless Crown has received notice that the post-business combination public company common stock shall be approved for listing upon the closing of the Business Combination on Nasdaq, NYSE American or another national securities exchange acceptable to Crown.
Additionally, the Business Combination Agreement may be terminated under certain customary circumstances at any time prior to the Closing, including, without limitation, (i) upon the mutual written consent of the Company and Crown, (ii) by the Company, on the one hand, or Crown, on the other hand, as a result of breaches by the counterparties to the Business Combination Agreement that remain uncured after any applicable cure period, (iii) by either the Company or Crown, if a governmental authority of competent jurisdiction shall have issued an order or taken any other action permanently prohibiting the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, (iv) by the Company, on the one hand, or Crown, on the other hand, as a result of the failure by the counterparties to obtain approvals required for the Business Combination, and (v) by the Company, if there has been a material adverse effect on each of Crown and its direct and indirect subsidiaries.
On June 11, 2024, the Business Combination Agreement was further amended to extend the date on which the Business Combination Agreement may be terminated by the parties if the conditions to the Closing (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) have not been satisfied or waived from June 17, 2024 to June 28, 2024. Also, the parties have agreed that the Business Combination Agreement may be terminated by Crown in the event that prior to June 28, 2024, the parties do not receive notice from NASDAQ, NYSE American, or another national securities exchange acceptable to Crown, that the post-business combination public company common stock shall be approved for listing upon the closing of the Business Combination.
On June 12, 2024, Catcha held its Fourth Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders pursuant to which the shareholders of record as of January 16, 2024 approved Catcha’s previously proposed Business Combination with Crown. In connection with the votes taken at this Extraordinary General Meeting, Catcha has received elections from certain holders of our Class A ordinary shares to exercise their right to redeem their shares for cash. As of the date of these financial statements, such elections are still within the time frame when such requests can be rescinded; thus the final redemption payout has not yet been determined.
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Business Combination – Other Agreements
April 2024 Notes
On April 30, 2024, PubCo entered into subscription agreements with certain investors with respect to convertible promissory notes issuable upon closing of the Business Combination (the “April 2024 Notes”) with an aggregate original principal amount of $1.05 million for an aggregate purchase price of $1.0 million, reflecting a 5% original issue discount.
The April 2024 Notes bear interest at an annual rate of 10% and mature on the first anniversary of the issuance of the applicable note (the date of such issuance, the “Issuance Date”). Interest on the April 2024 Notes is payable in cash or in-kind through the issuance of additional April 2024 Notes, at the option of PubCo.
The April 2024 Notes are convertible into PubCo ordinary shares at the option of the holder. The number of ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the April 2024 Notes is determined by dividing (x) such Conversion Amount by (y) the Conversion Price (the “Conversion Rate”). “Conversion Amount” means the sum of (A) the portion of the principal of a note to be converted, redeemed or otherwise with respect to which this determination is being made, (B) accrued and unpaid interest with respect to such principal of the applicable note, and (C) any other unpaid amounts, if any. “Conversion Price” means $10.00 initially at the date of issuance of the April 2024 Notes. The Conversion Price will reset to 95% of the lowest closing volume weighted average price observed over the 5 trading days immediately preceding the 180th calendar day following the Issuance Date, subject to a minimum price of $2.50 (the “Minimum Price”).
PubCo has the option to redeem the April 2024 Notes in full at any time after the Issuance Date and prior to maturity thereof upon 10 Trading Days’ (as defined in the April 2024 Notes) notice for cash at a redemption price equal to 110% of the aggregate principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest thereon.
PIPE
On May 6, 2024, PubCo and the Company entered into a subscription agreement (the “PIPE Subscription Agreement”) for a private placement (the “PIPE”) with certain accredited investor (the “Purchaser”). Pursuant to the PIPE Subscription Agreement, the Purchaser has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 176,470 PubCo Ordinary Shares, at a price per share of $8.50, representing aggregate gross proceeds of $1.5 million.
On May 14, 2024, PubCo and the Company entered into additional subscription agreements (together with the PIPE Subscription Agreement above, the “PIPE Subscription Agreements”) for a private placements with certain accredited investor who are existing shareholders of Crown (the “Existing Shareholder Purchasers”). Pursuant to the PIPE Subscription Agreement, the Existing Shareholder Purchasers have agreed to purchase an aggregate of 26,393 PubCo Ordinary Shares (together with the PubCo Ordinary Shares to be purchased by the Purchaser, the “PIPE Shares”), at a price per share of $10.00, representing aggregate gross proceeds of $263.9 thousand.
Securities Lending Agreement
On May 22, 2024, PubCo entered into a securities lending agreement (the “Securities Lending Agreement”) with Millennia Capital Partners Limited (the “Lender”) pursuant to which the Lender agreed to loan PubCo up to $4.0 million (the “Loan”) at fifty-five (55%) Loan to Value of the current market value of 730,000 shares of Crown pledged to the Lender (“Transferred Collateral”). “Loan to Value” means the ratio of the Loan to the value of the Transferred Collateral, calculated by dividing the amount borrowed by the fair market value of the Transferred Collateral. The Loan matures thirty-six (36) months after the Closing Date (as defined in the Securities Lending Agreement) and bears interest at an annual rate of 6.0% to be paid quarterly.
Securities Purchase Agreement
On June 4, 2024, PubCo entered into a a definitive securities purchase agreement (the “Securities Purchase Agreement”; together with the April 2024 Notes, the PIPE and the Securities Lending Agreement, the “Financing Agreements”) with Helena Special Opportunities LLC (the “Investor”), an affiliate of Helena Partners Inc., a Cayman-Islands based advisor and investor, providing for up to approximately USD$20.7 million in funding through a private placement for the issuance of convertible notes (the “SPA Notes”).
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Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities from inception to December 31, 2023 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for the IPO, described below, and after the IPO, identifying a target company for a business combination, the negotiation of the Business Combination Agreement as described above and subsequent amendments thereto, and the preparation and filing on October 3, 2023 with the SEC of a registration statement on Form F-4 with respect to the Business Combination (the “Form F-4”). We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our business combination. We may generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and investments held in the Trust Account and will recognize changes in the fair value of warrant liability, Convertible Promissory Notes and Capital Contribution Note as other income (expense). We incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses in connection with completing a business combination.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, we had a net loss of $6,189,645, which consisted of operating expenses of $6,741,998, an unrealized loss on excess of fair value of the Capital Contribution Note over proceeds at issuance of $1,059,720, an unrealized loss on change in fair value of the Convertible Promissory Notes of $118,117, an unrealized loss on the change in fair value of the Working Capital Loan of $133,205 an unrealized loss on change in fair value of the Capital Contribution Note of $840,571, unrealized loss on change in fair value of the warrant liability of $553,309 , an unrealized loss on the issuance of the Derivative Liability – Note Payable of $1,917,828, an unrealized loss on the change in fair value of the Derivative Liability — Note Payable of $21,536 and interest expense associated with the note payable, net of original issuance discount of $750,000, these were partially offset by interest income on cash and investments held in the Trust Account of $2,774,613, interest income associated with the note receivable, net of original issuance discount of $750,000, an unrealized gain on the issuance of the Derivative Asset – Note Receivable of $1,917,828, an unrealized gain on the change in fair value of the Derivative Asset — Note Receivable of $21,536 and other income attributable to the derecognition of deferred underwriting fees allocated to offering costs of $482,662.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had a net income of $11,616,356, which consisted of an unrealized gain on change in fair value of the warrant liability of $8,841,922, interest income on investments held in the Trust Account of $4,001,686, offset partially by operating expenses of $1,227,252.
Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern
On February 17, 2021, we consummated the IPO of 30,000,000 Units, which included the partial exercise by the underwriter of its over-allotment option to purchase an additional 2,500,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $300,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, we consummated the sale of an aggregate of 5,333,333 Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor at a price of $1.50 per warrant, generating gross proceeds of $8,000,000.
Following the IPO, the partial exercise of the over-allotment option and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, a total of $300,000,000 was placed in the Trust Account. We incurred $17,031,183 in transaction costs, including $6,000,000 of underwriting fees, $10,500,000 of deferred underwriting fees and $531,183 of other offering costs in connection with the IPO and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants.
