S-1/A 1 d68809ds1a.htm S-1/A S-1/A
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As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 18, 2021

Registration No. 333-253338

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

Amendment No. 1

to

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

GORES GUGGENHEIM, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   6770   85-4385646

(State or Other Jurisdiction of

Incorporation or Organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

6260 Lookout Road

Boulder, CO 80301

(303) 531-3100

(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)

 

 

Alec Gores

Chairman

6260 Lookout Road

Boulder, CO 80301

Telephone: (303) 531-3100

Facsimile: (303) 531-3200

(Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)

 

 

 

Copies to:

Heather L. Emmel, Esq.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

767 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10153

Tel: (212) 310-8000

Fax: (212) 310-8007

 

Paul D. Tropp, Esq.

Christopher J. Capuzzi, Esq.

Ropes & Gray LLP

1211 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10036

Tel: (212) 596-9000

Fax: (212) 596-9090

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:

As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.

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

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

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

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

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

 

Large accelerated filer     Accelerated filer      Non-accelerated filer    

Smaller reporting company  

 

Emerging growth company  

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

 

Title of Each Class of
Security Being Registered
  Amount Being
Registered
  Proposed
Maximum
Offering Price
per Security(1)
  Proposed
Maximum
Aggregate
Offering Price(1)
  Amount of
Registration Fee
         

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

  86,250,000 Units   $10.00   $862,500,000   $94,099
         

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

  86,250,000 Shares       —(4)
         

Warrants included as part of the units(3)

  17,250,000 Warrants       —(4)
         

Total

      $862,500,000   $94,099(5)

 

 

(1)

Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee.

(2)

Includes 11,250,000 units, consisting of 11,250,000 shares of Class A common stock and 2,250,000 warrants, which may be issued upon exercise of a 45-day option granted to the underwriters to cover over-allotments, if any.

(3)

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

(4)

No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g).

(5)

Previously paid.

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 


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

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED MARCH 18, 2021

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

 

 

LOGO

$750,000,000

75,000,000 Units

Gores Guggenheim, Inc. is a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not identified any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target.

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of our Class A common stock and one-fifth of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein, and only whole warrants are exercisable. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. We have also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 11,250,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.

We will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of our Class A common stock 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 described below as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our regulatory compliance requirements and other costs related thereto and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding shares of Class A common stock that were sold as part of the units in this offering, which we refer to collectively as our public shares throughout this prospectus, subject to the limitations described herein. If we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem 100% of 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 fund our regulatory compliance requirements and other costs related thereto and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described herein.

Our sponsor, Gores Guggenheim Sponsor LLC. (which we refer to as our sponsor throughout this prospectus), has committed to purchase an aggregate of 8,500,000 warrants (or 9,625,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $2.00 per whole warrant (approximately $17,000,000 in the aggregate, or $19,250,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. We refer to these warrants throughout this prospectus as the private placement warrants. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable to purchase one whole share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share.

Our sponsor purchased 21,562,500 shares of our Class F common stock (up to 2,812,500 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). We refer to these shares of Class F common stock as the founder shares throughout this prospectus. The shares of Class F common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that any amount of additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of the business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class F common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class F common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class F common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock issued and outstanding upon completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the business combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination). Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of shares of our Class F common stock will be entitled to vote on the election or removal of directors; provided, however, that with respect to the election of directors in connection with a meeting of our stockholders in which a business combination is submitted to our stockholders for approval, holders our Class A common stock and holders our Class F common stock, voting together as a single class, will have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.

Currently, there is no public market for our securities. We will have applied to have our units listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”), under the symbol “GGPIU” promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our filing a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, (the “SEC”), containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering and issuing a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “GGPI” and “GGPIW,” respectively.

We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 53 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.

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

 

     Per Unit      Total  

Public offering price

   $ 10.00      $ 750,000,000  

Underwriting discounts and commissions(1)

   $ 0.55      $ 41,250,000  

Proceeds, before expenses, to Gores Guggenheim, Inc.

   $ 9.45      $ 708,750,000  

 

(1)

Includes $0.35 per unit, or $26,250,000 (or up to $30,187,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Underwriting.”

Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $750.0 million or $862.5 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit) will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account with Computershare Trust Company, N.A. acting as trustee, and $2.0 million will be available to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering. Except with respect to up to $900,000 per year of interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to fund our regulatory compliance requirements and other costs related thereto, plus additional amounts to pay our franchise and income tax obligations, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (c) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriters expect to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about                 , 2021.

 

Deutsche Bank Securities   Citigroup   Morgan Stanley

                , 2021


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and we take no responsibility for any other information others may give to you. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.

 

SUMMARY

     1  

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     51  

RISK FACTORS

     53  

USE OF PROCEEDS

     96  

DIVIDEND POLICY

     100  

DILUTION

     100  

CAPITALIZATION

     102  

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

     103  

PROPOSED BUSINESS

     110  

MANAGEMENT

     148  

PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

     166  

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

     168  

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

     171  

UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

     191  

UNDERWRITING

     202  

LEGAL MATTERS

     210  

EXPERTS

     210  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

     210  

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     F-1  

 

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SUMMARY

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

Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus, references to:

 

   

“Gores Guggenheim,” “we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to Gores Guggenheim, Inc., a Delaware corporation;

 

   

“Guggenheim” or “Guggenheim Partners” are to Guggenheim Capital, LLC and its controlled affiliates;

 

   

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

 

   

“public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial stockholders and management team to the extent our initial stockholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that each initial stockholder’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;

 

   

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

 

   

“sponsor” are to Gores Guggenheim Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and an affiliate of Gores and Guggenheim;

 

   

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

 

   

“The Gores Group” or “Gores” are to The Gores Group, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company;

 

   

“common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class F common stock, collectively;

 

   

“founder shares” are to shares of our Class F common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering, and the shares of our Class A common stock issued upon the conversion thereof as provided herein;

 

   

“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering; and

 

   

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

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



 

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Registered trademarks referred to in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners. Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option.

Our Company

We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not identified any potential business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target. Our sponsor is jointly controlled by affiliates of each of The Gores Group and Guggenheim.

While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business industry or sector, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and manage a business that can benefit from our expertise, as members of our management team have done in diverse sectors, including industrials, technology, telecommunications, media and entertainment, business services, healthcare, financial services and consumer products.

We believe that our management team is well positioned to identify high quality acquisition opportunities in the marketplace and that our contacts and transaction sources, ranging from owners and directors of private and public companies, private equity funds, investment bankers, lenders, attorneys, accountants and other trusted advisors across various sectors, will allow us to generate attractive acquisition opportunities. Our team is led by Alec Gores, our Chairman, Mark Stone, our Chief Executive Officer and Andrew Rosenfield, our President, who collectively have more than 125 years of experience as entrepreneurs, operators and private equity investors. Over the course of their careers, Mr. Gores, Mr. Stone, Mr. Rosenfield and their respective teams have significant investment experience in companies through varying macroeconomic environments.

Alec Gores is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Gores Group, a global investment firm focused on acquiring businesses that can benefit from the firm’s extensive industry knowledge and decades long experience. Mr. Gores began his career as a self-made entrepreneur and operating executive, when in 1978, he self-funded and founded Executive Business Systems (EBS), a developer and distributor of vertical business software systems. Within seven years, EBS had become a leading value-added reseller in Michigan and sold to CONTEL. Mr. Gores subsequently began acquiring and operating non-core businesses from major corporations and building value in those entities, a decision that ultimately led to the founding of what has evolved into The Gores Group today.

Mr. Gores pioneered an operational approach to private equity investing when he founded The Gores Group in 1987 by operating businesses alongside management to build value in those entities. Together with a team of operations professionals spanning key business functional areas, as well as dedicated investment origination and mergers and acquisitions professionals, Mr. Gores developed a formula that led to numerous marquee investments and business transformations, with a strong focus on carve-out acquisitions from large corporate transaction partners, including:

 

   

The Learning Company from Mattel Corporation;



 

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VeriFone from Hewlett-Packard Company;

 

   

Micron PC from Micron Electronics, Inc.;

 

   

Sagem Communications from the Safran Group;

 

   

Stock Building Supply from Wolseley plc;

 

   

The broadcast communications division from Harris Corporation;

 

   

The electronics power systems business from TE Connectivity Ltd.;

 

   

Elo Touch Solutions from TE Connectivity Ltd.;

 

   

Therakos from Johnson & Johnson; and

 

   

Brand-Rex from Honeywell International, Inc.

In 2015, Mr. Gores launched the first blank check company sponsored by an affiliate of The Gores Group, which subsequently completed a business combination with Hostess Brands, Inc. To date, Mr. Gores and affiliates of The Gores Group have completed five business combinations representing over $25 billion in transaction value and in February 2021, announced their sixth business combination, Matterport. Gores’ strategy is to identify and complete business combinations with differentiated, market leading companies with strong equity stories that will benefit from the growth capital of the public equity markets and be enhanced by the experience and expertise of Gores’ long history and track record of investing in and operating businesses for over 35 years. Gores Guggenheim is the thirteenth blank check vehicle sponsored by an affiliate of The Gores Group and will implement a similar strategy.

Guggenheim Partners is a global investment and advisory firm with more than $310 billion in assets under management2 and a track record of delivering results through innovative solutions. The firm has more than 2,400 professionals located in offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London and other cities in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Guggenheim’s commitment is to advance the strategic interests of its clients and to deliver long-term results with excellence and integrity. It helps governments, institutions, and individuals address complex financial challenges, identify opportunity, and achieve their long-term objective through two principal businesses:

 

   

Guggenheim Investments is a premier global asset management and investment advisory firm with expertise in fixed income, equity and alternative strategy solutions. It focuses on the return and risk needs of insurance companies, corporate and public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, consultants, wealth managers, and high-net-worth investors.

 

   

Guggenheim Securities is a full-service investment banking and capital markets business with advisory, financing, sales and trading, and research capabilities. Guggenheim Securities has become one of the leading M&A and restructuring advisors in the U.S. and has developed scale financing solutions across public and private fixed income and equity markets.

We believe Guggenheim Partners’ extensive global network of relationships, deep knowledge of the financial services industry, transaction execution experience and deal sourcing capabilities will provide us with significant advantages as we pursue an initial business combination.

 

2 

Assets under management are as of December 31, 2020 and include consulting services for clients whose assets are valued at approximately $70 billion.



 

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Our team, led by Alec Gores, Mark Stone and Andrew Rosenfield and including Andrew McBride, has in the aggregate over 125 years of combined operational, financial, investment and transactional experience involving a diverse group of businesses, and we intend to focus on industries or sectors offering high quality acquisition opportunities that can benefit from our expertise. Messrs. Gores, Stone, Rosenfield and McBride possess complementary skills and experience encompassing all aspects of the investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, valuation, structuring, financing, negotiation, execution, strategy development, operations management and investment realization.

In June 2015, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings, Inc. (“Gores Holding I”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. Mr. Stone served as Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings I. Gores Holdings I completed its initial public offering in August 2015, in which it sold 37,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings I common stock and one warrant to purchase one-half of one share of Gores Holdings I common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $375,000,000. Gores Holdings I completed its business combination with Hostess Brands, Inc. (“Hostess”) in November 2016, in which it contributed approximately $725 million to Hostess (consisting of $375 million in proceeds from the initial public offering and a simultaneous private placement, plus approximately $350 million in proceeds from an additional private placement completed at the time of the initial business combination). Hostess is one of the largest manufacturers and marketers of sweet baked goods including Twinkies®, Ding Dongs®, Ho Hos®, Donettes® and a variety of new and classic treats. Hostess’s Class A common stock is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol “TWNK” and its warrants are traded under the symbol “TWNKW”.

In August 2016, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings II, Inc. (“Gores Holdings II”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company and Gores Holdings I. Additionally, Mr. Stone served as Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. McBride served as Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings II. Gores Holdings II completed its initial public offering in January 2017, in which it sold 40,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings II common stock and one-third of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings II common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $400,000,000. Gores Holdings II completed its business combination with Verra Mobility Corporation (“Verra”) (formerly known as American Traffic Solutions, Inc.) in October 2018, in which it contributed approximately $800 million to Verra (consisting of $400 million in proceeds from the initial public offering and a simultaneous private placement, plus approximately $400 million in proceeds from an additional private placement completed at the time of the initial business combination). Verra is a global leader in smart mobility and provides traffic safety, mobility, and compliance solutions for state and local governments, commercial fleets, and rental car companies in North America. Verra’s Class A common stock is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol “VRRM”.

In October 2017, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings III, Inc. (“Gores Holdings III”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I and Gores Holdings II. Additionally, Mr. Stone served as Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. McBride served as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings III. Gores Holdings III completed its initial public offering in September 2018, in which it sold 40,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings III common stock and one-third of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings III common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $400,000,000. Gores Holdings III completed its business combination with Platinum Equity portfolio company (“PAE”) in February 2020, in which it contributed



 

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approximately $620 million to PAE (consisting of $400 million in proceeds from the initial public offering and a simultaneous private placement, plus approximately $220 million in proceeds from an additional private placement completed at the time of the initial business combination). PAE is a leading provider of mission-critical services to the U.S. government, armed forces and international customers. PAE’s common stock and warrants are traded on Nasdaq under the symbols “PAE” and “PAEWW”, respectively.

In August 2018, Mr. Gores, together with Dean Metropoulos, a private investor specializing in investments in the consumer branded products industries, founded Gores Metropoulos, Inc. (“Gores Metropoulos”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II and Gores Holdings III. Gores Metropoulos completed its initial public offering in February 2019, in which it sold 40,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Metropoulos common stock and one-third of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Metropoulos common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $400,000,000. Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, served as Chief Financial Officer of Gores Metropoulos. Gores Metropoulos completed its business combination with Luminar Technologies, Inc. (“Luminar”) in December 2020 in which it contributed approximately $406 million to Luminar (consisting of proceeds from the initial public offering and a simultaneous private placement). Luminar is a global leader in automotive lidar technology powering the introduction of highway autonomy. Luminar’s common stock and warrants are traded on Nasdaq under the symbols “LAZR” and “LAZRW,” respectively. Mr. Gores continues to serve as a director of Luminar.

In July 2019, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings IV, Inc. (“Gores Holdings IV”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III and Gores Metropoulos. Additionally, Mr. Stone served as Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. McBride served as Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings IV. Gores Holdings IV completed its initial public offering in January 2020, in which it sold 42,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings IV common stock and one-fourth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings IV common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $425,000,000. Gores Holdings IV completed its business combination with United Wholesale Mortgage (“UWM”) in January 2021, in which it contributed approximately $895 million to UWM (consisting of $425 million in proceeds from the initial public offering and a simultaneous private placement completed at the time of the initial business combination). UWM is a leading wholesale mortgage lender in the U.S. UWM’s common stock and warrants are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols “UWMC” and “UWMC WS”, respectively.

In June 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings V, Inc. (“Gores Holdings V”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos and Gores Holdings IV. Gores Holdings V completed its initial public offering on August 10, 2020, in which it sold 52,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings V common stock and one-fifth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings V common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $525,000,000. On February 23, 2021, Gores Holdings V entered into a definitive agreement to combine with Ardagh Group S.A.’s (“Ardagh”), metal packaging business that will be held by Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (“AMP”) to create an independent public company. AMP is a global supplier of infinitely-recyclable metal beverage and glass packaging for the world’s leading brands. Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings V, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial



 

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Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings V, in each case, until the closing of the acquisition. The consummation of the acquisition is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2021.

In June 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings VI, Inc. (“Gores Holdings VI”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV and Gores Holdings V. Gores Holdings VI completed its initial public offering in December 2020, in which it sold 34,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings VI common stock and one-fifth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings VI common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $345,000,000. On February 7, 2021, Gore Holdings VI entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Matterport, Inc. (“Matterport”), a spatial data company leading the digital transformation of the built world. Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings VI, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings VI, in each case, until the closing of the acquisition. The consummation of the acquisition is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2021.

In July 2020, Mr. Gores, together with Mr. Metropoulos, founded Gores Metropoulos II, Inc. (“Gores Metropoulos II”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V and Gores Holdings VI. Gores Metropoulos II completed its initial public offering in January 2021, in which it sold 45,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Metropoulos II common stock and one-fifth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Metropoulos II common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $450,000,000. Gores Metropoulos II has not yet announced or completed its initial business combination. Mr. Gores, our Chairman, serves as the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Gores Metropoulos II. Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Metropoulos II.

In September 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings VII, Inc. (“Gores Holdings VII”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI and Gores Metropoulos II. Gores Holdings VII completed its initial public offering in February 2021, in which it sold 55,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings VII common stock and one-eighth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings VII common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $550,000,000. Gores Holdings VII has not yet announced or completed its business combination. Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings VII, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings VII.

In September 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings VIII, Inc. (“Gores Holdings VIII”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II and Gores Holdings VII. Gores Holdings VIII completed its initial public offering in March 2021, in which it sold 34,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings VIII common stock and one-eighth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings VIII common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $345,000,000. Gores Holdings VIII has not yet announced or completed its



 

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business combination. Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings VI, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings VIII.

In December 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Technology Partners, Inc. (“Gores Technology”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII. Gores Technology completed its initial public offering in March 2021, in which it sold 27,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Technology common stock and one-fifth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Technology common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $275,000,000. Gores Technology has not yet announced or completed its business combination. Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Technology.

In December 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Technology Partners II, Inc. (“Gores Technology II”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII and Gores Technology. Gores Technology II completed its initial public offering in March 2021, in which it sold 46,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Technology II common stock and one-fifth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Technology II common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $460,000,000. Gores Technology II has not yet announced or completed its business combination. Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Technology II.

Our management team’s objective is to generate attractive investment returns to create value for our stockholders by applying our strategy of identifying high quality acquisition opportunities and capitalizing on the ability of our management team to acquire and manage a business that can benefit from our expertise. We expect to be provided with ideas and deal flow from many sources, including various investment banks with whom we have relationships. Our management team’s approach is focused on industries or sectors in which we have considerable knowledge and emphasizes downside protection and the preservation of capital by opportunistically pursuing transactions where we believe we have the ability to capture asymmetric risk/reward potential. Our management team has successfully applied this acquisition philosophy over its history to source attractive private equity acquisition opportunities and to deploy capital in varying macroeconomic environments. Our management team will assess the skills, qualifications and abilities of the management team of each potential business combination target. The level and length of our existing management’s continued active participation in our post-acquisition business will depend on the particular needs of the business acquired. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination.

The past performance of The Gores Group, Guggenheim and by our management team, including with respect to Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II, is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination.



 

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You should not rely on the historical record of The Gores Group’s, Guggenheim’s, or Gores Holdings I’s, Gores Holdings II’s, Gores Holdings III’s, Gores Metropoulos’, Gores Holdings IV’s, Gores Holdings V’s, Gores Holdings VI’s, Gores Metropoulos II’s, Gores Holdings VII’s, Gores Holdings VIII’s, Gores Technology’s and Gores Technology II’s performance as indicative of our future performance.

Business Strategy

Our acquisition and value creation strategy is to identify, acquire and, after our initial business combination, to build a company in an industry or sector that complements the experience of our management team and can benefit from our expertise. Our acquisition selection process will leverage our team’s network of potential transaction sources, ranging from owners and directors of private and public companies, private equity funds, investment bankers, lenders, attorneys, accountants and other trusted advisors across various sectors.

In addition, we intend to utilize the networks and industry experience of each of Mr. Gores, The Gores Group and Guggenheim in seeking an initial business combination. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships that we believe will serve as a useful source of acquisition opportunities. This network has been developed through our management team’s combined history of over 125 years of business experience, including in private equity and investment banking. We expect this network will provide our management team with a robust and consistent flow of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Upon completion of this offering, members of our management team will communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target company and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potentially interesting leads.

Acquisition Criteria

Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:

 

   

have a defensible core business, sustainable revenues and established customer relationships;

 

   

are undergoing change in capital structure, strategy, operations or growth;

 

   

can benefit from our operational and strategic approach;

 

   

offer a unique value proposition with transformational potential that can be substantiated during our detailed due diligence process; and

 

   

have reached a transition point in their lifecycle presenting an opportunity for transformation.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general



 

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guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant.

Initial Business Combination

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our board 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 that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, (“FINRA”) or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, (the “Investment Company Act”). Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our business combination.



 

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Our Acquisition Process

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital planning experience.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

Members of our management team and our independent directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. Our officers and directors have neither individually identified nor considered a target business, nor have they had any discussions regarding possible target businesses with our underwriters. All of the members of our management team are employed by certain affiliates The Gores Group or Guggenheim. Each of The Gores Group and Guggenheim is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction. We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with us and we will not consider a business combination with any company that has already been identified to The Gores Group or Guggenheim as an acquisition candidate for them. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Specifically, all of our officers and certain of our directors have fiduciary and contractual duties to either (i) The Gores Group and certain companies it has invested in or managed, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology, and Gores Technology II or (ii) Guggenheim and certain companies in which it has invested. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business



 

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combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. More specifically, Guggenheim manages a significant number of private and public funds and other co-mingled vehicles and advises public and private companies, governments, and other institutions on numerous investment transactions, merger and acquisition activities and other transactions. Guggenheim, as well as its managed vehicles and on behalf of clients, may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Guggenheim may be suitable for both us and for current or future vehicles managed by Guggenheim and for its clients and may be directed to such vehicles or clients or may be used by Guggenheim rather than by us and may never be presented to us. In this respect, neither we, our sponsor, The Gores Group or Guggenheim nor members of our management team who are also employed by either The Gores Group or Guggenheim have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware. The Gores Group and Guggenheim and/or their management, in their capacities as employees of The Gores Group and Guggenheim will be, or in their other endeavors may be, required to present potential business combinations to other entities, before they present such opportunities to us. In addition, we expect that certain members of Guggenheim and The Gores Group will be offered acquisition opportunities on a preferred basis. If any member of Guggenheim or The Gores Group, as applicable, decides to pursue any such opportunity or to present it to funds, clients or others, you should expect that we will be precluded from pursuing such opportunity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain a waiver of the corporate opportunity doctrine, which will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless (i) such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company, (ii) such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue and (iii) the director or officer is permitted to refer the opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. The purpose for the surrender of corporate opportunities is to allow officers or directors with multiple business affiliations to continue to serve as an officer of our company or on our board of directors. Our officers and directors may from time to time be presented with opportunities that could benefit both another business affiliation and us. In the absence of the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our charter, certain candidates would not be able to serve as an officer or director. We believe we substantially benefit from having representatives who bring significant, relevant and valuable experience to our management, and, as a result, the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides us with greater flexibility to attract and retain the officers and directors that we feel are the best candidates.

However, the personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. The different timelines of competing business combinations could cause our directors and officers to prioritize a business combination due to timing over finding a more suitable acquisition target for our business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest, which could negatively impact the timing for a business combination.



 

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In addition, our sponsor, The Gores Group, Guggenheim and our officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved. Although we have no formal policy in place for vetting potential conflicts of interest, our board of directors will review any potential conflicts of interest on a case-by-case basis. In particular, affiliates of our sponsor are currently sponsoring seven other blank check companies, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II. On February 7, 2021, Gores Holdings VI entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Matterport, a spatial data company leading the digital transformation in the built world. Additionally, on February 23, 2021, Gores Holdings V entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AMP, the metal packaging business of Ardagh. Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII may seek to complete a business combination in any location and each is not focusing on any particular industry for business combinations. Gores Metropoulos II may seek to complete a business combination in any location and is focusing on a business combination in the consumer products and services industry. Gores Technology and Gores Technology II may seek to complete a business combination in any location and each is focusing on a business combination in the technology industry. Further, Mr. Gores, our Chairman, serves as Chief Executive Officer of Gores Metropoulos II, Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II. In addition, Mr. Andrew Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, is also serving as Chief Executive Officer and director of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, an affiliate of Guggenheim and another blank check company, incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a business combination. Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I may have interests that differ materially from or take actions that are directly adverse to us, our public stockholders or a business we seek to acquire. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between us and Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, Mr. Rosenfield, as a member of the board of directors of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, will resolve such conflicts of interest in his sole discretion in accordance with his then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor.

Any such companies, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts with Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II would materially affect our ability to identify and pursue initial business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination, because (i) Gores Holdings VI has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Matterport and Gores Holdings V has signed a definitive agreement to acquire AMP, (ii) Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II each have a Chief Executive Officer that is different than Gores Guggenheim’s Chief Executive Officer, (iii) we expect that Mr. Gores will lead the search for a business combination target for each of Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII and given the industry focus of Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II, Mr. Metropoulos will lead the search for a business combination target for Gores Metropoulos II



 

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and Ted Fike and Justin Wilson will lead the search for a business combination target for Gores Technology and Gores Technology II, (iv) three of the four directors that will be on our board are not directors of either Gores Technology or Gores Technology II, two of the four directors that will be on our board are not directors on Gores Holdings V and Gores Holdings VIII and one of the four directors that will be on our board is not a director of Gores Holdings VII, (v) we believe the different composition of our leadership will mitigate any potential conflicts of interest with respect to Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II and (vi) our management team has significant experience in identifying and executing multiple acquisition opportunities simultaneously, and we are not limited by industry or geography in terms of the acquisition opportunities we can pursue.

In addition to the above, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including selecting a business combination target and monitoring the related due diligence. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to our Management Team—Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing potential 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 identify and pursue initial business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination.

Although we expect to benefit from Guggenheim’s network of relationships and processes for sourcing, executing and evaluating potential acquisition targets, neither Guggenheim nor any of its affiliates has any legal or contractual obligation to seek on our behalf or to present to us investment opportunities that might be suitable for our business, and may allocate any such opportunities at its discretion to us or other parties. We have no investment management, advisory, consulting or other agreement in place with Guggenheim or any of its affiliates that obligates them to undertake efforts on our behalf or that govern the manner in which they will allocate investment opportunities. Further, Guggenheim manages a significant number of funds and other co-mingled vehicles and advises public and private companies, governments, and other institutions on numerous investment transactions, merger and acquisition activities and other transactions and may establish new vehicles, acquire additional clients or mandates or increase funds under management in the future, which will be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. These entities, or Guggenheim on their behalf, may be seeking acquisition opportunities and related financing at any time. We may compete with any one or more of them on any given acquisition opportunity. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between, on the one hand, us and, on the other hand, investment funds or companies, accounts, co-investment vehicles and other entities advised or managed by Guggenheim or its affiliates, Guggenheim will resolve such conflicts of interest in their sole discretion in accordance with their then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Management Team—Our sponsor and Mr. Andrew Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, are affiliated with Guggenheim, which could create significant potential conflicts of interest, including without limitation with our search for an initial business combination.”

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management or other financial advisory services with respect to, various forms of debt, equity and other financial instruments. Guggenheim may seek (but is not obligated) to provide these services to us or a business we seek to acquire, and may seek to provide these services to competitors of ours. In connection with these activities, Guggenheim, its affiliates or on behalf of its clients may provide or participate in any debt financing arrangement in connection with any acquisition, financing or disposition of any target business that we may make or any such transactions that may be made in competition with us. As a result, Guggenheim or its clients may have interests that differ materially from or take actions that are directly adverse to us, our public stockholders or a business we seek to acquire, especially where we, any future target or underlying business is facing financial distress.

Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Further, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial stockholders until 180 days after the completion of our initial business combination. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors 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 because of their financial interest in completing an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering.

Additional conflicts could arise where one or more Guggenheim Investments’ funds or other clients has invested or will in the future invest in part of a company’s capital structure and we are investing in, or considering investing in, a different part of the same company’s (or its affiliate’s) capital structure (including but not limited to investments in public versus private securities, investments in debt versus equity, or investments in senior versus subordinated debt), or where the same or similar instruments in a given issuer or borrower are held by us and Guggenheim Investments’ funds or other clients but we have different rights or benefits. With respect to an existing or future economic interest held by funds or other clients in a company (i) Guggenheim Investments will solely consider the interests of its funds or other clients (and not us), including any potential adverse effects to its funds or other clients, when deciding whether or not to enforce rights associated with such economic interests on behalf of its clients, and (ii) Guggenheim Investments will take all necessary actions to preserve or protect the value or rights of its funds or other clients associated with such economic interests, without regard to our interests, which may have an adverse effect on our interests, including but not limited to when we are considering a target for our initial business combination, or during or after such initial business combination.

Furthermore, to the extent that we acquire in connection with our initial business combination a company in which Guggenheim Investments’ clients, affiliates or related persons hold equity or debt instruments, we may be subject to additional significant conflicts.



 

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Guggenheim Investments may take or have the ability to direct actions that are adverse to or suboptimal to us, particularly in situations in which the target experiences financial or operational challenges. For example, Guggenheim Investments, on behalf of its clients, could sponsor or support reorganizations, recapitalizations or similar workout arrangements for a company in which we are invested that could result in a substantial or even total loss of our investment. We do not and will not have the ability or obligation to determine what investments Guggenheim Investments makes on behalf of its funds or other clients. Such economic interests of Guggenheim Investments’ funds or other clients, affiliates or related persons in companies may create significant potential conflicts among us and we may not be able to timely identify such conflicts. Such conflicts are also likely to be resolved not in our favor. In addition, to the extent a prospective target for our initial business combination (or one of its affiliates) is a Guggenheim Investments’ client an additional potential conflict exists, which may preclude us from making an investment.

To the extent that any conflict of interest arises between us and Guggenheim Investments or its clients you should expect that any such conflicts of interest will be resolved in favor of Guggenheim Investments or its clients, as applicable.

As more fully discussed in “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of any business combination target that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology, Gores Technology II or Guggenheim, he or she may be required to present such business combination target to such entity prior to presenting such business combination target to us. Our directors and officers currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

Corporate Information

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, (the “JOBS Act”). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have



 

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total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion (as adjusted for inflation pursuant to SEC rules from time to time), or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates does not equal or exceed $250 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues did not equal or exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $700 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.

Our executive offices are located at 6260 Lookout Road, Boulder, Colorado 80301 and our telephone number is (303) 531-3100.



 

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The Offering

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

 

Securities offered

75,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

 

   

one share of Class A common stock; and

 

   

one-fifth of one warrant.

 

Nasdaq symbols

Units: “GGPIU”

 

  Class A Common Stock: “GGPI”

 

  Warrants: “GGPIW”

 

Trading commencement and separation of Class A common stock and warrants

The units will begin trading promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least five units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.

 

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

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



 

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reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place two business days from the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

Units:

 

Number outstanding before this offering

0

 

Number outstanding after this offering

75,000,000(1)

Common stock:

 

Number outstanding before this offering

21,562,500 shares of Class F common stock(2)(3)

 

Number outstanding after this offering

93,750,000 shares of Class A common stock and Class F common stock(1)(3)

Warrants:

 

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

8,500,000(1)

 

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

23,500,000(1)

 

Exercisability

Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock and only whole warrants are exercisable.

 

Exercise price

$11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein.

 

(1) 

Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the forfeiture by our sponsor of 2,812,500 founder shares. As discussed under “—Founder shares” below, for our sponsor to maintain ownership of 20% of the outstanding shares following completion of this offering, if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters, our sponsor would be required to forfeit 2,812,500 shares.

(2) 

Includes up to 2,812,500 shares that are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.

(3) 

The shares of common stock included in the units are Class A common stock. Founder shares are classified as shares of Class F common stock, which shares are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.”



 

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Exercise period

The warrants will become exercisable on the later of:

 

   

30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; or

 

   

12 months from the closing of this offering;

 

  provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement).

 

  We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to file and have an effective registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed; provided, that if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement.

 

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

 

Redemption of warrants for Cash

Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):

 

   

in whole and not in part;

 

   

at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

   

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



 

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if, and only if, the last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

 

  We will not redeem the warrants unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

 

Redemption of warrants for Class A common stock

Commencing ninety days after the warrants become exercisable we may redeem the outstanding warrants:

 

   

in whole and not in part;

 

   

at a price equal to a number of shares of Class A common stock to be determined by reference to the table set forth under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock except as otherwise described in “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants”;

 

   

if, and only if, the private placement warrants are also concurrently exchanged at the same price (equal to a number of shares of Class A common stock) as the outstanding public warrants, as described above;

 

   

upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption;

 

   

if, and only if, there is an effective registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating thereto available throughout the 30-day period after written notice of redemption is given; and

 

   

if, and only if, the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted per share splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) on the trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.



 

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  The “fair market value” of our Class A common stock shall mean the average last reported sale price of our Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. This redemption feature differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in other blank check offerings. No fractional shares of Class A common stock will be issued upon redemption of the warrants. If, upon redemption, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the holder. Please see the section entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants— Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information.

 

Cashless Exercise

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information.

 

  Except as set forth herein, none of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees.

 

Founder shares

On February 10, 2021, our sponsor purchased 21,562,500 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.001 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per



 

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share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. As such, our initial stockholders will collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Prior to the completion of this offering, our sponsor will transfer 25,000 founder shares to each of our independent director nominees at their original purchase price. Up to 2,812,500 founder shares will be subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised so that our initial stockholders will maintain ownership of 20% of our common stock after this offering.

 

   

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

 

   

the founder shares are shares of Class F common stock that automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, or at any time prior thereto at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein;

 

   

only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment of directors prior to our initial business combination; provided, however, that with respect to the election of directors in connection with a meeting of our stockholders in which a business combination is submitted to our stockholders for approval, holders our Class A common stock and holders our Class F common stock, voting together as a single class, will have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors; and, prior to our initial business combination, holders of a majority of founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason;

 

   

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

 

   

our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (i) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial



 

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business combination and (ii) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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 business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. Our initial stockholders have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 28,125,001 or approximately 37.5%, of the 75,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised); and

 

   

the founder shares are subject to registration rights.

 

Transfer restrictions on founder shares

With certain limited exceptions, our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until 180 days after the completion of our initial business combination. We refer to such transfer restriction throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.

 

Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights

The shares of Class F common stock will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that any amount of additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of the initial business combination the ratio at which shares of Class F common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted in connection with financing or consummating the business combination or for anti- dilution purposes (unless the holders of a majority of the



 

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outstanding shares of Class F common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class F common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial business combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination). Holders of founder shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class F common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time.