On August 10, 2023, J.P. Morgan waived its entitlement to the payment of $10,500,000 deferred underwriting fees in connection with its role as underwriter in the Company’s IPO. Furthermore, J.P. Morgan had no role in connection with the Business Combination transaction.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash used in operating activities was $1,424,434. The net loss of $6,189,645 was impacted by an unrealized loss on excess of fair value of the Capital Contribution Note over proceeds at issuance of $1,059,720, an unrealized loss on change in fair value of the Capital Contribution Note of $840,571, an unrealized loss on change in fair value of the Convertible Promissory Notes of $118,117, an unrealized loss on the change in fair value of the Working Capital Loan of $133,205, an unrealized gain on change in fair value of the warrant liability of $553,309 and an unrealized loss on the change in fair value of the Derivative Liability — Note Payable of $21,536 and interest expense associated with the note payable, net of original issuance discount of $750,000 offset by interest income on cash and investments held in the Trust Account of $2,774,613, interest income associated with the note receivable, net of original issuance discount of $750,000, an unrealized gain on the change in fair value of the Derivative Asset — Note Receivable of $21,536 and other income attributable to derecognition of deferred underwriting fees allocated to offering costs of $482,662 and changes in operating assets and liabilities, which provided $5,317,564 of cash in operating activities, primarily due to the increase in accounts payable and accrued expenses.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash used in operating activities was $974,358. The net income of $11,616,356 was impacted by unrealized gain on change in fair value of the warrant liability of $8,841,922, interest income on investments held in the Trust Account of $4,001,686 and by changes in operating assets and liabilities, which provided $252,894 of cash from operating activities.
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For the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash provided by investing activities was $281,328,643, consisting of disposal of investments held in Trust Account of $282,903,643, partially offset by cash deposited in Trust Account of $825,000 and note receivable $750,000.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash provided by/used in investing activities was $0.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash used in financing activities was $279,894,065, consisting of redemption of Class A ordinary shares of $282,903,643, partially offset by proceeds from the issuance of a working capital loan of $1,134,578, proceeds from the issuance of a promissory note to a related party of $825,000, proceeds from issuance of the Capital Contribution Note of $300,000 and proceeds from issuance of the promissory note to a third party of $750,000.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash provided by/used in financing activities was $0.
As of December 31 2023, we had $30,850 in cash outside of the Trust Account and working capital deficit of $9,345,634. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, the Sponsor, or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, provide us with working capital loans.
On December 13, 2022, we issued the $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note (see Note 5 of the Notes to Financial Statements) to the Sponsor, pursuant to which we may borrow up to $1,500,000 from the Sponsor. As of December 31, 2023, we had borrowed $1,134,578 in principal under such note; the fair value of the note was $675,934 as of December 31, 2024. As of the date these financial statements were issued, the Company received an aggregate of $1,431,995 in principal for working capital purposes under the $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note.
On February 14, 2023, we issued an unsecured convertible promissory note (the “Extension Note”) to the Sponsor, pursuant to which we may borrow up to $900,000 (the “Extension Loan”) from the Sponsor. Using these loans received, we deposited twelve tranches of $75,000 into the Trust Account from February 2023 to January 2024, to extend the date by which we must complete a Business Combination to February 14, 2024.
On March 9, 2023, we entered into a subscription agreement (the “March 2023 Subscription Agreement”) with the Sponsor and Polar Multi-Strategy Master Fund (“Polar”), pursuant to which Polar has agreed to provide $300,000 to us (the “Capital Contribution Note”) as discussed in Note 7 of the Notes to the Financial Statement. As of December 31, 2023, we had received the entire $300,000 funding under such note (see Note 6 of the Notes to Financial Statements).
On February 22, 2024, March 21, 2024 and April 19, 2024, using the loans received from 2024 Extension Note No. 1, as described below, we deposited three tranches of $47,207 into the Trust Account to extend the date by which we have to consummate the Business Combination to May 17, 2024.
On March 27, 2024, we issued an unsecured convertible promissory note (the “2024 Extension Note No. 1”), dated as of February 17, 2024, to the Sponsor, pursuant to which we may borrow up to $141,620 (the “2024 Extension Loan No. 1”) from the Sponsor, consisting of the aggregate amount of the potential extensions of the Business Combination through May 17, 2024. Pursuant to the 2024 Extension Note No. 1, the Sponsor has agreed to deposit into the Trust Account cash in the amount of $47,207 per monthly extension (or a pro rata portion thereof if less than a month), and we have agreed that the amount of each such deposit shall constitute a loan, until the earlier of (i) the date of the extraordinary general meeting held in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an initial business combination, and (ii) the date that $141,620 has been loaned. Such loan may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into warrants to purchase our Class A ordinary shares at a conversion price equal to $1.50 per warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to the same adjustments applicable to the warrants issued to the Sponsor in the private placement that closed on February 17, 2021 in connection with the initial public offering. The terms of the warrants will be identical to those of the private placement warrants. The 2024 Extension Loan No. 1 will not bear any interest, and will be repayable by us to the Sponsor, on a date that is the earlier of the consummation of an initial business combination and our liquidation. The maturity date of the 2024 Extension Loan No. 1 may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an Event of Default (as defined under the 2024 Extension Note No. 1).
On March 29, 2024, we issued an unsecured convertible promissory note (the “2024 Convertible Promissory Note”) to the Sponsor, pursuant to which we may borrow up to $500,000 from the Sponsor. Such loan may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares at a conversion price equal to $1.50 per warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to the same adjustments applicable to the private placement warrants. The terms of the warrants will be identical to those of the Private Placement Warrants. The loan will not bear any interest, and will be repayable by us to the Sponsor, on a date that is the earlier of the consummation of an initial business combination and the liquidation of the Company. The maturity date of the loan may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an Event of Default (as defined under the 2024 Convertible Promissory Note).
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On May 15, 2024, we issued a promissory note in the principal amount of up to $122,839 (the “2024 Extension Note No. 2”) to the Sponsor, pursuant to which we may borrow up to $122,839.38 (the “2024 Extension Loan No. 2”) from the Sponsor, consisting of the aggregate amount of the potential extensions of the Business Combination through August 17, 2024. Pursuant to the 2024 Extension Note No. 2, the Sponsor has agreed to deposit into our trust account established in connection with its initial public offering cash in the amount of $40,946.46 per monthly Extension (or a pro rata portion thereof if less than a month), and we have agreed that the amount of each such deposit shall constitute a loan, until the earlier of (i) the date of the extraordinary general meeting held in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an initial business combination, and (ii) the date that $122,839.38 has been loaned. Such loan may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares of the Company at a conversion price equal to $1.50 per warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to the same adjustments applicable to the warrants issued to the Sponsor in the private placement that closed on February 17, 2021 in connection with the initial public offering. The terms of the warrants will be identical to those of the private placement warrants. The 2024 Extension Loan No. 2 will not bear any interest, and will be repayable by us to the Sponsor, on a date that is the earlier of the consummation of an initial business combination and the liquidation of the Company. The maturity date of the 2024 Extension Loan No. 2 may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an Event of Default (as defined under the 2024 Extension Note No. 2).
On May 24, 2024, using the proceeds received under the 2024 Extension Note No. 2, the Company deposited $40,946 into our Trust Account to extend the date by which we have to consummate the Business Combination to June 17, 2024.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor, or certain of e our officers and directors or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. Management will use these funds for paying existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective initial Business Combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating a Business Combination. No additional funding has been received under this arrangement. However, management expects us to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of the consummation of a Business Combination and current funds, committed or otherwise, may not be sufficient to operate the Company for at least the 12 months following the issuance of the financial statements contained herein. If we are unable to raise additional capital, it may be required to take additional measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, suspending the pursuit of a Business Combination.
In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification Subtopic (“ASC”) 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern,” management has determined that if we are unable to complete a Business Combination by August 17, 2024 (subject to us making the required monthly deposits of $40,946 to extend the date by which to consummate the Business Combination each month up through August 17, 2024) or such earlier date as is determined by the Company’s board of directors, then we will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The mandatory liquidation, subsequent dissolution and liquidity issues raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern one year from the date that these financial statements are issued. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after August 17, 2024 or such earlier date as is determined by the Company’s board of directors.
Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements
We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2023. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than as described below.
We have an agreement to pay the sponsor $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of the Company’s management team. We began incurring these fees on February 12, 2021 and will continue to incur these fees monthly until the earlier of the completion of the business combination or our liquidation. For each the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, we incurred $120,000 in expenses in connection with such services as reflected in the accompanying statements of operations and paid an aggregate of $5,065 of these fees during the year ended December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, administrative service fees of $240,935 and $125,625 were unpaid and are included in due to related party on the accompanying balance sheets.
On March 14, 2023, the Company entered into an agreement with Chardan Capital Markets, LLC (“Chardan”) for Chardan to act as exclusive capital markets technical advisor with respect to an event of a stock exchange demand for action by the Company at a time other than the initial closing of a business combination involving the Company and a target or targets. The agreement calls for Chardan to receive a fee of $175,000 at the signing of the agreement, a fee of $175,000 no later than 10 calendar days after Chardan informs the Company of the documented completion of the technical advisory activities and a deferred fee of $275,000 at the earlier of (i) the closing of a Business Combination from the closing flow-of-funds or (ii) upon the liquidation of the Trust Account if the Company has not consummated a Business Combination. For the period ended December 31, 2023, the Company recorded $625,000 of such advisory service fees in the accompanying statements of operations. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had paid an aggregate of $350,000 to Chardan; the total unpaid balance due to Chardan was $275,000 and is included in accounts payable and accrued expenses in the accompanying balance sheets.
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On March 26, 2023, the Company entered an agreement with Alumia to act as a non-exclusive transactional and strategic capital markets advisor to the Company assisting with introductions and with respect to the Company’s potential Business Combination. The agreement calls for Alumia to receive simultaneously with the Closing of the Business Combination (a) a fee in the amount of $2,500,000 and (b) a fee of 4% multiplied by the dollar amount of any equity financing transactions which may be entered into by third party investors identified and introduced by Alumia, regardless of whether the counterparty in the Business Combination was a subject target, payable upon the Closing. Alumia is currently not involved in the Company’s Business Combination transaction with Crown, and no fee is currently payable under this agreement.
On May 18, 2023, the Company engaged J.V.B. Financial Group, LLC, acting through its CCM division, to act as its (i) capital markets advisor in connection with the Business Combination with Crown and (ii) placement agent in connection with a private placement of equity, equity-linked, convertible and/or debt securities in connection with the Business Combination. The Company shall pay CCM (i) an advisor fee in connection with the Business Combination in an amount equal to the sum of (I) $2,000,000 paid in full in U.S. dollars simultaneously with the Closing of the Business Combination and (II) 50,000 Shares of the publicly listed post-business combination company (collectively, the “Advisor Fee”) and (ii) an Offering Fee in connection with the Offering of an amount equal to 7.0% of the sum of (A) the gross proceeds raised from investors and received by the Company or Crown simultaneously with or before the closing of the Offering plus (B) proceeds released from the Trust Account with respect to any shareholder of the Company that (x) entered into a non-redemption or other similar agreement or (y) did not redeem the Company’s Class A ordinary shares, in each instance to the extent such investor or shareholder under (A) and (B) above was identified to the Company by CCM, which shall be payable in U.S. dollars by the Company and due to CCM simultaneously with the closing of the Offering. The Shares shall be fully duly authorized, validly issued, paid and non-assessable and shall be registered for resale under the Act, or otherwise freely tradeable, as of the Closing of the Business Combination and will be delivered in book entry form in the name of and delivered to CCM (or its designee) at the Closing of the Business Combination. As of December 31, 2023, no fees are currently payable under the aforementioned agreement.
On October 25, 2023, we, the Sponsor and Polar entered into the October 2023 Subscription Agreement (as defined in Note 8 of Notes to Financial Statements), pursuant to which Polar agreed to fund a capital contribution of $750,000, without interest, to us and in consideration thereof, we agreed to issue or cause PubCo to issue 750,000 Class A ordinary shares to Polar at the Closing. Together with the Sponsor, we, jointly and severally, agreed to promptly repay the $750,000 to Polar within five (5) business days of the Closing. In the event that: (i) the Business Combination Agreement is terminated or (ii) the Business Combination does not close by February 17, 2024 (or such other date as the parties to the Business Combination Agreement shall agree) (the “Termination”), the Sponsor and us, jointly and severally, agreed to transfer, or cause to be transferred to Polar within ten business days of the Termination, (A) $1,750,000 in cash; or (B) solely at the discretion and election of Polar, $1,000,000 in cash and, a number of shares of Crown’s common equity equal to 1.5% of its outstanding common equity (on a fully diluted basis) as of the date of Termination (either (A) or (B) above, the “Catcha Termination Payment”). If a Catcha Termination Payment is not made within ten business days of the Termination, the Sponsor and the Company agreed to transfer, or cause to be transferred, warrants that entitle Polar to purchase a number of shares of Crown’ common equity equal to 0.30 percent per annum of the outstanding Crown common equity (on a fully-diluted basis) at exercise, for a price per share of $0.01 (the “Crown Warrants”), accruing monthly (for each month from the date of the Termination until the time that Polar receives the full amount of the Catcha Termination Payment, so that for each such month, a Crown Warrant shall be issued to Polar for a number of shares equal to the total number of shares of outstanding common equity of Crown on a fully diluted basis multiplied by 0.00025). The Crown Warrants are exercisable pursuant to terms set forth in the October 2023 Subscription Agreement.
On October 27, 2023, we entered into the Promissory Note with Crown whereby the we agreed to provide a loan in the principal amount of $750,000 to Crown to fund working capital until the Closing. Crown has agreed to repay the $750,000 to us within ten (10) business days of the Company providing Crown with written notice of demand after the Closing. In the event the Business Combination Agreement is terminated or the Business Combination does not close by February 17, 2024 (which was subsequently extended to May 17, 2024), Crown has agreed to transfer, or cause to be transferred to us within ten (10) business days of the termination, (A) $1,750,000 in cash; or (B) solely at our discretion and election, $1,000,000 in cash and a number of shares of Crown’s common equity equal to 1.5% of the outstanding common equity (on a fully diluted basis) as of the date of the termination. We filed a current report on Form 8-K with the SEC on October 30, 2023, to disclose the October 2023 Subscription Agreement and the Promissory Note.
On March 27, 2024, the we issued the 2024 Extension Note No. 1 to the Sponsor, pursuant to which we may borrow up to $141,620.04 from the Sponsor, consisting of the aggregate amount of the potential extensions of the Business Combination through May 17, 2024. Pursuant to the 2024 Extension Note No. 1, the Sponsor has agreed to deposit into our trust account established in connection with its initial public offering cash in the amount of $47,206.68 per monthly Extension (or a pro rata portion thereof if less than a month), and hawse have agreed that the amount of each such deposit shall constitute a loan, until the earlier of (i) the date of the extraordinary general meeting held in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an initial business combination, and (ii) the date that $141,620.04 has been loaned. Such loan may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into warrants to purchase our Class A ordinary shares at a conversion price equal to $1.50 per warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to the same adjustments applicable to the warrants issued to the Sponsor in the private placement that closed on February 17, 2021 in connection with the initial public offering. The terms of the warrants will be identical to those of the private placement warrants. The 2024 Extension Loan No. 1 will not bear any interest, and will be repayable by us to the Sponsor, on a date that is the earlier of the consummation of an initial business combination and our liquidation. The maturity date of the 2024 Extension Loan No. 1 may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an Event of Default (as defined under the 2024 Extension Note No. 1).
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On March 29, 2024, we issued the 2024 Convertible Promissory Note to our Sponsor, pursuant to which we may borrow up to $500,000 from the Sponsor. Such loan may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares at a conversion price equal to $1.50 per warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to the same adjustments applicable to the private placement warrants. The terms of the warrants will be identical to those of the Private Placement Warrants. The loan will not bear any interest, and will be repayable by us to the Sponsor, on a date that is the earlier of the consummation of an initial business combination and the liquidation of the Company. The maturity date of the loan may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an Event of Default (as defined under the 2024 Convertible Promissory Note).
On May 15, 2024, we issued a promissory note in the principal amount of up to $122,839 (the “2024 Extension Note No. 2”) to the Sponsor, pursuant to which we may borrow up to $122,839 (the “2024 Extension Loan No. 2”) from the Sponsor, consisting of the aggregate amount of the potential extensions of the Business Combination through August 17, 2024. Pursuant to the 2024 Extension Note No. 2, the Sponsor has agreed to deposit into our trust account established in connection with its initial public offering cash in the amount of $40,946.46 per monthly Extension (or a pro rata portion thereof if less than a month), and hawse have agreed that the amount of each such deposit shall constitute a loan, until the earlier of (i) the date of the extraordinary general meeting held in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an initial business combination, and (ii) the date that $122,839.38 has been loaned. Such loan may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into warrants to purchase our Class A ordinary shares at a conversion price equal to $1.50 per warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to the same adjustments applicable to the warrants issued to the Sponsor in the private placement that closed on February 17, 2021 in connection with the initial public offering. The terms of the warrants will be identical to those of the private placement warrants. The 2024 Extension Loan No. 2 will not bear any interest, and will be repayable by the Company to the Sponsor, on a date that is the earlier of the consummation of an initial business combination and our liquidation. The maturity date of the 2024 Extension Loan No. 2 may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an Event of Default (as defined under the 2024 Extension Note No. 2).
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
This management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our audited financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. We describe our significant accounting policies in Note 2, of the notes to the audited financial statements included in this report. The preparation of these audited financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our audited financial statements. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related to fair value of financial instruments and accrued expenses. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. The Company has identified the following critical accounting policies and estimates.
Note Receivable
We analyzed the October 2023 Subscription Agreement under ASC 320 “Investments – Debt Securities” and concluded that, bifurcation of a single derivative that comprises all of the fair value of the Termination feature (i.e., derivative instrument) is necessary under ASC 815-15-25. As a result, the Company recorded a held to maturity asset in the amount of $750,000 which is representative of the amortized cost of the Note Receivable and recorded a corresponding Derivative Asset – Note Receivable in the amount of $2,667,828. During the subsequent measurement period, the Company recorded an increase in expense in the amount of $21,536 associated with changes in the fair value of the Derivative Asset - Note Receivable as of December 31, 2023. Further, the Note Receivable was issued at a discount of $750,000, which was fully accreted to the Note Receivable balance immediately as it occurred.