 

Appointment of directors; Voting rights

Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors; provided, however, that with respect to the election of directors in connection with a meeting of our stockholders in which a business combination is submitted to our stockholders for approval, holders our Class A common stock and holders our Class F common stock, voting together as a single class, will have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors. Other than pursuant to the proviso in the preceding sentence, holders of the Class A common stock will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors prior to the consummation of the initial business combination. 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. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended by approval of a majority of our Class F common stock then outstanding. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote. In connection with our initial business combination, we may enter into an agreement or other arrangements with the shareholders of the target with respect to voting and other corporate governance matters following completion of the initial business combination, and such agreement or arrangement may provide for, or the target shareholders may require that such agreement provide for, nomination,



 

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designation or representation rights on the board of directors of the combined entity that may be not be proportionate to our shareholders’ or such target shareholders’ ownership interest in the combined company.

 

Private placement warrants

Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 8,500,000 private placement warrants (or 9,625,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $2.00 per whole warrant (approximately $17,000,000 in the aggregate or $19,250,000 in the aggregate if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable for one whole share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share.

 

  A portion of the purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account such that at the time of closing $750,000,000 (or $862,500,000 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants will expire worthless.

 

  The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable (except as set forth under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants for Class A common stock”) and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees. 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 us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.

 

Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants

The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except as described under the



 

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section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).

 

Cashless exercise of private placement warrants

If holders of private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.

 

Proceeds to be held in trust account

The rules of Nasdaq provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $750,000,000, or $10.00 per unit ($862,500,000, or $10.00 per unit, if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full) will be placed into a U.S.-based trust account with Computershare Trust Company, N.A. acting as trustee. These proceeds include $26,250,000 (or $30,187,500 if the underwriters’ over- allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions.


 

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Except with respect to up to $900,000 per year of interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to fund our regulatory compliance requirements and other costs related thereto (a “Regulatory Withdrawal”), plus additional amounts to pay our franchise and income tax obligations, if any, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

 

Anticipated expenses and funding sources

Except as described above with respect to the funding of our Regulatory Withdrawals and the payment of taxes, unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use. Based upon assumed interest rates, we expect the trust account to generate approximately $1,500,000 of interest annually. Except as described above, unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from:

 

   

the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $515,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $1,485,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and

 

   

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



 

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Conditions to completing our initial business combination .

There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination.

If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses or we are considering an initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm. We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons. However, we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. 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, provided that in the event that the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.



 

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Permitted purchases of public shares by our affiliates

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination where otherwise permissible under applicable laws, rules and regulations. 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. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

 

Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination including up to $900,000 per year of interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes, 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 will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into letter



 

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agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our business combination or otherwise.

 

Manner of conducting redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirements.

 

  Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons.

 

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

 

   

conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and

 

   

file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation

 

   

14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

 

 

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to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

 

  In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

 

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

 

   

conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of

 

   

proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and

 

   

file proxy materials with the SEC.

 

 

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business



 

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combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 28,125,001 or approximately 37.5%, of the 75,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). We intend to give not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

 

 

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public stockholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates delivered, or shares tendered electronically, by public stockholders who elected to redeem their shares. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (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



 

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pay for all shares of Class A common stock 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 shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

 

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

Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares 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 stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our 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 stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those stockholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our business combination.


 

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

Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain charter provisions. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, (the “DGCL”) or applicable stock exchange rules. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/ or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Our sponsor, executive officers, and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect (i) the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our initial stockholders have entered into letter agreements 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 the completion of our initial business combination.


 

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

On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be released to us. We will use these funds to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination,” to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post- transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

 

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

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 24-month period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the



 

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requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the 24-month time period.

 

  Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 24-month time period.

 

  The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and subsequently liquidate and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.

 

Payments to insiders

There will be no restrictions on payments made to insiders. We expect that some or all of the following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates:

 

   

Repayment of up to an aggregate of $600,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;

 

   

Payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $20,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support;

 

   

Reimbursement of legal fees and expenses incurred by our sponsor, officers or directors in connection with

 

   

Our formation, the initial business combination and their services to us;

 

   

Payment of fees and reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and

 

   

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which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $2.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

 

  However, no such payments will be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination.

 

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

 

Audit Committee

We will establish and maintain an audit committee, which will be composed entirely of independent directors to, among other things, monitor compliance with the terms described above and the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to immediately take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management— Committees of the Board of Directors—Audit Committee.”

 

Conflicts of Interest

The Gores Group manages several investment vehicles, and Guggenheim provides financial advisory, investment management and other services to clients. Each of Guggenheim, clients of Guggenheim and funds managed by Gores or their respective affiliates may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If any of them decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated by Guggenheim, or within Gores, including by Mr. Gores, may be suitable for both us and for Guggenheim or a current or future Gores or Guggenheim fund or client and may be directed to such entity rather than to us. Neither Guggenheim, Gores nor members of our management team who are also employed by certain affiliates of Guggenheim or The Gores Group have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware, unless, in the case of members of our management team, presented to such member solely in his or her capacity as an officer of the company. Guggenheim, Gores and/or our management, in their capacities as officers or managing directors of Gores or Guggenheim, as



 

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applicable, or in their other endeavors, may be required to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future Gores investment vehicles, Guggenheim or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us. The Gores Group does not have any present intention to invest in new portfolio companies, and therefore we do not expect conflicts of interest with respect to The Gores Group. Further, any potential investment by The Gores Group would be significantly smaller than the companies that we would consider for potential business combinations, and therefore it is likely that any investment by The Gores Group would not be suitable for us, and that any investment by us would not be suitable for The Gores Group.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Specifically, all of our officers and certain of our directors have fiduciary and contractual duties to (i) The Gores Group and certain companies it has invested in or managed, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology, and Gores Technology II and (ii) Guggenheim and certain companies in which it has invested. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. More specifically, Guggenheim manages a significant number of private and public funds and other co-mingled vehicles and advises public and private companies, governments, and other institutions on numerous investment transactions, merger and acquisition activities and other transactions. Guggenheim, as well as its managed vehicles and on behalf of clients, may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Guggenheim may be suitable for both us and for current or future vehicles managed by Guggenheim and for its clients and may be directed to such vehicles or clients or may be used by



 

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Guggenheim rather than by us and may never be presented to us. In this respect, neither we, our sponsor, The Gores Group or Guggenheim nor members of our management team who are also employed by either The Gores Group or Guggenheim have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware. The Gores Group and Guggenheim and/or their management, in their capacities as employees of The Gores Group and Guggenheim will be, or in their other endeavors may be, required to present potential business combinations to other entities, before they present such opportunities to us. In addition, we expect that certain members of Guggenheim and The Gores Group will be offered acquisition opportunities on a preferred basis. If any member of Guggenheim or The Gores Group, as applicable, decides to pursue any such opportunity or to present it to funds, clients or others, you should expect that we will be precluded from pursuing such opportunity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain a waiver of the corporate opportunity doctrine, which will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless (i) such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company, (ii) such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue and (iii) the director or officer is permitted to refer the opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. The purpose for the surrender of corporate opportunities is to allow officers or directors with multiple business affiliations to continue to serve as an officer of our company or on our board of directors. Our officers and directors may from time to time be presented with opportunities that could benefit both another business affiliation and us. In the absence of the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our charter, certain candidates would not be able to serve as an officer or director. We believe we substantially benefit from having representatives who bring significant, relevant and valuable experience to our management, and, as a result, the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides us with greater flexibility to attract and retain the officers and directors that we feel are the best candidates.

 

 

However, the personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. The different timelines



 

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of competing business combinations could cause our directors and officers to prioritize a business combination due to timing over finding a more suitable acquisition target for our business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest, which could negatively impact the timing for a business combination. In addition, our sponsor, The Gores Group, Guggenheim and our officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination.

 

 

As a result, our sponsor, officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved. Although we have no formal policy in place for vetting potential conflicts of interest, our board of directors will review any potential conflicts of interest on a case-by-case basis. In particular, affiliates of our sponsor are currently sponsoring seven other blank check companies, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II. On February 7, 2021, Gores Holdings VI entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Matterport. On February 23, 2021, Gores Holdings V entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AMP. Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII may seek to complete a business combination in any location and each is not focusing on any particular industry for business combinations. Gores Metropoulos II may seek to complete a business combination in any location and is focusing on a business combination in the consumer products and services industry. Gores Technology and Gores Technology II may seek to complete a business combination in any location and each is focusing on a business combination in the technology industry. Further, Mr. Gores, our Chairman, serves as Chief Executive Officer of Gores Metropoulos II, Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II. In addition, Mr. Andrew Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, is also serving as Chief Executive Officer and director of



 

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Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, an affiliate of Guggenheim and another blank check company, incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a business combination. Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I may have interests that differ materially from or take actions that are directly adverse to us, our public stockholders or a business we seek to acquire. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between us and Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, Mr. Rosenfield, as a member of the board of directors of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, will resolve such conflicts of interest in his sole discretion in accordance with his then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor.

Any such companies, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts with Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II would materially affect our ability to identify and pursue initial business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination, because (i) Gores Holdings VI has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Matterport and Gores Holdings V has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AMP, (ii) Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II each have a Chief Executive Officer that is different than Gores Guggenheim’s Chief Executive Officer, (iii) we expect that Mr. Gores will lead the search for a business combination target for each of Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII and given the industry focus of Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II, Mr. Metropoulos will lead the search for a business combination target for Gores Metropoulos II and Ted Fike and Justin Wilson will lead the search for a business combination target for Gores Technology and Gores Technology II, (iv) three of the four directors that will be on our board are not directors of either Gores Technology or Gores Technology II, two of the four directors that will be on our board are not directors on Gores Holdings V and Gores Holdings VIII and one of the four directors that will be on our board is not a director of Gores Holdings VII, (v) we believe the different composition of our leadership will mitigate any potential conflicts of interest with respect to Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores



 

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Technology and Gores Technology II and (vi) our management team has significant experience in identifying and executing multiple acquisition opportunities simultaneously, and we are not limited by industry or geography in terms of the acquisition opportunities we can pursue.

 

 

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Specifically, all of our officers and certain of our directors have fiduciary and contractual duties to either (i) The Gores Group and certain companies it has invested in or managed, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology, and Gores Technology II or (ii) Guggenheim and certain companies in which it has invested or is advising. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. More specifically, Guggenheim manages a significant number of private and public funds and other co-mingled assets and advises public and private companies, governments, and other institutions on numerous investment transactions, merger and acquisition activities and other transactions. Guggenheim, as well as its managed vehicles and on behalf of clients, may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Guggenheim may be suitable for both us and for current or future vehicles managed by Guggenheim and its clients and may be directed to such vehicles or for clients or may be used by Guggenheim rather than by us and may never be presented to us. In this respect, neither we, our sponsor, The Gores Group or Guggenheim nor members of our management team who are also employed by either The Gores Group or Guggenheim have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware. The Gores Group and Guggenheim and/or their management, in their capacities as employees of The Gores Group and Guggenheim will be, or in their other endeavors may be,



 

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required to present potential business combinations to other entities, before they present such opportunities to us. In addition, we expect that certain members of Guggenheim and The Gores Group will be offered acquisition opportunities on a preferred basis. If any member of Guggenheim or The Gores Group, as applicable, decides to pursue any such opportunity or to present it to funds, clients or others, you should expect that we will be precluded from pursuing such opportunity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain a waiver of the corporate opportunity doctrine, which will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless (i) such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company, (ii) such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue and (iii) the director or officer is permitted to refer the opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. The purpose for the surrender of corporate opportunities is to allow officers or directors with multiple business affiliations to continue to serve as an officer of our company or on our board of directors. Our officers and directors may from time to time be presented with opportunities that could benefit both another business affiliation and us. In the absence of the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our charter, certain candidates would not be able to serve as an officer or director. We believe we substantially benefit from having representatives who bring significant, relevant and valuable experience to our management, and, as a result, the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides us with greater flexibility to attract and retain the officers and directors that we feel are the best candidates.

 

  However, the personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. The different timelines of competing business combinations could cause our directors and officers to prioritize a business combination due to timing over finding a more suitable acquisition target for our business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest, which could negatively impact the timing for a business combination.


 

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In addition to the above, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including selecting a business combination target and monitoring the related due diligence. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to our Management Team—Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing potential 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 identify and pursue initial business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination.

 

 

Although we expect to benefit from Guggenheim’s network of relationships and processes for sourcing, executing and evaluating potential acquisition targets, neither Guggenheim nor any of its affiliates has any legal or contractual obligation to seek on our behalf or to present to us investment opportunities that might be suitable for our business, and may allocate any such opportunities at its discretion to us or other parties. We have no investment management, advisory, consulting or other agreement in place with Guggenheim or any of its affiliates that obligates them to undertake efforts on our behalf or that govern the manner in which they will allocate investment opportunities. Further, Guggenheim manages a significant number of funds and advises public and private companies, governments, and other institutions on numerous investment transactions, merger and acquisition activities and other transactions and may establish new vehicles, acquire additional clients or mandates or increase funds under management in the future, which will be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. These entities, or Guggenheim on their behalf, may be seeking acquisition opportunities and related financing at any time. We may compete with any one or more of them on any given acquisition opportunity. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between, on the one hand, us and, on the other hand, investment funds or companies, accounts, co-investment vehicles and other entities advised or managed by Guggenheim or its affiliates, Guggenheim will resolve such conflicts of interest in their sole discretion in accordance with their then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Management Team—Our sponsor and Mr. Andrew Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, are affiliated with Guggenheim, which could create significant



 

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potential conflicts of interest, including without limitation with our search for an initial business combination.”

 

  Guggenheim Securities and Guggenheim Investments are and in the future will continue to, be engaged in a variety of business activities on their own behalf and on behalf of clients, including investing and underwriting, arranging, syndicating or providing investment management or other financial advisory services with respect to, various forms of debt, equity and other financial instruments. Guggenheim may seek (but is not obligated) to provide these services to us or a business we seek to acquire, and may seek to provide these services to competitors of ours. In connection with these activities, Guggenheim, its affiliates or on behalf of its clients may provide or participate in any debt financing arrangement in connection with any acquisition, financing or disposition of any target business that we may make or any such transaction that may be made in competition with us. As a result, Guggenheim or its clients may have interests that differ materially from or take actions that are directly adverse to us, our public stockholders or a business we seek to acquire, especially where we, any future target or underlying business is facing financial distress.

 

  Additional conflicts could arise where one or more Guggenheim Investments’ funds or other clients has invested or will in the future invest in part of a company’s capital structure and we are investing in, or considering investing in, a different part of the same company’s (or its affiliate’s) capital structure (including but not limited to investments in public versus private securities, investments in debt versus equity, or investments in senior versus subordinated debt), or where the same or similar instruments in a given issuer or borrower are held by us and Guggenheim Investments’ funds or other clients but we have different rights or benefits. With respect to existing or future economic interests of its clients in a company (i) Guggenheim Investments will solely consider the interests of its clients (and not us), including any potential adverse effects to its clients, when deciding whether or not to enforce rights associated with such economic interests on behalf of its clients, and (ii) Guggenheim Investments will take all necessary actions to preserve or protect the value or rights of its funds or other clients associated with such economic interests, without regard to our interests, which may have an adverse effect on our interests, including but not limited to when we are considering a target for our initial business combination, or during or after such initial business combination.

 



 

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  Furthermore, to the extent that we acquire in connection with our initial business combination a company in which Guggenheim Investments’ clients, affiliates or related persons hold equity or debt instruments, we may be subject to additional significant conflicts. Guggenheim Investments may take or have the ability to direct actions that are adverse to or suboptimal to us, particularly in situations in which the target experiences financial or operational challenges. For example, Guggenheim Investments, on behalf of its clients, could sponsor or support reorganizations, recapitalizations or similar workout arrangements for a company in which we are invested that could result in a substantial or even total loss of our investment. We do not and will not have the ability or obligation to determine what investments Guggenheim Investments makes on behalf of its funds or other clients. Such economic interests of Guggenheim Investments’ funds or other clients, affiliates or related persons in companies may create significant potential conflicts among us and we may not be able to timely identify such conflicts. Such conflicts are also likely to be resolved not in our favor. In addition, to the extent a prospective target for our initial business combination (or one of its affiliates) is a Guggenheim Investments’ client an additional potential conflict exists, which may preclude us from making an investment.

 

  To the extent that any conflict of interest arises between us and Guggenheim Investments or its clients you should expect that any such conflicts of interest will be resolved in favor of Guggenheim Investments or its clients, as applicable.

 

 

Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Further, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial stockholders until 180 days after the completion of our initial business combination. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants



 

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and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors 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 because of their financial interest in completing an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering.

 

  As more fully discussed in “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of any business combination target that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology, Gores Technology II or Guggenheim, he or she may be required to present such business combination target to such entity prior to presenting such business combination target to us. Our directors and officers currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

 

Indemnity

Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent public accountants) for services rendered or products sold to us, or by a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the $900,000 per year of interest which may be withdrawn to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals, plus additional amounts released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified



 

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whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. None of our officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

Risks

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

Summary of Risk Factors

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment:

 

   

We are a newly formed company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

 

   

Past performance by Gores and Guggenheim, including our management team, and other businesses associated with our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.