To value the Derivative Asset – Note Receivable upon issuance, the Company used a probability weighted expected return model (“PWER model”) that values the October 2023 Subscription Agreement based on future projections of the various potential outcomes. The embedded options were valued using a Black Scholes model. The derivative value was determined on a with and without basis. The key inputs for PWER model include 1) volatility of 35.5%; 2) risk– free rate of 5.6%; 3) restricted terms of 0.31 year; 4) likelihood of completing a business combination of 60%.
Convertible Promissory Notes
We elected to account for the Convertible Promissory Notes entered into with the Sponsor pursuant to the fair value option under ASC 825. ASC 825-10-15-4 provides for the “fair value option” election, to the extent not otherwise prohibited by ASC 825-10-15-5, to be afforded to financial instruments, wherein the financial instrument is initially measured at its issue-date estimated fair value and subsequently remeasured at estimated fair value on a recurring basis at each reporting period date. Differences between the face value of the Convertible Promissory Notes and fair value at issuance are recognized as either an expense in the statement of operations (if issued at a premium) or as a capital contribution (if issued at a discount). Any material changes in the estimated fair value of the Convertible Promissory Notes are recognized as non-cash gains or losses in the statements of operations. We believe that the fair value option better reflects the underlying economics of the Convertible Promissory Notes. As such, the Convertible Promissory Notes were initially measured at $916,114 as of the issue date (including $542,729 under the $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note and $373,385 under the Extension Note). The $1,043,464 excess of proceeds over fair value at issuance was recorded as additional paid-in capital in the accompanying statement of shareholders’ deficit for the period ended December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023, the fair value of the Convertible Promissory Notes was $491,502 under the Extension Note and the fair value of the Working Capital Loan under the $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note was $675,934. For the period ended December 31, 2023, the Company recognized an unrealized loss of $118,117 on the change in fair value of the Convertible Promissory Note and an unrealized loss of $133,205 on the change in fair value of the Working Capital Loan, respectively, in the statements of operations.
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Capital Contribution Note
We elected to account for the Capital Contribution Note entered into with Polar and the Sponsor (the March 2023 Subscription Agreement) on March 9, 2023, pursuant to the fair value option under ASC 825. ASC 825-10-15-4 provides for the “fair value option” election, to the extent not otherwise prohibited by ASC 825-10-15-5, to be afforded to financial instruments, wherein the financial instrument is initially measured at its issue-date estimated fair value and subsequently remeasured at estimated fair value on a recurring basis at each reporting period date. Differences between the face value of the Capital Contribution Note and fair value at issuance are recognized as either an expense in the statement of operations (if issued at a premium) or as a capital contribution (if issued at a discount). Any material changes in the estimated fair value of the Capital Contribution Note are recognized as noncash gains or losses in the statements of operations. The Company believes that the fair value option better reflects the underlying economics of the Capital Contribution Note. The fair value of the Capital Contribution Note will include both the fair value of the 300,000 shares in consideration for the Capital Calls as described in Note 7 and the principal as of each reporting date. As such, the Capital Contribution Note was initially measured at $1,359,720 as of the issue dates. The $1,059,720 excess of fair value of the Capital Contribution Note over proceeds at issuance was recorded in the accompanying statement of operations for the period ended December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023, the fair value of the Capital Contribution Note was $2,200,291. For the period ended December 31, 2023, we recognized $840,571 of unrealized loss on the change in fair value of the Capital Contribution Note in the statements of operations.
October 2023 Subscription Agreement
We analyzed the October 2023 Subscription Agreement under ASC 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, and concluded that, (i) the Subscription Shares issuable under the October 2023 Subscription Agreement are not required to be accounted for as a liability under ASC 480 or ASC 815, (ii) bifurcation of a single derivative that comprises all of the fair value of the Subscription Share feature(s) (i.e., derivative instrument) is not necessary under ASC 815-15-25, and (iii) bifurcation of a single derivative that comprises all of the fair value of the Termination feature (i.e., derivative instrument) is necessary under ASC 815-15-25. As a result, we analyzed the October 2023 Subscription Agreement under ASC 470 “Debt” and concluded that, the Subscription Shares are representative of an equity classified freestanding financial instrument issued in a bundled transaction with a SPAC Loan which is representative of liability classified freestanding financial instrument which contains a derivative instrument which is required to be bifurcated and classified and accounted for as a derivative liability measured at fair value, on a recurring basis, with changes in fair value recorded within the accompanying statements of operations. As a result, we recorded the October 2023 Subscription Agreement using the with-and-without method of accounting combined with the relative fair value method of accounting when allocating the proceeds received under the October 2023 Subscription Agreement, as required under ASC 470. On October 25, 2023, the date of issuance, the fair value of the Subscription Shares was $4,917,967, the fair value of the Derivative Liability — Note Payable was $2,667,828, and the fair value of the Derivative Asset – Note Receivable (see Note 6) was $2,667,828. As of December 31, 2023, we received $750,000 under the October 2023 Subscription Agreement. As of December 31, 2023, the fair value of the Derivative Liability — Note Payable was $2,689,364; therefore, we recorded an increase in expense in the amount of $21,536 associated with changes in the fair value of the Derivative Liability — Note Payable as of December 31, 2023. Further, the Note Payable was issued at a discount of $750,000, which was fully accreted to the Note Payable balance immediately as it occurred.
We used a probability weighted expected return model (“PWER model”) that values the October 2023 Subscription Agreement based on future projections of the various potential outcomes. The embedded options were valued using a Black Scholes model. The derivative value was determined on a With and Without basis. The key inputs for PWER model include 1) volatility of 35.5%; 2) risk– free rate of 5.6%; 3) restricted terms of 0.31 year; 4) likelihood of completing a business combination of 60%.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
We are a Smaller Reporting Company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
This information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is included herein by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
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Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2023, due to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting related to accounting for complex financial instruments, determining the fair value of complex financial instruments and lack of controls needed to evaluate contractual agreements for contingent fee arrangements and unrecorded liabilities to ensure it is accurate and complete. In light of these material weaknesses, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our audited financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented.
We do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors and all instances of fraud. Disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
(1) | pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of our company, |
(2) | provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and |
(3) |
provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. |
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree or compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2023. In making these assessments, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria, management determined that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective, due to the material weaknesses described elsewhere in this Report.
Management has implemented remediation steps to address the material weaknesses and to improve our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, we expanded and improved our review process for complex securities and related accounting standards. We plan to further improve this process by enhancing access to accounting literature, identification of third-party professionals with whom to consult regarding complex accounting applications and consideration of additional staff with the requisite experience and training to supplement existing accounting professionals. Notwithstanding the material weaknesses described above, management has concluded that our audited financial statements included in this Report are fairly stated in all material respects in accordance with GAAP for each of the periods presented therein. The elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
This Report does not include an attestation report on internal controls from our independent registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspection
None.
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Part III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Directors and Executive Officers
As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our directors and officers are as follows:
Name | Age | Position | ||
Patrick Grove | 48 | Chairman and Executive Officer | ||
Luke Elliott | 47 | Director and President | ||
Wai Kit Wong | 40 | Chief Financial Officer | ||
James Graf | 59 | Independent Director | ||
Rick Hess | 61 | Independent Director | ||
Yaniv Ghitis | 44 | Independent Director |
Patrick Grove has served as our chairman of the board of directors and our chief executive officer since our inception. Since founding Catcha Group in 1999, Mr. Grove has built an extensive track record of founding, building, acquiring, listing and growing both private and public Southeast Asian digital businesses. Today, Mr. Grove is widely recognized as one of the leading entrepreneurs in the region, having founded and taken numerous companies from start up to initial public offering in Australia and Southeast Asia, including iProperty Group Limited, iCar Asia Limited, and Frontier Digital Ventures Limited. Mr. Grove has been the recipient of numerous awards, including World Economic Forum Global Leader of Tomorrow, Bloomberg Business Week Asia’s Best Young Entrepreneur, the Australia Unlimited Global 50 and Asian Entrepreneur of the Year. Mr. Grove received his Bachelor of Commerce degree with a major in Finance from the University of Sydney.
Luke Elliott has served as our director and president since our inception. Mr. Elliott co-founded Catcha Group with Mr. Grove in 1999 and has been responsible for the Group’s corporate finance and operating activities since inception. Over the last 20 years, Mr. Elliott has completed over 70 corporate exercises including capital raisings, mergers, acquisitions, and public listings and manages the acceleration and scaling of the Group’s portfolio companies. Mr. Elliott has been in partnership with Mr. Grove for over 20 years, where they have together brought six digital business from their early stages to a public listing or sale, worth over $1 billion in value.