 

   

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock.



 

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

 

   

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

 

   

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

   

Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.

 

   

The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

 

   

The ability of our public stockholders 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 are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

 

   

We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

   

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

 

   

Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

 

   

Our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.

 

   

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

 

   

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

The other risks and uncertainties discussed in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus.



 

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Summary Financial Data

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

Balance Sheet Data

 

     February 10, 2021  
     Actual      As Adjusted(1)  

Working capital

   $ 6,192      $ 724,271,192  

Total assets

   $ 570,006      $ 750,521,192  

Total liabilities

   $ 563,814      $ 26,250,000  

Value of Class A common stock that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination ($10.00 per share)

          $ 719,271,190  

Stockholder’s equity

   $ 6,192      $ 5,000,002  

 

(1)

The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the sale of the units we are offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, including the application of the related gross proceeds and the payment of the estimated remaining costs from such sale and the repayment of the accrued and other liabilities required to be repaid.

If no business combination is completed within 24 months from the closing of this 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 fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such 24 month time period.



 

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this prospectus may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following risks, uncertainties and other factors:

 

   

our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;

 

   

our ability to complete our initial business combination;

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements;

 

   

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

 

   

our pool of prospective target businesses;

 

   

our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic;

 

   

the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities;

 

   

our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

 

   

the lack of a market for our securities;

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

our financial performance following this offering; or

 

   

the other risk and uncertainties discussed in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus.

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-

 

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looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

 

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RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

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

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

Unlike many other blank check companies in which the initial stockholders agree to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the public stockholders in connection with an initial business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares, as well as any public shares purchased during or after this offering, in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 28,125,001 or approximately 37.5%, of the 75,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Our initial stockholders will own shares representing 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the completion of this offering. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if our initial stockholders agreed to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.

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

At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of one or more target businesses. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.

The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.

We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we

 

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would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. 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 stockholders 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 stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. 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 a business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming stockholders will reflect our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commissions.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our 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 stock.

If our business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your stock in the open market; however, at such time our stock may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your stock in the open market.

 

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The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. 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 complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. 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 completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will:

(i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

 

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Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.

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

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

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination where otherwise permissible under applicable laws, rules and regulations, although they are under no obligation to do so. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination, or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount

 

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of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

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

Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on our redemption of our public shares, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, 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 this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, because we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of Class A common stock which our public stockholders redeem in connection with our initial business combination, target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources

 

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available to us for our initial business combination. This may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon our liquidation. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that, upon the closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies 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 unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon our liquidation. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search for a business combination, to pay our franchise and income taxes and to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.

Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $515,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,485,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,485,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account

 

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would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. None of our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per share on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

Subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our stock price, 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 surface all material issues that may be present inside a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all third parties, service providers (other than our independent auditors), 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 any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to,

 

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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. Making such a request of potential target businesses may make our acquisition proposal less attractive to them and, to the extent prospective target businesses refuse to execute such a waiver, it may limit the field of potential target businesses that we might pursue.

Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent public accountants) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the up to $900,000 per year of interest which may be withdrawn to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals, plus additional amounts released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 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 will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

 

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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 stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

The net proceeds of this offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants in the amount of $750,000,000, will be held in an interest-bearing trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in direct U.S. Treasury obligations having a maturity of 185 days or less, or in certain money market funds which invest only in direct U.S. Treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. Treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we are permitted to use to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes and up to $100,000 of dissolution expenses) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders 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 $750,000,000 as a result of negative interest rates, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the up to $900,000 per year of interest which may be withdrawn to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals, plus additional amounts released to us to pay our franchise and income 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 may choose not to do so if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and we and our board may be exposed to claims of punitive damages.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/ creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders.

 

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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 stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our 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 business combination.

 

   

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

 

   

registration as an investment company;

 

   

adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and

 

   

reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations.

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 in securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business 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 anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only

 

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in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our primary business objective, which is a business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (a) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (b) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity or; (iii) absent a business combination, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.

We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.

We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders

 

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who choose to remain stockholders following our business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

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

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

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

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

Unless we complete our business combination with an affiliated entity or our board 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 that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be

 

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relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

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

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 400,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 40,000,000 shares of Class F common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 301,500,000 and 21,250,000 (assuming, in each case, that the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option and the forfeiture of 2,812,500 shares of Class F common stock) authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and Class F common stock, respectively, available for issuance, which amount takes into account the shares of Class A common stock reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants but not the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of Class F common stock, which amount is not currently determinable. Immediately after the consummation of this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding. Shares of Class F common stock are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A common stock or equity- linked securities related to our initial business combination. Shares of Class F common stock are also convertible at the option of the holder at any time.

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

 

   

may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering;

 

   

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

 

   

could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating

 

   

loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and

 

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

Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less than such amount 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.

Of the net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $723,750,000 (or $832,312,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be available to complete our business combination and pay related fees and expenses (which excludes up to approximately $26,250,000, or up to approximately $30,187,500 if the over- allotment option is exercised in full, for the payment of deferred underwriting commissions).

We may effectuate our 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 business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:

 

   

solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or

 

   

dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.

 

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This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our business combination.

We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.

If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.

We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

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

We may structure a business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more

 

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

We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete a business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (such that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our 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 shares of Class A common stock 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 shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.

In order to effectuate our initial business combination, we may seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination but that our stockholders 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 modified governing instruments. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and changed industry focus. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments in order to effectuate our initial business combination.

The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.

Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s stockholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s public stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business

 

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combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own up to 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect (i) the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in letter agreements that we have entered into with our sponsor, officers and directors. Our stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.

We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.

Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet identified any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or

 

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abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes 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 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 stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless.

If we effect our initial business combination with a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.

If we effect our initial business combination with a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:

 

   

higher costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with different commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets;

 

   

rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

 

   

complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

 

   

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

 

   

tariffs and trade barriers;

 

   

regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

 

   

longer payment cycles and challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

 

   

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;

 

   

cultural and language differences;

 

   

employment regulations;

 

   

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

 

   

deterioration of political relations with the United States; and

 

   

government appropriations of assets.

We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, our operations might suffer, which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

 

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Risks Relating to Our Securities

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

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 24th month from the closing of this offering in the event we do not complete our business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.

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

In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of

 

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stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

Holders of our Class A common stock will not be entitled to vote on any appointment of directors we hold prior to our initial business combination.

Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors; provided, however, that with respect to the election of directors in connection with a meeting of our stockholders in which a business combination is submitted to our stockholders for approval, holders our Class A common stock and holders our Class F common stock, voting together as a single class, will have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors. Other than pursuant to the proviso in the preceding sentence, holders of the Class A common stock will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors prior to the consummation of the initial business combination. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the completion of an initial business combination.

We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock 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 shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to file a registration statement under the Securities Act covering such shares and maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis for unregistered shares of Class A common stock. However, no such warrant will be exercisable, 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 state registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration

 

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statement, but we will be required to use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to 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 there is no exemption 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 shares of Class A common stock included in the units. 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 shares of Class A common stock for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the founder shares and the private placement warrants held by them and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register such warrants or the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants. In addition, given that the lock-up period on the founder shares is potentially shorter than most other blank check companies, these shares may become registered and available for sale sooner than founder shares in such other companies. Assuming the founder shares convert on a one-for-one basis and no warrants are issued upon conversion of working capital loans, an aggregate of 27,250,000 shares of Class A common stock and 8,500,000 warrants (or 31,187,500 shares of Class A common stock and 9,625,000 warrants if the over- allotment option is exercised in full) are subject to registration under these agreements. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the securities owned by our initial stockholders or holders of working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.

Because we are not limited to a particular industry, sector or 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’ operations.

We may seek to complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector. However, we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet identified or approached 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

 

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complete our 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 revenues or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

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

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (a) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (b) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In addition, if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering for any reason, compliance with Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering before they receive funds from our trust account. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

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

We will have applied apply to have our units listed on Nasdaq promptly after the date of this prospectus and our Class A common stock and warrants listed on or promptly after their date of separation. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the Nasdaq listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in stockholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 round-lot holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our

 

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securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5.0 million, and we would be required to have a minimum of 300 round-lot holders (with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding securities with a market value of at least $2,500). We cannot assure you we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

 

   

a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

 

   

reduced liquidity for our securities;

 

   

a determination that our Class A common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;

 

   

a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

 

   

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

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq, our units, Class A common stock and warrants will be covered securities. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on Nasdaq, our securities would not be covered securities and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.

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

Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule

 

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would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business— Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.”

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 seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, more effort and more resources to identify a suitable target and to consummate an initial business combination.

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

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

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

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

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

 

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would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.

We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. Our underwriters are entitled to receive deferred commissions that will be released from the trust only on a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.

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

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our 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 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 stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

 

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We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.

Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

 

   

using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund 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;

 

   

limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and

 

   

other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

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

The exercise price of the public warrants is higher than is typical in many similar blank check companies in the past. Historically, the exercise price of a warrant was generally a fraction of the purchase price of the units in the initial public offering. The exercise price for our public warrants is $11.50 per share. As a result, the warrants are less likely to ever be in the money and more likely to expire worthless.

 

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Our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.

Upon the closing of this offering, our initial stockholders will own shares representing 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial stockholders purchase any units in this offering or if our initial stockholders purchase any additional shares of common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the founder shares, all of which are held by our initial stockholders, will entitle the holders to elect all of our directors prior to our initial business combination; provided, however, that with respect to the election of directors in connection with a meeting of our stockholders in which a business combination is submitted to our stockholders for approval, holders our Class A common stock and holders our Class F common stock, voting together as a single class, will have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors. Other than pursuant to the proviso in the preceding sentence, holders of the Class A common stock will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors prior to the consummation of the initial business combination. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our business combination.

Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.001 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class F common stock.

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A common stock and none to the one-fifth of a warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 97.7% (or $9.77 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over- allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $0.23 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. In addition, because of the anti-dilution rights of the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A common stock.

We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders 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 shares of our Class A common stock 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 among Computershare Trust Company, N.A and Computershare Inc., collectively, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement will provide that the terms of the warrants may be amended without

 

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the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders. 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. 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, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

Our warrant agreement will designate 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 will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant 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. With respect to any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, we note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to (i) suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum or (ii) any of the types of actions that are required to brought in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. See “—Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.” Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.

Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of New York law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have

 

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the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.

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

We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we give proper notice of such redemption and provided certain other conditions are met. We will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.

In addition, we may redeem your warrants after they become exercisable for a number of shares of Class A common stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A common stock. Any such redemption may have similar consequences to a cash redemption described above. In addition, such redemption may occur at a time when the warrants are “out-of-the-money,” in which case you would lose any potential embedded value from a subsequent increase in the value of the Class A common stock had your warrants remained outstanding. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us (except as set forth under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants for Class A common stock”) so long as they are held by our sponsor or their permitted transferees.

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

We will be issuing warrants to purchase 15,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 17,250,000 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement warrants to purchase an aggregate of 8,500,000 private placement warrants (or up to 9,625,000 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. Our initial stockholders currently own an aggregate of 21,562,500 founder shares (up to 2,812,500 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised).

 

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The founder shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor makes any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $2.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Our public warrants are also redeemable by us for Class A common stock as described in “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants for Class A common stock.”

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

The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by us (except as set forth under “Description of Securities—Warrants— Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants for Class A common stock”), (ii) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) are subject to registration rights.

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

Each unit contains one-fifth of one warrant. Because, pursuant to the warrant agreement, the warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares, only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-fifth of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a 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 they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.

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

Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriters. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with representatives of the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the

 

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underwriters believed they reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A common stock and warrants underlying the units, include:

 

   

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

 

   

prior offerings of those companies;

 

   

our prospects for acquiring an operating business;

 

   

a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;

 

   

our capital structure;

 

   

an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies;

 

   

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

 

   

other factors as were deemed relevant.

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

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

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

Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.

The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include target historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, (“GAAP”), or international financing reporting standards, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

 

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

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target company with which we seek to complete our business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

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

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of shares of our Class F common stock, which have been issued to our sponsor, are entitled to vote on the appointment of directors, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any claim (A) as to which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, (C) for which the Court of Chancery does

 

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not have subject matter jurisdiction, or (D) any action arising under the Securities Act, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall have concurrent jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

If we take advantage of Nasdaq’s controlled company standards, we would be exempt from various corporate governance requirements.

Nasdaq listing rules generally define a “Controlled Company” as any company of which more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors is held by an individual, a group or another company. Prior to the vote on our initial business combination, only holders of the founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors; provided, however, that with respect to the election of directors in connection with a meeting of the stockholders of the Company in which a business combination is submitted to the stockholders of the Company for approval, holders of the Class A common stock and holders of the Class F common stock, voting together as a single class, shall have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors. Other than pursuant to the proviso in the preceding sentence, holders of the Class A common stock will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors prior to the consummation of the initial business combination. More than 50% of the founder shares will be held by our sponsor. Accordingly, prior to the vote on our initial business combination, we would likely satisfy the definition of being a controlled company. As indicated herein, we will not use the related exemptions to Nasdaq’s governance rules under the controlled company standards. However, if we were to change our intentions and take advantage of the controlled company standards, we would be exempt from various corporate governance requirements such as the requirement to have a majority of independent directors and to have nominating/corporate governance and compensation committees comprised entirely of independent directors.

Risks Relating to Our Management Team

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 business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot

 

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presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our 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.

In addition, the officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post- combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our 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 the company after the completion of our 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. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

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

When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and

 

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profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidates’ 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 officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing potential 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 identify and pursue initial business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination.

Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. In particular, certain of our officers and directors are employed by affiliates of Guggenheim or by affiliates of The Gores Group. Affiliates of The Gores Group and Guggenheim are investment managers to various private investment funds that make investments in securities or other interests of or relating to companies in industries we may target for our initial business combination, or, in the case of Guggenheim Securities, is a financial advisor to investment funds or companies, accounts, co-investment vehicles and other entities in industries we may target for our initial business combination. In particular, certain of our officers and directors serve as an officer or director of Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II blank check companies sponsored by The Gores Group, each of which (other than Gores Holdings V and Gores Holdings VI) has not yet announced an initial business combination. In addition, Andrew Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, is also the Chief Executive Officer and director of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, a blank check, Cayman exempted private company sponsored by Guggenheim Partners Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Guggenheim, which has not yet completed its initial public offering or initial business combination. Our independent directors also serve as officers or board members for other entities. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Directors and Officers.”

 

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Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor and officers and directors are, and may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. In addition, our sponsor, The Gores Group, Guggenheim and our officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved. Although we have no formal policy in place for vetting potential conflicts of interest, our board of directors will review any potential conflicts of interest on a case-by-case basis. In particular, affiliates of our sponsor are currently sponsoring seven other blank check companies, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II. Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII may seek to complete a business combination in any location and each is not focusing on any particular industry for business combinations. Gores Metropoulos II may seek to complete a business combination in any location and is focusing on a business combination in the consumer products and services industry. Gores Technology and Gores Technology II may seek to complete a business combination in any location and each is focusing on a business combination in the technology industry. Further, Mr. Gores, our Chairman, serves as Chief Executive Officer of Gores Metropoulos II, Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II. Any such companies, including Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties.

In addition, Mr. Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, is also serving as Chief Executive Officer and director of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, an affiliate of Guggenheim and another blank check company, incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a business combination. Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I may have interests that differ materially from or take actions that are directly adverse to us, our public stockholders or a business we seek to acquire. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between us and Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, Mr. Rosenfield, as a member of the board of directors of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, will resolve such conflicts of interest in his sole discretion in accordance with his then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor.

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.

 

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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain a waiver of the corporate opportunity doctrine, which will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless (i) such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company (ii) such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue and (iii) the director or officer is permitted to refer the opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. The purpose for the surrender of corporate opportunities is to allow officers or directors with multiple business affiliations to continue to serve as an officer of our company or on our board of directors. Our officers and directors may from time to time be presented with opportunities that could benefit both another business affiliation and us. In the absence of the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our charter, certain candidates would not be able to serve as an officer or director. We believe we substantially benefit from having representatives, who bring significant, relevant and valuable experience to our management, and, as a result, the inclusion of the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides us with greater flexibility to attract and retain the officers and directors that we feel are the best candidates.

However, the personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and pursuing an initial business combination or completing our initial business combination. The different timelines of competing business combinations could cause our directors and officers to prioritize a business combination due to timing over finding a more suitable acquisition target for our business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest, which could negatively impact the timing for a business combination.

For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see the sections of this prospectus entitled “Management—Directors and Officers,” “Management—Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

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

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. We do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us, including the formation or participation in one or more other blank check companies. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

In particular, The Gores Group, Guggenheim and their respective affiliates have advised or invested in sectors as diverse as industrials, technology, telecommunications, media and entertainment, business services, healthcare, financial services and consumer products. As a result, there may be substantial overlap between companies that would be a suitable business combination for us and companies that would be a client of or make an attractive target for such other affiliates.

 

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

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Management— Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

Our sponsor and Mr. Andrew Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, are affiliated with Guggenheim, which could create significant potential conflicts of interest, including without limitation with our search for an initial business combination.

Our sponsor is an affiliate of Guggenheim. Guggenheim, including Guggenheim Investments, is a global investment management and advisory firm. Guggenheim Investments manages a significant number of private and public funds and provides investment management and investment advisory services to clients that include public and private companies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, governments and other institutions and individuals with respect to numerous investment strategies including with respect to alternative asset classes. Guggenheim, including through Guggenheim Securities and Guggenheim Investments, and on behalf of their respective clients, invests and advises on a wide range of investment opportunities. Mr. Rosenfield owes fiduciary and contractual duties to Guggenheim and its affiliates, although not to Guggenheim’s clients. Subject to applicable law, including Guggenheim’s obligations to its funds and other clients, there is no restriction on what Guggenheim may invest in, on its own behalf or on behalf of its clients. Because of the breadth and scope of the Guggenheim’s business, you should be aware that there are significant potential conflicts of interest between us and Guggenheim. To the extent that any conflict of interest arises between us and Guggenheim, you should expect that any such conflicts of interest will be resolved in favor of Guggenheim. As a result, you should be aware of the risk that we may be unable to source a suitable investment opportunity for the Company within 24 months from the closing of this offering.

Guggenheim may be offered acquisition opportunities on a preferred basis. If Guggenheim decides to pursue any such opportunity or to present to funds, clients or others, you should expect that we will be precluded from pursuing such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Guggenheim, including by Mr. Rosenfield, may be suitable for both us

 

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and for a current or future business of Guggenheim, and you should expect that any such investment ideas will be directed to such current or future business of Guggenheim rather than to us. You should also expect that we will not be able to pursue such opportunity unless Guggenheim, in its sole discretion, declines to pursue the opportunity or makes available to us a co-investment opportunity after Guggenheim has taken its desired allocation of the investment. Guggenheim has any duty to offer acquisition opportunities to us, or to otherwise share information or investment ideas with us, and in fact will often be prohibited from doing so, due to its fiduciary and contractual obligations to persons and entities other than us.

Employees of Guggenheim Investments, owe fiduciary and contractual duties to clients of Guggenheim Investments. As a result, investment ideas and acquisition or business combination opportunities sourced, identified or generated within Guggenheim Investments, by any Guggenheim Investments employees, may be suitable for both us and for current or future funds or other client accounts managed or advised by Guggenheim Investments and may be directed to and used by such funds or other clients or by Guggenheim Investments, rather than by us and may not be presented to us. Funds and other clients of Guggenheim Investments may therefore compete with us for acquisition opportunities.

In addition, where the pursuit of a potential investment opportunity by us could have an adverse impact on Guggenheim (or its clients), we may decline to make such investment, even if it would otherwise represent an attractive opportunity for us. Guggenheim may also take commercial steps or investment decisions that are adverse to us.

In addition, depending on the nature of the transaction, the governing documents of certain funds and companies managed by Guggenheim may require, or Guggenheim in its sole discretion may seek, the prior written consent of the investors or the advisory committee of the relevant fund or investment vehicle participating in the transaction. Any such approval will be given or withheld by the relevant parties solely taking into account their own interests or without regard to our interests. Additionally, depending on the nature of the transaction, Guggenheim may be required to obtain the prior written consent of an independent party, or in its sole discretion may seek such consent, in connection with the consummation of a transaction between us and a company or business in which Guggenheim (or one of its clients) has a significant commercial interest, which could include equity, debt or other form of investment or interest. Any such approval will be given or withheld by the relevant parties solely taking into account their own interests or the interests of Guggenheim’s clients and without regard to our interests.

In addition, Mr. Andrew Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, is also serving as Chief Executive Officer and director of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, an affiliate of Guggenheim and another blank check company, incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a business combination. Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I may have interests that differ materially from or take actions that are directly adverse to us, our public stockholders or a business we seek to acquire. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between us and Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, Mr. Rosenfield, as a member of the board of directors of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, will resolve such conflicts of interest in his sole discretion in accordance with his then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor.

In order to help finance an initial business combination, Guggenheim may (but are not obligated to and has no current intention to do so) enter into financing arrangements with us. Such financing arrangements may provide Guggenheim with certain rights that might be

 

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detrimental to our equity holders, including our public stockholders, as well as those of the business we seek to acquire. Guggenheim may also co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, which may give rise to certain conflicts of interest.

We have no investment management, advisory, consulting or other agreement in place with Guggenheim or any of its affiliates that obligates them to undertake efforts on our behalf or that govern the manner in which they will allocate investment opportunities. We may engage service providers from Guggenheim for services in connection with identifying and investigating potential targets for, and the consummation and financing of, our business combination, and we may pay fees, including non-cash compensation, and reimburse expenses for any such services. Similarly, Guggenheim, including Guggenheim Securities LLC, may provide services to prospective acquisition targets, including in connection with or following an initial business combination with us, and may receive fees and other compensation and expense reimbursements in exchange for such services. Further, Guggenheim Securities advises clients on acquisition activities and clients of Guggenheim Securities may also compete with us for acquisition opportunities or may be targets of ours. Guggenheim will resolve conflicts of interest in their sole discretion in accordance with their then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties, as well as other considerations, and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor. In addition, Guggenheim may make loans to us or own a company that we seek to acquire, or otherwise invest in other positions that rank senior in preference to our common stock or the common stock of a company that we seek to acquire. These and other activities may result in actual or apparent conflicts of interest.

We are not an investment advisory client of Guggenheim under the Investment Advisers Act, and we are not an investment company under the Investment Company Act.

Our sponsor, Guggenheim and the Gores Group do not and will not provide any investment advice to us, and we are not an investment advisory client of Guggenheim under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”). We are not a fund or a company managed by Guggenheim. This means that we are not entitled to the protections afforded to clients under the Advisers Act, and the sponsor, Guggenheim and the Gores Group owe no fiduciary duties to us under the Advisers Act. In particular, Guggenheim and the Gores Group have no fiduciary or other duties to present us with any prospective initial business combination opportunities or any information, investment strategies, opportunities or ideas known to them or developed or used in connection with their other business activities, and, in certain cases, may be prohibited from doing so.

In addition, we are not an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and we are not entitled to the protections afforded to investment companies under that law.

Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

On February 10, 2021, our sponsor purchased 21,562,500 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.001 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. Prior to the completion of this offering our sponsor will transfer 25,000 founder shares to each of our independent director nominees at their original purchase price. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 8,500,000 (or 9,625,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private

 

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placement warrants, each exercisable for one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, for a purchase price of approximately $17,000,000 (or $19,250,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $2.00 per whole warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete a business combination. Holders of founder shares have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any founder shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsor, affiliates of our sponsor or an officer or director, and we may pay our sponsor, officers, directors and any of their respective affiliate’s fees and expenses in connection with identifying, investigating and consummating an initial business combination.

The personal and financial interests of our sponsor, its affiliates or our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 24 month anniversary of this offering nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.

General Risk Factors

We are a newly formed company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

We are a newly formed company with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our business combination. If we fail to complete our business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.

We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons. Except as required by law, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders 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 stockholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our public shares do not approve of the business combination we complete. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.

Past performance by Gores or Guggenheim, including our management team, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.

Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, Gores and Guggenheim and each of their affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Past

 

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performance by Gores and Guggenheim and by each of their management teams and affiliates, including with respect to each of Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II, is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of the Gores Group’s, Guggenheim’s or either of our management teams’, or Gores Holdings I’s, Gores Holdings II’s, Gores Holdings III’s, Gores Metropoulos’, Gores Holdings IV’s, Gores Holdings V’s, Gores Holdings VI’s, Gores Metropoulos II’s, Gores Holdings VII’s, Gores Holdings VIII’s, Gores Technology’s and Gores Technology II’s performance as indicative of the future performance of an investment in the company or the returns the company will, or is likely to, generate going forward. Furthermore, an investment in us is not an investment in Gores or any other business associated with Guggenheim.

We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.

We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an

 

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emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.

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 common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30th, and (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year or the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.

Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.

We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.

We would be subject to a second level of U.S. federal income tax on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company (a “PHC”), for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

A U.S. corporation generally will be classified as a PHC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a given taxable year if (i) at any time during the last half of such taxable year, five or fewer individuals (without regard to their citizenship or residency and including as individuals for this purpose certain entities such as certain tax exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts) own or are deemed to own (pursuant to certain constructive ownership rules) more than 50% of the stock of the corporation by value and (ii) at least 60% of the corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, for such taxable year consists of PHC income (which includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain royalties, annuities and, under certain circumstances, rents).

Depending on the date and size of our initial business combination, it is possible that at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income as discussed above. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certain tax exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts, it is possible that more than 50% of our stock may be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not become a PHC following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed PHC income, which generally includes our taxable income, subject to certain adjustments.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We are offering 75,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table.

 

     Without
Over-Allotment

Option
    Over-Allotment
Option Fully
Exercised
 

Gross proceeds

    

Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1)

   $ 750,000,000     $ 862,500,000  

Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement

   $ 17,000,000     $ 19,250,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total gross proceeds

   $ 767,000,000     $ 881,750,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Offering expenses(2)

    

Underwriting commissions (2% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion)(3)

   $ 15,000,000     $ 17,250,000  

Legal fees and expenses

     305,000       305,000  

Accounting fees and expenses

     106,500       106,500  

SEC/FINRA Expenses

     223,974       223,974  

Travel and road show

     500       500  

Nasdaq listing and filing fees

     5,000       5,000  

Director and Officer liability insurance premiums(4)

     800,000       800,000  

Printing and engraving expenses

     40,000       40,000  

Miscellaneous

     4,026       4,026  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total offering expenses (excluding underwriting commissions)

   $ 1,485,000     $ 1,485,000  

Proceeds after offering expenses

   $ 750,515,000     $ 863,015,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Held in trust account(3)

   $ 750,000,000     $ 862,500,000  

% of public offering size

     100     100

Not held in trust account after offering expenses

   $ 515,000     $ 515,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(1)

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

(2)

A portion of the offering expenses will be paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsor of up to $600,000 as described in this prospectus. On February 10, 2021, we borrowed $300,000 under the promissory note with our sponsor to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. This loan will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $2,000,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) and amounts not to be held in the trust account. In the event that offering expenses are less than set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account.

(3)

The underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination, $26,250,000, which constitutes the underwriters’ deferred commissions (or $30,187,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account, and the remaining funds will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.

(4)

This amount represents the approximate amount of annual director and officer liability insurance premiums the registrant anticipates paying following the completion of its initial public offering and until it completes a business combination.

 

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The rules of Nasdaq provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $750,000,000 (or $862,500,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), including $26,250,000 (or $30,187,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will be placed in a U.S.-based trust account with Computershare Trust Company, N.A. acting as trustee, and will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $1,500,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.2% per year. Except with respect to up to $900,000 per year of interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals, plus additional amounts released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. Based on assumed interest rates, we expect that the interest earned on the trust account, net of income taxes, will be sufficient to pay Delaware franchise taxes.

The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post- transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

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

Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us $515,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, as well as certain funds from loans from our sponsor. We will use these funds and our working capital primarily to identify and evaluate

 

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target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination and to pay taxes, if needed. During that period, we expect our principal expenses to include franchise and income taxes; regulatory reporting requirements; Nasdaq and other regulatory fees; and office space, administrative and support services. We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will also pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $600,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. On February 10, 2021, we borrowed $300,000 under the promissory note with our sponsor to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of February 28, 2022 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $2,000,000 of offering proceeds not held in the trust account.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $2.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

We may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) and the agreement for our business combination may require as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders

 

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exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares or the business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.

A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (a) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (b) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months following the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or affiliates acquires public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

DILUTION

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

At February 10, 2021 our net tangible book deficit was $(238,814) or approximately $(0.0111) per share of common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 75,000,000 shares of Class A common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus, the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at February 10, 2021 would have been $5,000,002, or approximately $0.23 per share, representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of the approximately 71,927,119 shares of Class A common stock that may be redeemed for cash and assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) of $9.78 per share to our initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution of $10.00 per share or 100% to our public stockholders not exercising their redemption rights. Total dilution to public stockholders from this offering will be $9.77 per share. The dilution to new investors if the underwriters exercise the over-allotment option in full would be an immediate dilution of $9.80 per share.

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

 

     Without
Over-Allotment
    With
Over-Allotment
 

Public offering price

   $ 10.00     $ 10.00  

Net tangible book deficit before this offering

     (0.0111     (0.0111

Increase attributable to public stockholders

     9.78       9.81  

Decrease attributable to public shares subject to redemption

     (10.00     (10.00

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

   $ 0.23     $ 0.20  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Dilution to public stockholders

   $ 9.77     $ 9.80  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) by $719,271,190 because holders of up to approximately 95.9% of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or stockholders meeting, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes), divided by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering.

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

 

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

Initial Stockholders(1)

     18,750,000        20.0   $ 25,000        0.01   $ 0.001  

Public Stockholders

     75,000,000        80.0     750,000,000        99.99   $ 10.00  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 
     93,750,000        100.0   $ 750,025,000        100.0  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

(1)

Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of an aggregate of 2,812,500 shares of Class F common stock held by our initial stockholders.

The pro forma net tangible book value per share after the offering is calculated as follows:

 

     Without
Over-Allotment
    With
Over-allotment
 

Numerator:

    

Net tangible book deficit before this offering

   $ (238,814   $ (238,814

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

     750,515,000       863,015,000  

Offering costs excluded from net tangible book value before this offering

     245,006       245,006  

Less: deferred underwriters’ commissions payable

     (26,250,000     (30,187,500

Less: amount of Class A common stock subject to redemption to maintain net tangible assets of $5,000,001

     (719,271,190     (827,833,690
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   $ 5,000,002     $ 5,000,002  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Denominator:

    

Shares of Class F common stock outstanding prior to this offering

     21,562,500       21,562,500  

Shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised

     (2,812,500      

Shares of Class A common stock included in the units offered

     75,000,000       86,250,000  

Less: shares subject to redemption

     (71,927,119     (82,783,369
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   $ 21,822,881     $ 25,029,131  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization at February 10, 2021, and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of our units and the private placement warrants and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:

 

     February 10, 2021  
     Actual     As Adjusted(1)  

Deferred underwriting commissions

   $     $ 26,250,000  

Notes Payable(2)

     300,000        

Class A common stock subject to redemption(3)

           719,271,190  

Stockholders’ equity:

    

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized none issued or outstanding

            

Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 400,000,000 shares authorized (actual and as adjusted); no shares issued and outstanding (actual); 3,072,881 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 71,927,119 shares subject to redemption) (as adjusted)

           307  

Class F common stock, $0.0001 par value, 40,000,000 shares authorized; 21,562,500 shares issued and outstanding (actual);18,750,000 shares issued and outstanding (as adjusted)(4)

     2,156       1,875  

Additional paid-in capital

     22,844       5,016,628  

Accumulated deficit

     (18,808     (18,808
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stockholders’ equity

     6,192       5,000,002  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total capitalization

   $ 306,192     $ 750,521,192  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(1)

Assumes the over-allotment option has not been exercised and the resulting forfeiture of 2,812,500 founder shares held by our initial stockholders has occurred.

(2)

Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $600,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. On February 10, 2021, we borrowed $300,000 under the promissory note with our sponsor to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering.

(3)

Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account 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 fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes, subject to the limitations described herein whereby our net tangible assets will be maintained at a minimum of $5,000,001 and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. For a detailed calculation of Class A common stock subject to redemption, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Dilution.”

(4)

Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares by our sponsor and as adjusted amount assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

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

Overview

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

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors;

 

   

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

 

   

may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A common stock and/or warrants.

 

   

Similarly, if we issue debt securities, it could result in:

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

 

   

using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund other general corporate purposes;

 

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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;

 

   

limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and

 

   

other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at February 10, 2021, we had $325,000 in cash and deferred offering costs of $245,006. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.

Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events

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

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares to our sponsor and loans to us of up to $600,000 by our sponsor under an unsecured promissory note. On February 10, 2021, we borrowed $300,000 under the unsecured promissory note to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $1,485,000, underwriting commissions of $15,000,000 ($17,250,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $26,250,000 (or $30,187,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full)), and (ii) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of approximately $17,000,000 (or $19,250,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $750,515,000 (or $863,015,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $750,000,000 (or $862,500,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes $26,250,000 (or $30,187,500 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions. The remaining approximately $515,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,485,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,485,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

 

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We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (less deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw up to $900,000 per year of interest to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals, plus additional amounts released to us to pay franchise and income taxes, if any. We estimate our annual franchise tax obligations, based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding after the completion of this offering, to be $200,000, which is the maximum amount of annual franchise taxes payable by us as a Delaware corporation per annum. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. Based on assumed interest rates, we expect that the interest earned on the trust account, net of income taxes, will be sufficient to pay Delaware franchise taxes. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.

Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us the approximately $515,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination. During that period, we expect our principal expenses to include franchise and income taxes; regulatory reporting requirements; Nasdaq and other regulatory fees; and office space, administrative and support services. We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will also pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $2.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

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

 

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

We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.