Wai Kit Wong is our chief financial officer. Mr. Wong brings significant corporate finance experience from 13 years at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong, where he was an executive director in the investment banking division, focusing on coverage of technology, media, and telecommunications companies in the Asia Pacific region. At Goldman Sachs, Mr. Wong led and executed various large and sophisticated corporate finance transactions across Southeast Asia, China, Australia, and India, including mergers and acquisitions, de-mergers, initial public offerings and debt offerings. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
James A. Graf is one of our independent directors. Mr. Graf has served as the Interim Chief Financial Officer of NKGen Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq: NKGN) since September 2023. Mr. Graf served as the chief executive officer of Graf Acquisition Corp. IV from its inception in January 2021 through the closing of the Business Combination with NKGen Biotech, Inc. in September 2023. Mr. Graf served as the chief executive officer of Graf Industrial Corp., a blank check company, from June 2018 through its business combination with Velodyne Lidar, Inc. in September 2020. Mr. Graf served as a director of Graf Industrial Corp. from June 2018 to September 2019 and served as a director of Velodyne Lidar, Inc. from September 2020 to February 2021. Mr. Graf served as a director of Platinum Eagle Acquisition Corp. from January 2018 through its business combination with Target Logistics Management, LLC and RL Signor Holdings, LLC in March 2019. Mr. Graf served as the vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of Double Eagle Acquisition Corp. from its inception in June 2015 through its business combination with Williams Scotsman, Inc. in November 2017. He served as vice president, chief financial officer, treasurer and secretary of Silver Eagle Acquisition Corp. from its inception in April 2013 through Silver Eagle’s business combination with Videocon d2h and he served as vice president, chief financial officer, treasurer and secretary of GEE from its inception in February 2011 to its business combination with Row 44, Inc. and Advanced Inflight Alliance AG in January 2013. He was vice chairman of Global Entertainment AG, the German entity holding GEE’s equity in AIA from 2013 to 2014 and special advisor to GEE in 2013. He served as a special advisor to Videocon d2h from 2015 to 2016. From 2008 to 2011 Mr. Graf served as a managing director of TC Capital Ltd., an investment bank, in Singapore. From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Graf was engaged as a consultant to provide financial advisory services to Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. In 2001, Mr. Graf founded and became chief executive officer of Praedea Solutions, Inc., an enterprise software company with operations in the United States, Malaysia and Ukraine. The assets of Praedea Solutions, Inc. were sold in 2006 to a Mergent Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xinhua Finance Ltd. and renamed Mergent Data Technology, Inc., where Mr. Graf continued to serve as Chief Executive Officer from 2006 to 2007. Praedea Solutions Inc. was renamed PSI Capital Inc. and currently serves as an investment holding company for Mr. Graf’s private investments. Mr. Graf continues to be chief executive of PSI Capital Inc. Prior to founding Praedea, Mr. Graf was a managing director at Merrill Lynch, in Singapore from 1998 to 2000 and a consultant to Merrill Lynch in 2001. From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Graf served as a director and then managing director and president of Deutsche Bank’s investment banking entity in Hong Kong, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (Hong Kong) Ltd. From 1993 to 1996, he was a vice president at Smith Barney in Hong Kong and Los Angeles. From 1987 to 1993, Mr. Graf was an analyst and then associate at Morgan Stanley in New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Singapore. Mr. Graf received a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Chicago in 1987.
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Rick Hess is one of our independent directors. Mr. Hess is the founder and a Managing Partner of Cobalt Capital Inc. (“Cobalt”). He leads the firm and is responsible for deal origination and execution, as well as for the management of various Cobalt portfolio company relationships. Mr. Hess founded Evolution Media Capital (EMC) (“Evolution Media”) in 2008, an investment advisory firm created in partnership with Creative Artists Agency and served as its Managing Partner. He then formed Evolution Media, the early growth investing vehicle of TPG Growth (“TPG Growth”), which invested in partnership with TPG Growth from 2012 to 2019. Prior to Evolution Media, Rick created and led the Film Finance Group at Creative Artists Agency LLC (“CAA”). Under his leadership there, the group packaged, raised financing for, or sold more than 125 feature films, including Academy Award-winning films Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Goodnight and Good Luck, and The Tree of Life. Previously, he held executive positions at various film production companies.
Yaniv Ghitis is one of our independent directors. Mr. Ghitis is an investment specialist in Asia-Pacific with considerable experience in originating, structuring, negotiating and executing M&A and capital markets transactions across the region, including in Greater China, Southeast Asia, India, Korea, Japan and Australia. Mr. Ghitis has served as the Chief Investment Officer of Digital Edge, a leading APAC data center platform, since 2021. Prior to joining Digital Edge, he worked at J.P. Morgan for 17 years from 2004 to 2021 in its Hong Kong, New York, London and Tel Aviv offices. Most recently he served as Managing Director and Co-Head of J.P. Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom Investment Banking in Asia-Pacific, where he advised and raised capital for some of the most impactful technology and digital infrastructure companies in the region. Based in Hong Kong, Yaniv holds a Bachelor of Arts in Management and Economics and a Masters of Arts in Economics, both from Tel Aviv University.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
Pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in our initial public offering, our sponsor, upon and following the consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for appointment of our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that our officers may consist of one or more chairman of the board, chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
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Director Independence
NYSE listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. Our board of directors has determined that James Graf, Rick Hess and Yaniv Ghitis are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a nominating & corporate governance committee, and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of NYSE and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of NYSE require that the compensation committee and the nominating & corporate governance committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. James Graf, Rick Hess and Yaniv Ghitis serve as members of our audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of James Graf, Rick Hess and Yaniv Ghitis are independent under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. James Graf serves as the chairman of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that James Graf qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
The audit committee is responsible for:
● | meeting with our independent registered public accounting firm regarding, among other issues, audits and the adequacy of our accounting and control systems; |
● | monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
● | verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law; |
● | inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
● | pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed; |
● | appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm; |
● | determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent registered public accounting firm regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work; |
● | establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies; |
● | monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of our initial public offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of our initial public offering; and |
● | reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing shareholders, officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval. |
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Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee
We have established a nominating & corporate governance committee of our board of directors. The members of our nominating & corporate governance committee are James Graf, Rick Hess and Yaniv Ghitis, and Rick Hess serves as chairman of the nominating & corporate governance committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of James Graf and Rick Hess are independent.
The nominating & corporate governance committee is responsible for overseeing the appointment of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating & corporate governance committee considers persons identified by its members, management, shareholders, investment bankers and others.
The guidelines for selecting nominees, which are specified in a charter adopted by us, generally provides that persons to be nominated:
● | should have demonstrated notable or significant achievements in business, education or public service; |
● | should possess the requisite intelligence, education and experience to make a significant contribution to the board of directors and bring a range of skills, diverse perspectives and backgrounds to its deliberations; and |
● | should have the highest ethical standards, a strong sense of professionalism and intense dedication to serving the interests of the shareholders. |
The nominating & corporate governance committee will consider a number of qualifications relating to management and leadership experience, background, integrity and professionalism in evaluating a person’s candidacy for membership on the board of directors. The nominating & corporate governance committee may require certain skills or attributes, such as financial or accounting experience, to meet specific board needs that arise from time to time and will also consider the overall experience and makeup of its members to obtain a broad and diverse mix of board members. The nominating & corporate governance committee does not distinguish among nominees recommended by shareholders and other persons.
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are James Graf, Rick Hess and Yaniv Ghitis, and James Graf serves as chairman of the compensation committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of James Graf and Rick Hess are independent. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chairman’s, President’s and Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chairman’s, President’s and Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives, and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation; |
● | reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 executive officers, if any; |
● | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
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● | implementing and administering our incentive compensation and equity-based remuneration plans; |
● | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
● | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and employees; |
● | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
● | reviewing, evaluating, and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel, or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by NYSE and the SEC.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our executive officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics (“Code of Ethics”) applicable to our officers, directors, and employees. A copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, officers and directors owe the following fiduciary duties:
● | duty to act in good faith in what the officer or director believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole; |
● | duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
● | directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
● | duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
● | duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and |
● | duty to exercise independent judgment. |
In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care, which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances, what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders, provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
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Our officers and directors presently have, or may in the future have, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities. As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as an officer or a director shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other.
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties, contractual obligations or other material management relationships:
Individual | Entity | Entity’s Business | Affiliation | |||
Patrick Grove(1) | Catcha Group | Private Investments | Co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer | |||
Luke Elliott(1) | Catcha Group | Private Investments | Co-founder and Executive Director | |||
James Graf | PSI Capital Inc. | Venture Capital Investments | Chief Executive Officer | |||
NKGen Biotech, Inc. | Clinical stage biotechnology | Interim Chief Financial Officer | ||||
Rick Hess(2) | Cobalt Capital | Venture Capital Investments | Founder and Chief Executive Officer | |||
Yaniv Ghitis | Digital Edge | Digital infrastructure | Chief Investment Officer |
(1) | Mr. Grove and Mr. Elliott are directors of portfolio companies of Catcha Group and its affiliated entities, and may be obligated to show acquisitions to such companies before we may pursue such acquisitions. |
(2) | Mr. Hess is also a director of certain portfolio companies of Cobalt Capital and its affiliated entities, and he may be obligated to show acquisitions to such companies before we may pursue such acquisitions |
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
● | Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in, or may in the future engage in, several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. |
● | Our sponsor subscribed for founder shares and purchased private placement warrants in a transaction that closed simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering. |
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● | Our officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extension period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. Additionally, our officers and directors 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 prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Except as described herein, our sponsor, directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Except as described herein, the private placement warrants will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. Our officers and directors who own ordinary shares or warrants, directly or indirectly may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. |
● | Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form, or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates. |
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Furthermore, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors or their respective affiliates be paid by us any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. Further, commencing on the date our securities are first listed on NYSE, we will also reimburse an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. In such case, our officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, willful neglect, civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default, or willful neglect. We entered into indemnity agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our third amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. We expect to purchase a policy of officers’ and directors’ 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.
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Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, as well as any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us, and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance, and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
Item 11. Executive Compensation
Executive Officer and Director Compensation
None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. We pay an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month. In addition, our sponsor, executive officers, directors or 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, executive officers or directors or their respective affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our executive officers and directors for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, executive officers and directors or their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our executive officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
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Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of June 17, 2024 based on information obtained from the persons named below, with respect to the beneficial ownership of our shares of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, by:
● | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares; |
● | each of our officers and directors that beneficially owns ordinary shares; and |
● | all our officers and directors as a group. |
In the table below, percentage ownership is based on 8,715,232 shares of Class A ordinary shares, and 149,650 shares of Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding as of June 17, 2024. Voting power represents the combined voting power of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares owned beneficially by such person. On all matters to be voted upon, the holders of the Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares vote together as a single class. 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 this report.
Class B ordinary shares | Class A ordinary shares | |||||||||||||||||||
Name of Beneficial Owners(1) | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Class | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Class | Approximate Percentage of Voting Control | |||||||||||||||
Catcha Holdings LLC(2) | — | 7,350,350 | 84 | % | 84 | %(4) | ||||||||||||||
Patrick Grove | — | 7,350,350 | 84 | % | 84 | %(4) | ||||||||||||||
Luke Elliott | — | 7,350,350 | 84 | % | 84 | %(4) | ||||||||||||||
Wai Kit Wong(3) | 625 | 0.4 | % | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
James Graf | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
Rick Hess | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
Yaniv Ghitis | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
All officers and directors as a group (six members) | 625 | 0.4 | % | 7,350,350 | 84 | % | 84 | % |
(1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our shareholders is 3 Raffles Place, #06-01 Bharat Building, Singapore 048617. |
(2) | Represents 7,350,350 Class A ordinary shares directly held by our sponsor. |
(3) | Represents 625 Class B ordinary shares directly held by our chief financial officer. |
(4) | Patrick Grove and Luke Elliott share voting and investment control over the shares held by Catcha Holdings LLC. Mr. Grove and Mr. Elliott disclaim any beneficial ownership of the securities held by Catcha Holdings LLC other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest they may have therein, directly or indirectly. |
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Changes in Control
None.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
Founder Shares
On December 28, 2020, the sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share, to cover certain offering costs in consideration for 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. On February 11, 2021, the company effected a share capitalization resulting in the sponsor holding an additional 718,750 class B ordinary shares for an aggregate of 7,906,250 class B ordinary shares including up to 1,031,250 founder shares subject to forfeiture by the sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised. On February 17, 2021, the underwriters partially exercised their over-allotment option, hence, 625,000 founder shares were no longer subject to forfeiture.
The initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign, or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of the initial business combination, or (ii) the date on which the company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after the initial business combination that results in all of the company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property; except to certain permitted transferees and under certain circumstances (the “lock-up”). Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial business combination or (2) if the company consummates a transaction after the initial business combination which results in the company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up.
Private Placement Warrants
Substantially concurrent with the closing of the initial public offering, we completed the private placement sale of 5,333,333 Private Placement Warrants at a purchase price of $1.50 per private placement warrant, to the sponsor generating gross proceeds to the company of $8,000,000. The proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants were added to the proceeds from the initial public offering held in the trust account. If the company does not complete a business combination within the relevant period, the private placement warrants will expire worthless.
The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable, or salable until 30 days after the completion of the initial business combination and they will not be redeemable by the company so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees. The sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by the company and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in the initial public offering.
Administrative Service Fee
We currently maintain our executive offices at 3 Raffles Place #06-01, Bharat Building, Singapore 048617. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space and administrative and support services, commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on NYSE. Upon the completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
Due to related party
As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the amount due to related party was $241,366 and $125,625, respectively, which mainly consisted of the unpaid portion of the administrative service fee described below.
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Promissory Notes-Related Party
On December 28, 2020, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note to the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company was allocated to borrow up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of the IPO. These loans were non-interest bearing, unsecured and were due at the earlier of September 30, 2021 or the closing of the IPO. On February 22, 2021, the Company repaid $131,259 of amounts borrowed from the Sponsor, the funds of which were used to pay offering costs. The note was terminated on February 22, 2021.
On February 14, 2023, the Company issued an unsecured convertible promissory note (the “Extension Note” and, together with the “1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note” as described below, the “Convertible Promissory Notes”) to the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to $900,000 (the “Extension Loan”) from the Sponsor. Pursuant to the Extension Note, from February 17, 2023 to February 17, 2024 or such earlier date as is determined by the Company’s board of directors, the Sponsor has agreed to deposit into the Company’s Trust Account the lesser of (i) $75,000 or (ii) $0.0375 for each unredeemed public share, for each month (or a pro rata portion thereof if less than a month) until the earlier of (i) the date of the extraordinary general meeting held in connection with a shareholder vote to approve the Business Combination, and (ii) the date that $900,000 has been loaned. Such loan may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into warrants (the “Extension Loan Warrants”) to purchase Class A ordinary shares of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share, at a conversion price equal to $1.50 per warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share of the Company at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to the same adjustments applicable to the Private Placement Warrants that were issued in connection with the IPO. The terms of the Extension Loan Warrants will be identical to those of the Private Placement Warrants. The Extension Loan will not bear any interest, and will be repayable by the Company to the Sponsor, on a date that is the earlier of (a) the consummation of the Company’s initial merger, stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities and (b) the liquidation of the Company. The maturity date of the Extension Loan may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an Event of Default (as defined under the Extension Note).
As of December 31, 2023, $825,000 had been withdrawn under the Extension Note. Up to the date that the financial statements were issued, the Company had received $900,000 for the extension deposits under the Extension Note.
On March 27, 2024, the Company issued an unsecured convertible promissory note (the “2024 Extension Note No. 1”), dated as of February 17, 2024, to the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to $141,620 (the “2024 Extension Loan No. 1”) from the Sponsor, consisting of the aggregate amount of the potential Extensions through May 17, 2024. Pursuant to the 2024 Extension Note No. 1, the Sponsor has agreed to deposit into the Company’s trust account established in connection with its initial public offering cash in the amount of $47,207 per monthly Extension (or a pro rata portion thereof if less than a month), and the Company has agreed that the amount of each such deposit shall constitute a loan, until the earlier of (i) the date of the extraordinary general meeting held in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an initial business combination, and (ii) the date that $141,620 has been loaned. Such loan may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into warrants (the “2024 Extension Loan No. 1 Warrants”) to purchase Class A ordinary shares of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (“Class A Ordinary Shares”), at a conversion price equal to $1.50 per warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A Ordinary Share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to the same adjustments applicable to the warrants issued to the Sponsor in the private placement that closed on February 17, 2021 (the “Private Placement Warrants”) in connection with the initial public offering of the Company’s securities. The terms of the 2024 Extension Loan No. 1 Warrants will be identical to those of the Private Placement Warrants. The 2024 Extension Loan No. 1 will not bear any interest, and will be repayable by the Company to the Sponsor, on a date that is the earlier of (a) the consummation of the Company’s initial merger, stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities and (b) the liquidation of the Company. The maturity date of the 2024 Extension Loan No. 1 may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an Event of Default (as defined under the 2024 Extension Note No. 1).
Up to the date that the financial statements were issued, the Company had received $141,620 for the extension deposits under the 2024 Extension Note No. 1.
Up to the date that the financial statements were issued, the Company had received $40,946 for the extension deposits under the 2024 Extension Note No. 2.
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On May 15, 2024, the Company issued the 2024 Extension Note No. 2 to the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to $122,839.38 (the “2024 Extension Loan No. 2”) from the Sponsor, consisting of the aggregate amount of the potential extensions of the Business Combination through August 17, 2024. Pursuant to the 2024 Extension Note No. 2, the Sponsor has agreed to deposit into the Company’s trust account established in connection with its initial public offering cash in the amount of $40,946.46 per monthly Extension (or a pro rata portion thereof if less than a month), and the Company has agreed that the amount of each such deposit shall constitute a loan, until the earlier of (i) the date of the extraordinary general meeting held in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an initial business combination, and (ii) the date that $122,839.38 has been loaned. Such loan may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares of the Company at a conversion price equal to $1.50 per warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to the same adjustments applicable to the warrants issued to the Sponsor in the private placement that closed on February 17, 2021 in connection with the initial public offering. The terms of the warrants will be identical to those of the private placement warrants. The 2024 Extension Loan No. 2 will not bear any interest, and will be repayable by the Company to the Sponsor, on a date that is the earlier of the consummation of an initial business combination and the liquidation of the Company. The maturity date of the 2024 Extension Loan No. 2 may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an Event of Default (as defined under the 2024 Extension Note No. 2).