Controls and Procedures

We are currently not required to comply with Section 404(a) and (b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with Section 404(a) and (b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.

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

 

   

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

 

   

reconciliation of accounts;

 

   

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

 

   

evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;

 

   

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

 

   

documentation of accounting policies and procedures.

 

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

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

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk. However, if the interest rates of U.S. Treasury obligations become negative, we may have less interest income available to us for payment of taxes, and a decline in the value of the assets held in the trust account could reduce the principal below the amount initially deposited in the trust account.

Related Party Transactions

On February 10, 2021, our sponsor purchased 21,562,500 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.001 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. Prior to the completion of this offering, our sponsor will transfer 25,000 founder shares to each of our independent director nominees at their original purchase price.

Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

We may pay our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation in connection with identifying, investigating and completing our initial business combination. These individuals will also be reimbursed for any out of pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which fees and expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on payments that may be made to our sponsor, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates.

 

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Prior to the consummation of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $600,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of February 28, 2022, or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $2,000,000 of offering proceeds not held in the trust account.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $2.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 8,500,000 private placement warrants (or 9,625,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $2.00 per whole warrant (approximately $17,000,000 in the aggregate or $19,250,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable for one whole share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. Our sponsor will be permitted to transfer the private placement warrants held by it to certain permitted transferees, including our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to it, but the transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as the sponsor. Otherwise, these warrants will not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our business combination. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable (except as set forth under “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants for Class A common stock”) so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. The private placement warrants may also be exercised by the sponsor and its permitted transferees for cash or on a cashless basis. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement we will enter into with our initial stockholders on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. These holders, and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. However, the registration rights agreement will provide that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the securities covered thereby are released from their lock-up restrictions, as described herein. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such

 

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registration statements. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

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

As of February 10, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus, as we have conducted no operations to date.

JOBS Act

On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.

Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company”, we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis), and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of this offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.

 

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PROPOSED BUSINESS

Overview

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

While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business industry or sector, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and manage a business that can benefit from our expertise, as members of our management team have done in diverse sectors, including industrials, technology, telecommunications, media and entertainment, business services, healthcare, financial services and consumer products.

We believe that our management team is well positioned to identify high quality acquisition opportunities in the marketplace and that our contacts and transaction sources, ranging from owners and directors of private and public companies, private equity funds, investment bankers, lenders, attorneys, accountants and other trusted advisors across various sectors, will allow us to generate attractive acquisition opportunities. Our team is led by Alec Gores, our Chairman, Mark Stone, our Chief Executive Officer and Andrew Rosenfield, our President, who collectively have more than 125 years of experience as entrepreneurs, operators and private equity investors. Over the course of their careers, Mr. Gores, Mr. Stone, Mr. Rosenfield and their respective teams have significant investment experience in companies through varying macroeconomic environments. Our sponsor is jointly controlled by affiliates of each of the Gores Group and Guggenheim.

Alec Gores is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Gores Group, a global investment firm focused on acquiring businesses that can benefit from the firm’s extensive industry knowledge and decades long experience. Mr. Gores began his career as a self-made entrepreneur and operating executive, when in 1978, he self-funded and founded Executive Business Systems (EBS), a developer and distributor of vertical business software systems. Within seven years, EBS had become a leading value-added reseller in Michigan and sold to CONTEL. Mr. Gores subsequently began acquiring and operating non-core businesses from major corporations and building value in those entities, a decision that ultimately led to the founding of what has evolved into The Gores Group today.

Mr. Gores pioneered an operational approach to private equity investing when he founded The Gores Group in 1987 by operating businesses alongside management to build value in those entities. Together with a team of operations professionals spanning key business functional areas, as well as dedicated investment origination and mergers and acquisitions professionals, Mr. Gores developed a formula that led to numerous marquee investments and business transformations, with a strong focus on carve-out acquisitions from large corporate transaction partners, including:

 

   

The Learning Company from Mattel Corporation;

 

   

VeriFone from Hewlett-Packard Company;

 

   

Micron PC from Micron Electronics, Inc.;

 

   

Sagem Communications from the Safran Group;

 

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Stock Building Supply from Wolseley plc;

 

   

The broadcast communications division from Harris Corporation;

 

   

The electronics power systems business from TE Connectivity Ltd.;

 

   

Elo Touch Solutions from TE Connectivity Ltd.;

 

   

Therakos from Johnson & Johnson; and

 

   

Brand-Rex from Honeywell International, Inc.

In 2015, Mr. Gores launched the first blank check company sponsored by an affiliate of The Gores Group, which subsequently completed a business combination with Hostess Brands, Inc. To date, Mr. Gores and affiliates of The Gores Group have completed five business combinations representing over $25 billion in transaction value and in February 2021, announced their sixth business combination, Matterport. Gores’ strategy is to identify and complete business combinations with differentiated, market leading companies with strong equity stories that will benefit from the growth capital of the public equity markets and be enhanced by the experience and expertise of Gores’ long history and track record of investing in and operating businesses for over 35 years. Gores Guggenheim is the thirteenth blank check vehicle sponsored by an affiliate of The Gores Group and will implement a similar strategy.

Guggenheim Partners is a global investment and advisory firm with more than $310 billion in assets under management3 and a track record of delivering results through innovative solutions. The firm has more than 2,400 professionals located in offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London and other cities in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Guggenheim’s commitment is to advance the strategic interests of its clients and to deliver long-term results with excellence and integrity. It helps governments, institutions, and individuals address complex financial challenges, identify opportunity, and achieve their long-term objective through two principal businesses:

 

   

Guggenheim Investments is a premier global asset management and investment advisory firm with expertise in fixed income, equity and alternative strategy solutions. It focuses on the return and risk needs of insurance companies, corporate and public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, consultants, wealth managers, and high-net-worth investors.

 

   

Guggenheim Securities is a full-service investment banking and capital markets business with advisory, financing, sales and trading, and research capabilities. Guggenheim Securities has become one of the leading M&A and restructuring advisors in the U.S. and has developed scale financing solutions across public and private fixed income and equity markets.

We believe Guggenheim Partners’ extensive global network of relationships, deep knowledge of the financial services industry, transaction execution experience and deal sourcing capabilities will provide us with significant advantages as we pursue an initial business combination.

Our team, led by Alec Gores, Mark Stone and Andrew Rosenfield and including Andrew McBride, has in the aggregate over 125 years of combined operational, financial, investment and transactional experience involving a diverse group of businesses, and we intend to focus on industries or sectors offering high quality acquisition opportunities that can benefit from our

 

3 

Assets under management are as of December 31, 2020 and include consulting services for clients whose assets are valued at approximately $70 billion.

 

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expertise. Messrs. Gores, Stone, Rosenfield and McBride possess complementary skills and experience encompassing all aspects of the investment process, including sourcing, due diligence, valuation, structuring, financing, negotiation, execution, strategy development, operations management and investment realization.

In June 2015, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings, Inc. (“Gores Holding I”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. Mr. Stone served as Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings I. Gores Holdings I completed its initial public offering in August 2015, in which it sold 37,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings I common stock and one warrant to purchase one-half of one share of Gores Holdings I common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $375,000,000. Gores Holdings I completed its business combination with Hostess Brands, Inc. (“Hostess”) in November 2016, in which it contributed approximately $725 million to Hostess (consisting of $375 million in proceeds from the initial public offering and a simultaneous private placement, plus approximately $350 million in proceeds from an additional private placement completed at the time of the initial business combination). Hostess is one of the largest manufacturers and marketers of sweet baked goods including Twinkies®, Ding Dongs®, Ho Hos®, Donettes® and a variety of new and classic treats. Hostess’s Class A common stock is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol “TWNK” and its warrants are traded under the symbol “TWNKW”.

In August 2016, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings II, Inc. (“Gores Holdings II”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company and Gores Holdings I. Additionally, Mr. Stone served as Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. McBride served as Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings II. Gores Holdings II completed its initial public offering in January 2017, in which it sold 40,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings II common stock and one-third of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings II common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $400,000,000. Gores Holdings II completed its business combination with Verra Mobility Corporation (“Verra”) (formerly known as American Traffic Solutions, Inc.) in October 2018, in which it contributed approximately $800 million to Verra (consisting of $400 million in proceeds from the initial public offering and a simultaneous private placement, plus approximately $400 million in proceeds from an additional private placement completed at the time of the initial business combination). Verra is a global leader in smart mobility and provides traffic safety, mobility, and compliance solutions for state and local governments, commercial fleets, and rental car companies in North America. Verra’s Class A common stock is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol “VRRM”.

In October 2017, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings III, Inc. (“Gores Holdings III”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I and Gores Holdings II. Additionally, Mr. Stone served as Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. McBride served as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings III. Gores Holdings III completed its initial public offering in September 2018, in which it sold 40,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings III common stock and one-third of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings III common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $400,000,000. Gores Holdings III completed its business combination with Platinum Equity portfolio company (“PAE”) in February 2020, in which it contributed approximately $620 million to PAE (consisting of $400 million in proceeds from the initial public offering and a simultaneous private placement, plus approximately $220 million in proceeds from an additional private placement completed at the time of the initial business combination). PAE is a leading provider of mission-critical services to the U.S. government, armed forces and international customers. PAE’s common stock and warrants are traded on Nasdaq under the symbols “PAE” and “PAEWW”, respectively.

 

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In August 2018, Mr. Gores, together with Dean Metropoulos, a private investor specializing in investments in the consumer branded products industries, founded Gores Metropoulos, Inc. (“Gores Metropoulos”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II and Gores Holdings III. Gores Metropoulos completed its initial public offering in February 2019, in which it sold 40,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Metropoulos common stock and one-third of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Metropoulos common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $400,000,000. Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, served as Chief Financial Officer of Gores Metropoulos. Gores Metropoulos completed its business combination with Luminar Technologies, Inc. (“Luminar”) in December 2020 in which it contributed approximately $406 million to Luminar (consisting of proceeds from the initial public offering and a simultaneous private placement). Luminar is a global leader in automotive lidar technology powering the introduction of highway autonomy. Luminar’s common stock and warrants are traded on Nasdaq under the symbols “LAZR” and “LAZRW,” respectively. Mr. Gores continues to serve as a director of Luminar.

In July 2019, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings IV, Inc. (“Gores Holdings IV”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III and Gores Metropoulos. Additionally, Mr. Stone served as Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. McBride served as Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings IV. Gores Holdings IV completed its initial public offering in January 2020, in which it sold 42,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings IV common stock and one-fourth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings IV common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $425,000,000. Gores Holdings IV completed its business combination with United Wholesale Mortgage (“UWM”) in January 2021, in which it contributed approximately $895 million to UWM (consisting of $425 million in proceeds from the initial public offering and a simultaneous private placement completed at the time of the initial business combination). UWM is a leading wholesale mortgage lender in the U.S. UWM’s common stock and warrants are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols “UWMC” and “UWMC WS”, respectively.

In June 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings V, Inc. (“Gores Holdings V”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos and Gores Holdings IV. Gores Holdings V completed its initial public offering on August 10, 2020, in which it sold 52,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings V common stock and one-fifth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings V common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $525,000,000. On February 23, 2021, Gores Holdings V entered into a definitive agreement to combine with Ardagh Group S.A.’s (“Ardagh”) metal packaging business that will be held by Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. (“AMP”) to create an independent public company. AMP is a global supplier of infinitely recyclable metal beverage and glass packaging for the world’s leading brands. Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings V, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings V, in each case, until the closing of the acquisition. The consummation of the acquisition is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2021.

In June 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings VI, Inc. (“Gores Holdings VI”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV and Gores Holdings V. Gores Holdings VI completed its initial public offering in December 2020, in which it sold 34,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings VI common stock and

 

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one-fifth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings VI common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $345,000,000. On February 7, 2021, Gore Holdings VI entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Matterport, Inc. (“Matterport”), a spatial data company leading the digital transformation of the built world. Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings VI, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings VI, in each case, until the closing of the acquisition. The consummation of the acquisition is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2021.

In July 2020, Mr. Gores, together with Mr. Metropoulos founded Gores Metropoulos II, Inc. (“Gores Metropoulos II”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V and Gores Holdings VI. Gores Metropoulos II completed its initial public offering in January 2021, in which it sold 45,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Metropoulos II common stock and one-fifth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Metropoulos II common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $450,000,000. Gores Metropoulos II has not yet announced or completed its initial business combination. Mr. Gores, our Chairman, serves as the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Gores Metropoulos II. Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Metropoulos II.

In September 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings VII, Inc. (“Gores Holdings VII”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI and Gores Metropoulos II. Gores Holdings VII completed its initial public offering in February 2021, in which it sold 55,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings VII common stock and one-eighth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings VII common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $550,000,000. Gores Holdings VII has not yet announced or completed its initial business combination. Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings VII, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings VII.

In September 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Holdings VIII, Inc. (“Gores Holdings VIII”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II and Gores Holdings VII. Gores Holdings VIII completed its initial public offering in March 2021, in which it sold 34,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Holdings VIII common stock and one-eighth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Holdings VIII common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $345,000,000. Gores Holdings VIII has not yet announced or completed its business combination. Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings VI, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings VIII.

In December 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Technology Partners, Inc. (“Gores Technology”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII. Gores Technology completed its initial public offering in March 2021, in which it sold 27,500,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Technology common stock

 

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and one-fifth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Technology common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $275,000,000. Gores Technology has not yet announced or completed its business combination. Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Technology.

In December 2020, Mr. Gores founded Gores Technology Partners II, Inc. (“Gores Technology II”), a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company, Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII and Gores Technology. Gores Technology II completed its initial public offering in March 2021, in which it sold 46,000,000 units, each consisting of one share of Gores Technology II common stock and one-fifth of one warrant to purchase one share of Gores Technology II common stock, for an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating aggregate proceeds of $460,000,000. Gores Technology II has not yet announced or completed its business combination. Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Technology II.

Our management team’s objective is to generate attractive investment returns to create value for our stockholders by applying our strategy of identifying high quality acquisition opportunities and capitalizing on the ability of our management team to acquire and manage a business that can benefit from our expertise. We expect to be provided with ideas and deal flow from many sources, including various investment banks with whom we have relationships. Our management team’s approach is focused on industries or sectors in which we have considerable knowledge and emphasizes downside protection and the preservation of capital by opportunistically pursuing transactions where we believe we have the ability to capture asymmetric risk/reward potential. Our management team has successfully applied this acquisition philosophy over its history to source attractive private equity acquisition opportunities and to deploy capital in varying macroeconomic environments. Our management team will assess the skills, qualifications and abilities of the management team of each potential business combination target. The level and length of our existing management’s continued active participation in our post-acquisition business will depend on the particular needs of the business acquired. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination.

The past performance of The Gores Group, Guggenheim and by our management team, including with respect to Gores Holdings I, Gores Holdings II, Gores Holdings III, Gores Metropoulos, Gores Holdings IV, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of The Gores Group’s, Guggenheim’s, or Gores Holdings I’s, Gores Holdings II’s, Gores Holdings III’s, Gores Metropoulos’, Gores Holdings IV’s, Gores Holdings V’s, Gores Holdings VI’s, Gores Metropoulos II’s, Gores Holdings VII’s, Gores Holdings VIII’s, Gores Technology’s and Gores Technology II’s performance as indicative of our future performance.

Business Strategy

Our acquisition and value creation strategy is to identify, acquire and, after our initial business combination, to build a company in an industry or sector that complements the experience of our management team and can benefit from our expertise. Our acquisition selection process will leverage our team’s network of potential transaction sources, ranging

 

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from owners and directors of private and public companies, private equity funds, investment bankers, lenders, attorneys, accountants and other trusted advisors across various sectors.

In addition, we intend to utilize the networks and industry experience of each of, Mr. Gores and The Gores Group and Guggenheim in seeking an initial business combination. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and relationships that we believe will serve as a useful source of acquisition opportunities. This network has been developed through our management team’s combined history of over 125 years of business experience, including in private equity and investment banking. We expect this network will provide our management team with a robust and consistent flow of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Upon completion of this offering, members of our management team will communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target company and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potentially interesting leads.

Acquisition Criteria

Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:

 

   

have a defensible core business, sustainable revenues and established customer relationships;

 

   

are undergoing change in capital structure, strategy, operations or growth;

 

   

can benefit from our operational and strategic approach;

 

   

offer a unique value proposition with transformational potential that can be substantiated during our detailed due diligence process; and

 

   

have reached a transition point in their lifecycle presenting an opportunity for transformation.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant.

Initial Business Combination

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our board 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 that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria.