On May 24, 2024, using the proceeds received under the 2024 Extension Note No. 2, the Company deposited $40,946 into the Trust Account to extend the date by which the Company has to consummate the Business Combination to June 17, 2024.
Working Capital Loans
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes the initial Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans. In the event that the initial Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. A portion of the Working Capital Loans, not to exceed $1,500,000, may be convertible into Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants.
On December 13, 2022, the Company issued an unsecured convertible promissory note under the Working Capital Loans to the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to $1,500,000 from the Sponsor (the “$1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note,” and together with the “Extension Note” as described above, the “Convertible Promissory Notes”). Such loan may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant as described above. The $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note will not bear any interest, and will be repayable by the Company to the Sponsor, on a date that is the earlier of (a) the consummation of the Company’s initial merger, stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities and (b) the liquidation of the Company. The maturity date of the $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an Event of Default (as defined under the $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note). As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, $1,134,578 and $0 were outstanding under the $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note. Up to the date that the financial statements were issued, the Company received a total of $1,431,995 for working capital purposes under the $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note.
On March 29, 2024, the Company issued an unsecured convertible promissory note (the “2024 Convertible Promissory Note”) to the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to $500,000.00 (the “Working Capital Loan”) from the Sponsor. Such loan may, at the Sponsor’s discretion, be converted into warrants (the “Working Capital Loan Warrants”) to purchase Class A Ordinary Shares, at a conversion price equal to $1.50 per warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A Ordinary Share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to the same adjustments applicable to the Private Placement Warrants. The terms of the Working Capital Loan Warrants will be identical to those of the Private Placement Warrants. The Working Capital Loan will not bear any interest, and will be repayable by the Company to the Sponsor, on a date that is the earlier of (a) the consummation of the Company’s initial merger, stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities and (b) the liquidation of the Company. The maturity date of the Working Capital Loan may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an Event of Default (as defined under the 2024 Convertible Promissory Note). Up to the date that the financial statements were issued, the Company had no borrowings under the 2024 Convertible Promissory Note. Up to the date that the financial statements were issued, there are no outstanding amounts under the 2024 Convertible Promissory Note.
Registration and Shareholders Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants, and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the company registers such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the company’s completion of its initial business combination. However, the registration and shareholder rights agreement provides that the company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period, which occurs (i) in the case of the founder shares, and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of the initial business combination. The company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements
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Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors adopted a charter that provides for the review, approval, and/or ratification of “related party transactions,” which are those transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K as promulgated by the SEC, by the audit committee. At its meetings, the audit committee shall be provided with the details of each new, existing, or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, any contractual restrictions that the company has already committed to, the business purpose of the transaction, and the benefits of the transaction to the company and to the relevant related party. Any member of the committee who has an interest in the related party transaction under review by the committee shall abstain from voting on the approval of the related party transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairman of the committee, participate in some or all of the committee’s discussions of the related party transaction. Upon the completion of its review of the related party transaction, the committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the related party transaction.
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Marcum LLP, or Marcum, for services rendered during 2023 and 2022.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements, reviews of our quarterly financial statements and services that are normally provided by Marcum in connection with regulatory filings. During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were $284,280 and $122,055, respectively.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 we did not pay Marcum any audit-related fees.
Tax Fees. During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render services to us for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.
All Other Fees. During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, there were no fees billed for products and services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm other than those set forth above.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our initial public offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
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PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules
(a) | The following documents are filed as part of this Form 10-K: |
(1) | Financial Statements: |
(2) | Financial Statement Schedules: |
None.
(3) | Exhibits |
We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Copies of the exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be obtained from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
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* | Filed herewith. |
** | Furnished herewith. |
(1) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1/A, filed with the SEC on February 8, 2021. |
(2) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on February 18, 2021. |
(3) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on April 15, 2021. |
(4) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 31, 2022. |
(5) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on February 17, 2023. |
(6) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on February 23, 2024. |
(7) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on April 2, 2024. |
(8) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on May 21, 2024. |
(9) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on August 3, 2023. |
(10) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on October 30, 2023. |
(11) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on January 31, 2024. |
(12) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on June 12, 2024. |
(13) | Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on June 7, 2024. |
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary
Not applicable.
80
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this Annual Report on Form 10-K to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
June 17, 2024
CATCHA INVESTMENT CORP | ||
/s/ Patrick Grove | ||
Name: | Patrick Grove | |
Title: | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | |
(Principal Executive Officer) |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Annual Report on Form 10-K has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
/s/ Patrick Grove | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | |
Patrick Grove | (Principal Executive Officer) | June 17, 2024 |
/s/ Luke Elliott | Director and President | |
Luke Elliott | (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | June 17, 2024 |
/s/ Wai Kit Wong | ||
Wai Kit Wong | Chief Financial Officer | June 17, 2024 |
/s/ James Graf | ||
James Graf | Independent Director | June 17, 2024 |
/s/ Rick Hess | ||
Rick Hess | Independent Director | June 17, 2024 |
/s/ Yaniv Ghitis | ||
Yaniv Ghitis | Independent Director | June 17, 2024 |
81
CATCHA INVESTMENT CORP
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
Catcha Investment Corp
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of Catcha Investment Corp (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ deficit and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2023, 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, the Company’s business plan is dependent on the completion of the business combination and the Company’s cash and working capital as of December 31, 2023 are not sufficient to complete its planned activities for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the issuance date of the financial statements. The business combination agreement has a termination date of June 28, 2024. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete the business combination by June 28, 2024 or by the Company's extended liquidation date of August 17, 2024. If the Company does not complete a business combination by August 17, 2024, it will be required to liquidate. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that may be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.
June 17, 2024
F-2
CATCHA INVESTMENT CORP
BALANCE SHEETS
December 31, 2023 | December 31, 2022 | |||||||
Assets | ||||||||
Cash | $ | $ | ||||||
Prepaid expenses | ||||||||
Note receivable, net of original issuance discount | ||||||||
Derivative asset — Note Receivable, at fair value | ||||||||
Total current assets | ||||||||
Cash and investments held in Trust Account | ||||||||
Total Assets | $ | $ | ||||||
Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit | ||||||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | $ | ||||||
Due to Related Party | ||||||||
Convertible Promissory Note, at fair value | ||||||||
Working Capital Loan, at fair value | ||||||||
Note payable, net of original issuance discount | ||||||||
Derivative Liability — Note Payable, at fair value | ||||||||
Capital Contribution Note, at fair value | ||||||||
Total current liabilities | ||||||||
Warrant liability | ||||||||
Deferred underwriting fees | ||||||||
Total liabilities | ||||||||
Commitments and Contingencies | ||||||||
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, | ||||||||
Shareholders’ Deficit: | ||||||||
Preference shares, $ | ||||||||
Class A ordinary shares, $ | ||||||||
Class B ordinary shares, $ | ||||||||
Additional paid-in capital | ||||||||
Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Total shareholders’ deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit | $ | $ |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-3
CATCHA INVESTMENT CORP
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||
2023 | 2022 | |||||||
Formation and operating costs | $ | $ | ||||||
Loss from operations | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Other income (expenses): | ||||||||
Interest income from Trust Account | ||||||||
Interest income – note receivable, net of original issuance discount | ||||||||
Interest expense – note payable, net of original issuance discount | ( | ) | ||||||
Excess of fair value of Capital Contribution Note over proceeds at issuance | ( | ) | ||||||
Change in fair value of Convertible Promissory Note | ( | ) | ||||||
Change in fair value of Working Capital Loan | ( | ) | ||||||
Change in fair value of Capital Contribution Note | ( | ) | ||||||
Other income attributable to derecognition of deferred underwriting fees allocated to offering costs | ||||||||
Change in fair value of warrant liability | ( | ) | ||||||
Gain on initial recognition of Derivative Asset – Note Receivable | ||||||||
Change in fair value of Derivative Asset – Note Receivable | ||||||||
Loss on initial recognition of fair value of Derivative Asset – Note Payable | ( | ) | ||||||
Change in fair value of Derivative Liability – Note Payable | ( | ) | ||||||
Total other income (expenses), net | ||||||||
Net (loss) income | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||
$ | ( | ) | $ | |||||
$ | ( | ) | $ |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-4
CATCHA INVESTMENT CORP
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2023 AND 2022
Class A Ordinary Shares | Class B Ordinary Shares | Additional Paid-in | Accumulated | Total Shareholders’ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Deficit | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2021 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
Accretion of interest income to Class A shares subject to possible redemption (Note 2) | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Net income | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2022 | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Excess of proceeds from Convertible Promissory Note and Working Capital Loan over fair value at issuance (Note 5) | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accretion of extension deposits to Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption (Note 2) | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Derecognition of deferred underwriting fee (Note 10) | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accretion of interest income to Class A shares subject to possible redemption | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | — | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-5
CATCHA INVESTMENT CORP
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
For the Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||
2023 | 2022 | |||||||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||||||
Net (loss) income | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||
Adjustments to reconcile net (loss) income to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
Interest income from Trust Account | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Interest income - note receivable, net of original issuance discount | ( | ) | ||||||
Interest expense - note payable, net of original issuance discount | ||||||||
Excess of fair value of Capital Contribution Note over proceeds at issuance | ||||||||
Change in fair value of warrant liability | ( | ) | ||||||
Change in fair value of Convertible Promissory Note | ||||||||
Change in fair value of Working Capital Loan | ||||||||
Change in fair value of Capital Contribution Note | ||||||||
Other income attributable to derecognition of deferred underwriting fee allocated to offering costs | ( | ) | ||||||
Change in fair value of Derivative Asset — Note Receivable | ( | ) | ||||||
Change in fair value of Derivative Liability — Note Payable | ||||||||
Changes in current assets and current liabilities: | ||||||||
Prepaid expenses | ||||||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | ||||||||
Due to related party | ||||||||
Net cash used in operating activities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||||||
Cash deposited in Trust Account | ( | ) | ||||||
Cash withdrawn from Trust Account in connection with redemption | ||||||||
Advances to Crown under Note Receivable | ( | ) | ||||||
Net cash provided by investing activities | ||||||||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||||||
Proceeds from issuance of Working Capital Loan ($ | ||||||||
Proceeds from issuance of Convertible Promissory Note (Extension Note as disclosed in Note 5) | ||||||||
Proceeds from issuance of Capital Contribution Note (subscription agreement with Polar as disclosed in Note 7) | ||||||||
Proceeds from issuance of Note Payable (subscription agreement with Polar as disclosed in Note 8) | ||||||||
Payment of class A ordinary shares redemption | ( | ) | ||||||
Net cash used in financing activities | ( | ) | ||||||
Net Change in Cash | ( | ) | ||||||
Cash - Beginning | ||||||||
Cash, end of the period | $ | $ | ||||||
Supplemental Disclosure of Non-cash Investing and Financing Activities: | ||||||||
Excess of proceeds from Convertible Promissory Notes over fair value at issuance (Note 5) | $ | $ | ||||||
Derecognition of deferred underwriting fee (Note 10) | $ | $ | ||||||
Accretion of interest income to Class A shares subject to possible redemption | $ | $ | ||||||
Accretion of extension deposits to Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption (Note 2) | $ | $ | ||||||
Gain on initial recognition of fair value of Derivative Asset - Note Receivable | $ | $ | ||||||
Loss on initial recognition of Derivative Liability - Note Payable | $ | ( | ) | $ |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the financial statements.
F-6
CATCHA INVESTMENT CORP
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2023 AND 2022
NOTE 1. ORGANIZATION, BUSINESS OPERATION AND GOING CONCERN
Organization and General
Catcha Investment Corp (the “Company”)
was incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on December 17, 2020. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting
a merger, stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with
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 December 31, 2023, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity through December 31, 2023 relates to the Company’s formation, the Initial Public Offering (as defined below), and after the Initial Public Offering, searching for a Business Combination target, the negotiation of the Business Combination Agreement described below and subsequent amendments thereto, and the preparation and filing on October 3, 2023 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) of a registration statement on Form F-4 with respect to the Business Combination ( the “Form F-4”). The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and investments held in the trust account established at the consummation of the Initial Public Offering (the “Trust Account”) from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering and will recognize changes in the fair value of warrant liability, Convertible Promissory Notes, the Capital Contribution Note and fair value changes of the Derivative Asset – Note Receivable, and Derivative Liability – Note Payable (which are all described further in Notes 2 and 8) as other income (expense). The Company has selected December 31 as Its fiscal year end.
The Company’s sponsor is Catcha Holdings LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company (the “Sponsor”).
Financing
The registration statement for the Company’s
Initial Public Offering was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 11,
2021 (the “Effective Date”). On February 17, 2021, the Company consummated the initial public offering (the “Initial
Public Offering” or “IPO”) of
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the
Company consummated the sale of an aggregate of
F-7
Following the closing of the IPO on February 17,
2021, an amount of $
Transaction costs related to the IPO amounted
to $
On August 10, 2023, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC
(“J.P. Morgan”), the underwriter in the IPO, waived its entitlement to payment of the $
Initial Business Combination
The Company’s management has broad discretion
with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the IPO and the Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all
of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company
will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having
an aggregate fair market value of at least
F-8
The Company will provide its public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of the initial Business Combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a proposed Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion.
The shareholders will be entitled to redeem their
shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account calculated as of two
business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust
Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its income taxes, if any, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.
The amount in the Trust Account was initially $
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, or during the Extension Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its income taxes, if any divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining shareholders and the Company’s board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. On February 14, 2023, the Company held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “First Extraordinary General Meeting”), at which the Company’s shareholders approved (i) an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the date by which the Company has to consummate the Business Combination from February 17, 2023 to February 17, 2024 or such earlier date as is determined by the Company’s board of directors and (ii) an amendment to the Company’s investment management trust agreement, dated as of February 11, 2021 (the “IMTA”), by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (“CST”), to extend the date by which the Company has to consummate the Business Combination from February 17, 2023 to February 17, 2024 or such earlier date as is determined by the Company’s board of directors, by extending on a monthly basis. Following such approval by the Company’s shareholders, the Company and CST entered into the Amendment No. 1 to the IMTA on February 14, 2023.
In connection with the votes taken at the First
Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders, holders of
From February 2023 to December 2023, the Company deposited eleven tranches
of $
On February 16, 2024, the Company held another extraordinary general
meeting of shareholders (the “Second Extraordinary General Meeting”), at which the Company’s shareholders approved i)
to extend the date by which the Company has to consummate the Business Combination from February 17, 2024 up to three times by one month
each to March 17, 2024, April 17, 2024, or May 17, 2024, subject to the Sponsor or one or more of its affiliates,
members or third-party designees (the “Lender”), will deposit into the Trust Account for each month $
In connection with the votes taken at the Second
Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders, holders of an additional
On each of February 22, 2024, March 21, 2024 and April 19, 2024, using
the proceeds received under the 2024 Extension Note No. 1, the Company deposited $
On May 15, 2024, the Company held another extraordinary
general meeting of shareholders (the “Third Extraordinary General Meeting”), at which the Company’s shareholders approved
to extend the date by which the Company has to consummate the Business Combination from May 17, 2024 up to three times by one month each
to June 17, 2024, July 17, 2024, or August 17, 2024 (hereinafter, the “Extended Termination Date”), subject to that the Lender
will deposit into the Trust Account for each month $
F-9
In connection with the votes taken at the Third
Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders on May 15, 2024, holders of an additional
On May 15, 2024, the Company issued a promissory
note in the principal amount of up to $
On May 24, 2024, using the proceeds received under the 2024 Extension
Note No. 2, the Company deposited $
On May 10, 2024, the Company determined to postpone its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders relating to shareholder approval of the Company’s entry into a Business Combination Agreement and a related Merger and Plan of Merger (the “Business Combination Meeting”), from the previously scheduled date of May 15, 2024 to June 12, 2024.
On February 20, 2024, the Company received a letter from the NYSE American LLC (“NYSE American” or the “Exchange”) stating that the staff of NYSE Regulation has determined to commence proceedings to delist Catcha’s Class A ordinary shares pursuant to Sections 119(b) and 119(f) of the NYSE American Company Guide because the Company failed to consummate a Business Combination within 36 months of the effectiveness of its Initial Public Offering registration statement, or such shorter period that the Company specified in its registration statement.
On February 23, 2024, the Company submitted a written request to NYSE asking for the review of the delisting determination by a Committee of the Board of Directors of the Exchange. Up to the date the financial statements were issued, the Company’s Class A ordinary shares have not been suspended and will continue to trade.
The Company has an NYSE appeal hearing scheduled for July 17, 2024.
The Sponsor and the Company’s officers and
directors have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”)
and public shares in connection with the completion of the Business Combination, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their
Founder Shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s third amended and
restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to provide
holders of its Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with the Business Combination or to redeem
In the event of the liquidation of the Trust Account
upon the failure of the Company to consummate a Business Combination, the Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if
and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm) 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 the lesser of (i) $
F-10
Business Combination Agreement
On August 3, 2023, the Company entered into a Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”) with Crown LNG Holding AS, a private limited liability company incorporated under the laws of Norway (“Crown”), Crown LNG Holdings Limited, a private limited company incorporated under the laws of Jersey, Channel Islands (“PubCo”), and CGT Merge II Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company limited by shares (“Merger Sub”).
Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions set forth therein, (i) Merger Sub will merge with and into the Com