 

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We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

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

Our Acquisition Process

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information that will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital planning experience.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

Members of our management team and our independent directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an

 

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appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. Our officers and directors have neither individually identified nor considered a target business, nor have they had any discussions regarding possible target businesses with our underwriters. All of the members of our management team are employed by certain affiliates The Gores Group or Guggenheim. Each of The Gores Group and Guggenheim is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction. We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with us and we will not consider a business combination with any company that has already been identified to The Gores Group or Guggenheim as an acquisition candidate for them. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Specifically, all of our officers and certain of our directors have fiduciary and contractual duties to either (i) The Gores Group and certain companies it has invested in or managed, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology, and Gores Technology II or (ii) Guggenheim and certain companies in which it has invested or is advising. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. More specifically, Guggenheim manages a significant number of private and public funds and other co-mingled vehicles and advises public and private companies, governments, and other institutions on numerous investment transactions, merger and acquisition activities and other transactions. Guggenheim, as well as its managed vehicles and on behalf of clients, may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Guggenheim may be suitable for both us and for current or future vehicles managed by Guggenheim and for its clients and may be directed to such vehicles or clients or may be used by Guggenheim rather than by us and may never be presented to us. In this respect, neither we, our sponsor, The Gores Group or Guggenheim nor members of our management team who are also employed by either The Gores Group or Guggenheim have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware. The Gores Group and Guggenheim and/or their management, in their capacities as employees of The Gores Group and Guggenheim will be, or in their other endeavors may be, required to present potential business combinations to other entities, before they present such opportunities to us. In addition, we expect that certain members of Guggenheim and The Gores Group will be offered acquisition opportunities on a preferred basis. If any member of Guggenheim or The

 

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Gores Group, as applicable, decides to pursue any such opportunity or to present to funds, clients or others, you should expect that we will be precluded from pursuing such opportunity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain a waiver of the corporate opportunity doctrine, which will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless (i) such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company, (ii) such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue and (iii) the director or officer is permitted to refer the opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. The purpose for the surrender of corporate opportunities is to allow officers, or directors with multiple business affiliations to continue to serve as an officer of our company or on our board of directors. Our officers and directors may from time to time be presented with opportunities that could benefit both another business affiliation and us. In the absence of the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our charter, certain candidates would not be able to serve as an officer or director. We believe we substantially benefit from having representatives who bring significant, relevant and valuable experience to our management, and, as a result, the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides us with greater flexibility to attract and retain the officers and directors that we feel are the best candidates.

However, the personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. The different timelines of competing business combinations could cause our directors and officers to prioritize a business combination due to timing over finding a more suitable acquisition target for our business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest, which could negatively impact the timing for a business combination.

In addition, our sponsor, The Gores Group, Guggenheim and our officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved. Although we have no formal policy in place for vetting potential conflicts of interest, our board of directors will review any potential conflicts of interest on a case-by-case basis. In particular, affiliates of our sponsor are currently sponsoring seven other blank check companies, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II. Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII may seek to complete a business combination in any location and each is not focusing on any particular industry for business combinations. Gores Metropoulos II may seek to complete a business combination in any location and is focusing on a business combination in the consumer products and services industry. Gores Technology and Gores Technology II may seek to complete a business combination in any location and each is focusing on a business combination in the technology industry. Further, Mr. Gores, our Chairman, serves as Chief Executive Officer of Gores Metropoulos II, Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II. Any such companies, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II may present additional

 

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conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts with Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II would materially affect our ability to identify and pursue initial business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination, because (i) Gores Holdings VI has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Matterport and Gores Holdings V has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AMP, (ii) Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II each have a Chief Executive Officer that is different than Gores Guggenheim’s Chief Executive Officer, (iii) we expect that Mr. Gores will lead the search for a business combination target for each of Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII and given the industry focus of Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II, Mr. Metropoulos will lead the search for a business combination target for Gores Metropoulos II and Ted Fike and Justin Wilson will lead the search for a business combination target for Gores Technology and Gores Technology II, (iv) three of the four directors that will be on our board are not directors of either Gores Technology or Gores Technology II, two of the four directors that will be on our board are not directors on Gores Holdings V and Gores Holdings VIII and one of the four directors that will be on our board is not a director of Gores Holdings VII, (v) we believe the different composition of our leadership will mitigate any potential conflicts of interest with respect to Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II and (vi) our management team has significant experience in identifying and executing multiple acquisition opportunities simultaneously, and we are not limited by industry or geography in terms of the acquisition opportunities we can pursue.

In addition, Mr. Andrew Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, is also serving as Chief Executive Officer and director of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, an affiliate of Guggenheim and another blank check company, incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a business combination. Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I may have interests that differ materially from or take actions that are directly adverse to us, our public stockholders or a business we seek to acquire. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between us and Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, Mr. Rosenfield, as a member of the board of directors of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, will resolve such conflicts of interest in his sole discretion in accordance with his then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor.

In addition to the above, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including selecting a business combination target and monitoring the related due diligence. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to our Management Team—Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing potential 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 identify and pursue initial business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination.

Although we expect to benefit from Guggenheim’s network of relationships and processes for sourcing, executing and evaluating potential acquisition targets, neither Guggenheim nor any of its affiliates has any legal or contractual obligation to seek on our behalf or to present to us investment opportunities that might be suitable for our business, and may allocate any such opportunities at its discretion to us or other parties. We have no investment management, advisory, consulting or other agreement in place with Guggenheim or any of its affiliates that obligates them to undertake efforts on our behalf or that govern the manner in which they will

 

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allocate investment opportunities. Further, Guggenheim manages a significant number of funds and other co-mingled vehicles and advises public and private companies, governments and other institutions on numerous investment transactions, merger and acquisition activities and other transactions and may establish new vehicles, acquire additional clients or mandates or increase funds under management in the future, which will be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. These entities, or Guggenheim on their behalf may be seeking acquisition opportunities and related financing at any time. We may compete with any one or more of them on any given acquisition opportunity. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between, on the one hand, us and, on the other hand, investment funds or companies, accounts, co-investment vehicles and other entities advised or managed by Guggenheim or its affiliates Guggenheim will resolve such conflicts of interest in their sole discretion in accordance with their then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Management Team—Our sponsor and Mr. Andrew Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, are affiliated with Guggenheim, which could create significant potential conflicts of interest, including without limitation with our search for an initial business combination.”

Guggenheim Securities and Guggenheim Investments are and in the future will continue to, be engaged in a variety of business activities on their own behalf and on behalf of clients, including investing and underwriting, arranging, syndicating or providing investment management or other financial advisory services with respect to, various forms of debt, equity and other financial instruments. Guggenheim may seek (but is not obligated) to provide these services to us or a business we seek to acquire, and may seek to provide these services to competitors of ours. In connection with these activities, Guggenheim, its affiliates or on behalf of its clients may provide or participate in any debt financing arrangement in connection with any acquisition, financing or disposition of any target business that we may make or any such transaction that may be made in competition with us. As a result, Guggenheim or its clients may have interests that differ materially from or take actions that are directly adverse to us, our public stockholders or a business we seek to acquire, especially where we, any future target or underlying business is facing financial distress.

Additional conflicts could arise where one or more Guggenheim Investments’ funds or other clients has invested or will in the future invest in part of a company’s capital structure and we are investing in, or considering investing in, a different part of the same company’s (or its affiliate’s) capital structure (including but not limited to investments in public versus private securities, investments in debt versus equity, or investments in senior versus subordinated debt), or where the same or similar instruments in a given issuer or borrower are held by us and Guggenheim Investments’ funds or other clients but we have different rights or benefits. With respect to an existing or future economic interest held by funds or other of its funds or other clients in a company (i) Guggenheim Investments will solely consider the interests of its clients funds or other (and not us), including any potential adverse effects to its funds or other clients, when deciding whether or not to enforce rights associated with such economic interests on behalf of its clients, and (ii) Guggenheim Investments will take all necessary actions to preserve or protect the value or rights associated with such economic interests, without regard to our interests, which may have an adverse effect on our interests, including but not limited to when we are considering a target for our initial business combination, or during or after such initial business combination.

Furthermore, to the extent that we acquire in connection with our initial business combination a company in which Guggenheim Investments’ clients, affiliates or related persons hold equity or debt instruments, we may be subject to additional significant conflicts. Guggenheim Investments may take or have the ability to direct actions that are adverse to or suboptimal to us, particularly in situations in which the target experiences financial or

 

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operational challenges. For example, Guggenheim Investments, on behalf of its clients, could sponsor or support reorganizations, recapitalizations or similar workout arrangements for a company in which we are invested that could result in a substantial or even total loss of our investment. We do not and will not have the ability or obligation to determine what investments Guggenheim Investments makes on behalf of its clients. Such economic interests of Guggenheim Investments’ funds or other clients, affiliates or related persons in companies may create significant potential conflicts among us and we may not be able to timely identify such conflicts. Such conflicts are also likely to be resolved not in our favor. In addition, to the extent a prospective target for our initial business combination (or one of its affiliates) is a Guggenheim Investments’ client an additional potential conflict exists, which may preclude us from making an investment.

To the extent that any conflict of interest arises between us and Guggenheim Investments or its clients you should expect that any such conflicts of interest will be resolved in favor of Guggenheim Investments or its clients, as applicable.

Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Further, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial stockholders until 180 days after the completion of our initial business combination. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors 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 because of their financial interest in completing an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering.

As more fully discussed in “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of any business combination target that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology, Gores Technology II or Guggenheim, he or she may be required to present such business combination target to such entity prior to presenting such business combination target to us. Our directors and officers currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

Our Management Team

Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any member of our management team will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.

 

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We believe our directors’ and management team’s operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, our management team’s relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our management team in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Management” for a more complete description of our management team’s experience.

Status as a Public Company

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our stock or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost-effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.

Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or could have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

 

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We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion (as adjusted for inflation pursuant to SEC rules from time to time), or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates does not equal or exceed $250 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues did not equal or exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $700 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.

Financial Position

With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $723,750,000, after payment of $26,250,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $832,312,500 after payment of up to $30,187,500 of deferred underwriters’ fees if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full), in each case before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.

Effecting our Initial Business Combination

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.

If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our business combination or used for redemptions of purchases of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post- transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

 

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We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration. Our officers and directors have neither individually identified nor considered a target business, nor have they had any discussions regarding possible target businesses with our underwriters. All of the members of our management team are employed by certain affiliates The Gores Group or Guggenheim. Each of The Gores Group and Guggenheim is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction. We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with us and we will not consider a business combination with any company that has already been identified to The Gores Group or Guggenheim as an acquisition candidate for them. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.

We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.

Sources of Target Businesses

We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms, including one or more of the underwriters or one of their respective affiliates, or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. In addition, the underwriters may provide these services without additional compensation. We will formally engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential

 

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transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In addition, we may pay our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation in connection with identifying, investigating and completing our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). We have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.

As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us. If any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one of these entities to which he has a fiduciary or contractual obligation, he will honor such obligation to present such opportunity to such entity rather than to us. Our directors and officers will only have an obligation to present an opportunity to us if such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and only to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer the opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.

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

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. If our board 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 that is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do

 

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not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our business combination.

To the extent we effect our business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review, which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information that will be made available to us.

The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.

Lack of Business Diversification

For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. 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 business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

 

   

subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination, and

 

   

cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.

Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team

Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our business combination with that business, our

 

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assessment of the target business’ management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our 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.

Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve our Initial Business Combination

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

 

Type of Transaction

  

Whether Stockholder
Approval is Required

Purchase of assets

   No

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

   No

Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company

   No

Merger of the company with a target

   Yes

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

 

   

we issue shares of Class A common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of our Class A common stock then outstanding;

 

   

any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by Nasdaq rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of common stock could result in an increase in outstanding common shares or voting power of 5% or more; or

 

   

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

Permitted Purchases of our Securities

In the event we seek stockholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer

 

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rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination where otherwise permissible under applicable laws, rules and regulations. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. They will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

The purpose of such purchases would be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against the business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of common stock if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.

 

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Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock 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 as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination including up to $900,000 per year of interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals, plus additional amounts released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, if any, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination.

Manner of Conducting Redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. If we structure a business combination transaction with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed business combination. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons.

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

 

   

conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and

 

   

file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

Upon the public announcement of our business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our

 

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Class A common stock in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares which are not purchased by our sponsor, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

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

 

   

conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules, and

 

   

file proxy materials with the SEC.

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

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count toward this quorum and have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need 28,125,001 or approximately 37.5%, of the 75,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). We intend to give not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net

 

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tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (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 shares of Class A common stock 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 shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if we Seek Stockholder Approval

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders 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 stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our 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 stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination.

Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute

 

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proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.

The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the stockholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or the date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable. 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 business combination.

If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.

If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of this offering.

Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our business combination within such 24-month period, we will: (i) cease all

 

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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 fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the 24-month time period.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 24-month time period.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect (i) the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules).

We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $515,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay franchise and income taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses. If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $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 stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by

 

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stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.

Although we will seek to have all third parties, service providers (other than our independent auditors), 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 any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis 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. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent public accountants) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of up to $900,000 per year of interest which may be withdrawn to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals, plus additional amounts released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 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 will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

 

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In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of up to $900,000 per year of interest which may be withdrawn to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals, plus additional amounts released to us to pay our franchise and 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 if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. 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.

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 third parties, service providers (other than our independent auditors), 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 this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to approximately $515,000 from the proceeds of this offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,485,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,485,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.

 

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Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this 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 fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 24th month and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all third parties, service providers (other than our independent auditors), 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 any monies held in the trust account. As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of up to $900,000 per year of interest withdrawn to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals, plus additional amounts released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.

If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third

 

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parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above.

Comparison of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with our Initial Business Combination and if We Fail to Complete our Business Combination

The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.

 

    

Redemptions in
Connection with our

Initial Business
Combination

  

Redemptions in
Connection with our

Initial Business
Combination

  

Other Permitted
Purchases of

Public Shares

by us or

our Affiliates

Calculation of redemption price

  

Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our

  

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market prior to or following completion of our initial business

  

If we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share including

 

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Redemptions in
Connection with our

Initial Business
Combination

  

Redemptions in
Connection with our

Initial Business
Combination

  

Other Permitted
Purchases of

Public Shares

by us or

our Affiliates

   public stockholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place, if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination.    combination. There is no limit to the prices that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may pay in these transactions.    interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.

 

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Redemptions in
Connection with our

Initial Business
Combination

  

Redemptions in
Connection with our

Initial Business
Combination

  

Other Permitted
Purchases of

Public Shares

by us or

our Affiliates

Impact to remaining stockholders

  

The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and franchise and income taxes payable.

  

If the permitted purchases described above are made there would be no impact to our remaining stockholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us.

  

The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial stockholders, who will be our only remaining stockholders after such redemptions.

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

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

 

    

Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Escrow of offering proceeds

  

The rules of Nasdaq provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. $750,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account with Computershare Trust Company, N.A. acting as trustee.

  

Approximately $637,875,000 of the offering proceeds would be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account.

Investment of net proceeds

   $750,000,000 of the net offering proceeds and the sale of the private placement    Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

  

warrants held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment

Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.

   fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States.

Receipt of interest on escrowed funds

  

Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to stockholders is reduced by (i) any funding of our Regulatory Withdrawals, (ii) any income or franchise taxes paid or payable, and (iii) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation.

  

Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination.

Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business

  

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination.

  

The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.

Trading of securities issued

   The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The    No trading of the units or the underlying Class A common stock and

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

  

Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, an additional Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the over-allotment option.

   warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account.

Exercise of the warrants

   The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering.    The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account.

Election to remain an investor

  

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on

  

A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a stockholder vote. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, we hold a stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if    given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if it elects to remain a stockholder of the company or require the return of its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued.
   a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the   

 

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Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   proposed transaction. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting.   

Business combination deadline

  

If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this 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 100% of 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 fund our Regulatory Withdrawals and/or to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely

  

If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors.

   extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and   

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.   

Release of funds

   Except with respect to up to $900,000 per year of interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to fund our Regulatory Withdrawals, plus additional amounts released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations, the proceeds from this offering held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (a) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (b) with respect to any other    The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.
   provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of 100% of our public shares if we are unable to complete a business combination within the required time frame (subject to the requirements of applicable law).   

 

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Competition

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

Facilities

Our executive offices are located at 6260 Lookout Road, Boulder, Colorado 80301 and our telephone number is (303) 531-3100. Our executive offices are provided to us by an affiliate of our sponsor. Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

Employees

We currently have three officers. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any such person will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

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

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with GAAP. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with GAAP. To the extent that this requirement cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

 

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We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

Legal Proceedings

There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such, and we and the members of our management team have not been subject to any such proceeding in the 12 months preceding the date of this prospectus.

 

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MANAGEMENT

Officers, Directors and Director Nominees

Our officers, directors and director nominees are as follows:

 

Name

   Age     

Position

Alec Gores

     67      Chairman

Mark Stone

     57      Chief Executive Officer

Andrew M. Rosenfield

     69      President and Director nominee

Andrew McBride

     40      Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

Randall Bort

     56      Director nominee

Elizabeth Marcellino

     62      Director nominee

Nancy Tellem

     67      Director nominee

Alec Gores has been our Chairman since December 2020. Mr. Gores is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Gores Group, a global investment firm focused on acquiring businesses that can benefit from the firm’s operating expertise. Mr. Gores implemented an operational approach to private equity investing when he founded The Gores Group in 1987 by operating businesses alongside management, or in some cases in lieu of management, to build value in those entities. Since then, the firm has acquired more than 120 businesses including a current portfolio of 8 active companies worldwide. Mr. Gores began his career as a self-made entrepreneur and operating executive. In 1978, he self-funded and founded Executive Business Systems (EBS), a developer and distributor of vertical business software systems. Within seven years, EBS had become a leading value-added reseller in Michigan and employed over 200 people. In 1986, CONTEL purchased EBS, and Mr. Gores subsequently began acquiring and operating non-core businesses from major corporations and building value in those entities, a decision that ultimately led to the founding of what has evolved into The Gores Group today. Under his leadership, The Gores Group has continued to acquire businesses in need of operational and financial resources, while creating value and working with management teams to establish an entrepreneurial environment as a foundation for sustainable growth. This philosophy has served the firm well. Mr. Gores served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gores Holdings I from its inception in June 2015 until completion of the Hostess acquisition in November 2016, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gores Holdings II since its inception in August 2016 until completion of the Verra acquisition in October 2018 and as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gores Holdings III since its inception in October 2017 until the completion of the PAE acquisition in February 2020. Additionally, Mr. Gores has served as the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Gores Metropoulos since its inception in August 2018 until the completion of the Luminar acquisition in December 2020 and has served as a director of Luminar since December 2020. In addition, Mr. Gores has served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gores Holdings IV since June 2019 until the completion of the UWM acquisition in January 2021. Mr. Gores has also served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gores Holdings V since June 2020 and will continue to do so until the pending completion of the AMP acquisition. Mr. Gores has served as well as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gores Holdings VI since June 2020 and will continue to do so until the pending completion of the Matterport acquisition. Mr. Gores has served as the Chairman of the board of directors of Gores Holdings VIII since September 2020, Gores Technology since December 2020 and Gores Technology II since December 2020. Mr. Gores has also served as the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Gores Metropoulos II since July 2020. Mr. Gores holds a degree in Computer Science from Western Michigan University. Mr. Gores’ significant investment and financial expertise make him well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.

 

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Mark Stone has been our Chief Executive Officer since December 2020. Mr. Stone is a Senior Managing Director of The Gores Group. Mr. Stone is a member of the Investment Committee and a member of the Office of the Chairman of The Gores Group. Mr. Stone has worked at The Gores Group for more than fifteen years. Mr. Stone served as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings I from its inception in June 2015 until completion of the Hostess acquisition in November 2016 and served as a Director of Hostess until April 2018. Additionally, Mr. Stone served as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings II from its inception in August 2016 until completion of the Verra Mobility acquisition in October 2018, as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings III from its inception in October 2017 until the completion of the PAE acquisition in February 2020, and as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings IV since June 2019 until the completion of the UWM acquisition in January 2021. Mr. Stone has also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings V since June 2020 and will continue to do so until the pending completion of the AMP acquisition. Mr. Stone has served as well as Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings VI since June 2020 and will continue to do so until the pending completion of the Matterport acquisition. Mr. Stone has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings VII since January 2021. From 2005 until 2013, Mr. Stone primarily focused on worldwide operations of Gores’ portfolio companies and Gores’ operational due diligence efforts. He has been a senior team member with key responsibility in several turnaround, value-oriented investment opportunities, including Stock Building Supply, a supplier of building materials and construction services to professional home builders and contractors in the Unites States; United Road Services, a provider of finished vehicle logistics services; and Sage Automotive Interiors, the largest North American manufacturer of high-performance automotive seat fabrics. Mr. Stone has also been involved with the acquisitions, successful carve-outs and transformations of Lineage Power and VincoTech, manufacturers of telecom conversion products, electronic OEMs, power modules, GPS products and electronic manufacturing services, from TE Connectivity Ltd.; Therakos, a global leader in advanced technologies for extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP), from Johnson & Johnson; and Sagem Communications, a Paris-based manufacturer of set-top boxes, residential terminals, printers and other communications equipment, from the Safran Group. He has served as Executive Chairman and/or CEO of several portfolio companies including Siemens Enterprise Communications, a leading Munich-based global corporate telephony (PBX) and unified communications (UC) solutions provider, and Enterasys Networks, a global network solutions provider. Prior to joining The Gores Group, Mr. Stone spent nearly a decade as a chief executive transforming businesses across the services, industrial and technology sectors. Mr. Stone spent five years with The Boston Consulting Group as a member of their high technology and industrial goods practices and served in the firm’s Boston, London, Los Angeles and Seoul offices. Mr. Stone earned a B.S. in Finance with Computer Science and Mathematics concentrations from the University of Maine and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Andrew M. Rosenfield has been our President since February 2021 and has agreed to serve as a member of the board of directors. Mr. Rosenfield is the President of Guggenheim Partners, which he joined in 2004 as a Managing Partner, where he is responsible for many aspects of firm management and strategic planning and leads the firm’s principal transactions. Mr. Rosenfield is also a Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, whose faculty he joined in 1986. From 2010 through 2018, while remaining a Managing Partner at Guggenheim Partners, Mr. Rosenfield was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of TGG Group, a behavioral economics consulting firm. From 1977 until 2001, Mr. Rosenfield was the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lexecon Inc. (now known as Compass Lexecon), a leading law and economics consulting firm. From 1999 until its sale in 2004, Mr. Rosenfield was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of UNext Inc., an early online education business that partnered with Columbia University, Stanford University, the University of Chicago, Carnegie

 

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Mellon University and the London School of Economics. Mr. Rosenfield is active in the Chicago community and is a board member of various non-profit organizations such as the Board of Trustees of The University of Chicago and the Board of Trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago. Mr. Rosenfield received a J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School, an MCRP from Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a B.A. in economics and mathematic from Kenyon College. Mr. Rosenfield’s extensive academic, business and investment experience in, among others, the finance and consulting industries, make him well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.

Andrew McBride has been our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary since December 2020. Mr. McBride has served as Director, Finance and Tax at The Gores Group since February 2010, where he is responsible for tax due diligence and structuring of acquisitions, compliance, planning, financial management and portfolio company reporting. Mr. McBride also served as the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Gores Holdings I from January 2016 until completion of the Hostess acquisition in November 2016. Additionally, Mr. McBride served as the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Gores Holdings II since its inception in August 2016 until completion of the Verra acquisition in October 2018 and as the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Gores Holdings III since its inception in October 2017 until the completion of the PAE acquisition in February 2020. Mr. McBride has also served as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Metropoulos since its inception in August 2018, until the completion of the Luminar acquisition in December 2020. In addition, Mr. McBride has served as the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Gores Holdings IV since June 2019 until the completion of the UWM acquisition in January 2021. Mr. McBride has also served as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings V since June 2020 and will continue to do so until the pending completion of the AMP acquisition. Mr. McBride has served as well as Chief Financial Officer of Gores Holdings VI since June 2020 and will continue to do so until the pending completion of the Matterport acquisition. Mr. McBride has also served as the Chief Financial Officer of Gores Metropoulos II since July 2020, Gores Holdings VII since January 2021, Gores Holdings VIII since January 2021, Gores Technology since January 2021 and Gores Technology II since January 2021. Previously, from January 2008 to January 2010, Mr. McBride worked in the High Net Worth group at Ehrhardt, Keefe, Steiner, and Hottman, P.C. From January 2004 to January 2008, Mr. McBride was with KPMG, LLP, assisting international corporations with tax planning, structuring and compliance issues. Mr. McBride holds a B.S. in Accounting and Finance from the University of Notre Dame and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Colorado.

Randall Bort has agreed to serve as a member of our board of directors. Mr. Bort is a Co-Founder of SandTree Holdings, LLC, a private commercial real estate investment firm, and has been a partner at SandTree since November 2012. Previously, Mr. Bort was an investment banker at Drexel Burnham Lambert, BT Securities, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Credit Suisse First Boston, The Mercanti Group and Imperial Capital. Mr. Bort has significant financial, transactional and capital markets experience across multiple industries and has worked both domestically and in Asia. Mr. Bort earned a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Claremont McKenna College and an M.B.A. in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Bort served as a member of the board of directors of Gores Holdings I from August 2015 until completion of the Hostess acquisition in November 2016, as a member of the board of directors of Verra Mobility Corp. (formerly Gores Holdings II) from January 2017 until June 2019, as a member of the board of directors of Gores Holdings III from September 2018 until the completion of the PAE acquisition in February 2020, and as a member of the board of directors of Gores Metropoulos, from February 2019 until the completion of the Luminar acquisition in December 2020. In addition, Mr. Bort has served as a member of the board of directors of Gores Holdings IV from June 2019 until the completion of the UWM acquisition in January 2021. Mr. Bort has also served as a member of the board of

 

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directors of Gores Holdings V since August 2020 and will continue to do so until the pending completion of the AMP acquisition. Mr. Bort has also served as a member of the board of directors of Gores Holdings VI since June 2020 and will continue to do so until the pending completion of the Matterport acquisition. Mr. Bort has served as well as a member of the board of directors Gores Metropoulos II since January 2021. Mr. Bort has also served as a member of the board of directors of Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII, since February 2021 and March 2021, respectively. Mr. Bort also is a member of the Board of Trustees of Children’s Bureau, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles focused on foster care and the prevention of child abuse. Mr. Bort’s significant investment and financial expertise make him well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.

Elizabeth Marcellino has agreed to serve as a member of our board of directors. Ms. Marcellino is a writer and journalist reporting on a wide range of policy issues for Los Angeles-based City News Service. She was previously a managing director at Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., where she worked from 1991 to 2004 in investment banking, portfolio management, and private equity. During her time with the firm’s Principal Investment Area, Ms. Marcellino managed operations and human resources in support of a global team investing $10 billion in corporate private equity funds. Prior to that, as a portfolio manager for Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Ms. Marcellino launched and managed the Goldman Sachs Real Estate Securities Fund, a total return fund invested primarily in REITs. As an investment banker, Ms. Marcellino advised primarily real estate clients in a wide range of public and private buy-side and sell-side transactions across all property types, including lodging and gaming. Ms. Marcellino has also served as a member of the board of directors of Gores Holdings VI since June 2020 and will continue to do so until the pending completion of the Matterport acquisition. Ms. Marcellino has served as a member of the board of directors of Gores Holdings VII, since February 2021. She earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and an M.B.A. in Finance and Real Estate from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Marcellino sits on the national board of Jumpstart for Young Children (“Jumpstart”), a nonprofit organization working to close the early childhood education gap, and also serves on that board’s finance committee. She is also a board member and treasurer for the Society of Professional Journalists, Greater Los Angeles Chapter. Ms. Marcellino’s significant investment and management experience make her well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.

Nancy Tellem has agreed to serve as a member of our board of directors. Ms. Tellem is the Executive Chairperson of Eko, a media network that reimagines storytelling by using proprietary technology to create interactive stories that respond and leverage the interactive nature of today’s media devices. In addition, as a board member of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Holdings Inc. (“Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer”) since 2013, Nancy expanded her role from January through July 2019, becoming Executive Director to the Office of the CEO to help develop the overall long-term strategy for the company. Until October of 2014, Ms. Tellem was President of Xbox Entertainment Studios where she oversaw Microsoft’s TV strategy and created a studio focused on the development and production of interactive programming. From 1997 to 2012, Ms. Tellem was President of the CBS Network Television Entertainment Group. She oversaw both CBS Entertainment Network and CBS Studios. Before CBS, Ms. Tellem was the Executive Vice President of Business and Financial Affairs for Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. where she shepherded in such hits as “ER” and “Friends.” In 2006, Ms. Tellem was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame for her contributions to the electronic arts. Ms. Tellem holds board and advisory positions at numerous digital and media-related companies, including Eko, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Nielsen Holdings plc, LeagueApps, Inc., KODE Labs, Inc. and is a board member of Rocket Companies, Inc., Cranbrook Art Academy and Museum, and Seeds of Peace, Inc. Ms. Marcellino has also served as a member of the board of directors of Gores Holdings VI

 

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since June 2020 and will continue to do so until the pending completion of the Matterport acquisition. She earned her B.A. from the University of California Berkeley, and received her J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of Law. Ms. Tellem’s significant business and management expertise make her well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

We intend to have four directors upon completion of this offering. Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors; provided, however, that with respect to the election of directors in connection with a meeting of our stockholders in which a business combination is submitted to our stockholders for approval, holders our Class A common stock and holders our Class F common stock, voting together as a single class, will have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors. Other than pursuant to the proviso in the preceding sentence, holders of the Class A common stock will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors prior to the consummation of the initial business combination. 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. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended by approval of a majority of our Class F common stock then outstanding. Each of our directors will hold office for a two-year term. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination.

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 bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws provide that our officers may consist of a Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Financial Officer, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.

Director Independence

Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Randall Bort, Elizabeth Marcellino and Nancy Tellem are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

Officer and Director Compensation

None of our officers or directors has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $20,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. In addition, we may pay our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation in connection with identifying, investigating and completing our initial business combination. These individuals will also be reimbursed for any out of pocket expenses incurred

 

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in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which fees and expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed.

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 stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination. 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 officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.

We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Our board of directors will have two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of Nasdaq and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, and the rules of Nasdaq require that the compensation committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.

Audit Committee

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. Randall Bort, Elizabeth Marcellino and Nancy Tellem will serve as members of our audit committee. Randall Bort will serve as chairman of the audit committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent.

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

 

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We will adopt an audit committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the audit committee, including:

 

   

the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent auditors and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us;

 

   

pre-approving all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures;

 

   

reviewing and discussing with the independent auditors all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence;

 

   

setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent auditors;

 

   

setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

 

   

obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent auditors describing (i) the independent auditor’s internal quality-control procedures and (ii) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues;

 

   

reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and

 

   

reviewing with management, the independent auditors, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities.

Compensation Committee

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors. Randall Bort, Elizabeth Marcellino and Nancy Tellem will serve as members of our compensation committee. Elizabeth Marcellino will serve as the chairwoman of the compensation committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent. Randall Bort, Elizabeth Marcellino and Nancy Tellem are independent.

We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

 

   

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

 

   

reviewing and approving on an annual basis the compensation of all of our other officers;

 

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reviewing on an annual basis our executive compensation policies and plans;

 

   

implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;

 

   

assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;

 

   

approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees;

 

   

if required, 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.

It is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.

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

Director Nominations

We do not have a standing nominating committee. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(2) of the Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by the board of directors. The board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.

The board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our stockholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of stockholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of stockholders). Our stockholders that wish to nominate a director for election to the Board should follow the procedures set forth in our bylaws.

We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

None of our officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.

 

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Code of Ethics

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We will file a copy of our Code of Ethics and our audit committee charter as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. You will be able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, 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. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”

Conflicts of Interest

The Gores Group manages several investment vehicles, and Guggenheim provides financial advisory, investment management and other services to clients. Each of Guggenheim, clients of Guggenheim and funds managed by Gores or their respective affiliates may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If any of them decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated by Guggenheim, or within Gores, including by Mr. Gores, may be suitable for both us and for Guggenheim or a current or future Gores or Guggenheim fund or client and may be directed to such entity rather than to us. Neither Guggenheim, Gores nor members of our management team who are also employed by certain affiliates of Guggenheim or The Gores Group have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware, unless, in the case of members of our management team, presented to such member solely in his or her capacity as an officer of the company. Guggenheim, Gores and/or our management, in their capacities as officers or managing directors of Gores or Guggenheim, as applicable, or in their other endeavors, may be required to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future Gores investment vehicles, Guggenheim or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Specifically, all of our officers and certain of our directors have fiduciary and contractual duties to (i) The Gores Group and certain companies it has invested in or managed, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology, and Gores Technology II and (ii) Guggenheim and certain companies in which it has invested or advising. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. More specifically, Guggenheim manages a significant number of private and public funds and other co-mingled vehicles and advises public and private companies, governments, and other institutions on numerous investment transactions merger and acquisition activities and other transactions. Guggenheim, as well as its managed vehicles and on behalf of clients may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Guggenheim may be suitable for both us and for current or future vehicles managed by Guggenheim and its clients and may be directed to such vehicles or clients or may be used by Guggenheim rather than by us and may never be presented to us. In this respect, neither we, our sponsor, The Gores Group or Guggenheim nor members of our

 

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management team who are also employed by either The Gores Group or Guggenheim have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware. The Gores Group and Guggenheim and/or their management, in their capacities as employees of The Gores Group and Guggenheim will be, or in their other endeavors may be, required to present potential business combinations to other entities, before they present such opportunities to us. In addition, we expect that certain members of Guggenheim and The Gores Group will be offered acquisition opportunities on a preferred basis. If any member of Guggenheim or The Gores Group, as applicable, decides to pursue any such opportunity or to present to funds, clients or others, you should expect that we will be precluded from pursuing such opportunity.

Although we expect to benefit from Guggenheim’s network of relationships and processes for sourcing, executing and evaluating potential acquisition targets, neither Guggenheim nor any of its affiliates has any legal or contractual obligation to seek on our behalf or to present to us investment opportunities that might be suitable for our business, and may allocate any such opportunities at its discretion to us or other parties. We have no investment management, advisory, consulting or other agreement in place with Guggenheim or any of its affiliates that obligates them to undertake efforts on our behalf or that govern the manner in which they will allocate investment opportunities. Further, Guggenheim manages a significant number of funds and other co-mingled vehicles and advises public and private companies, governments, and other institutions on numerous investment transactions, merger and acquisition activities and other transactions and may establish new vehicles, acquire additional clients or mandates or increase funds under management in the future, which will be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. These entities, or Guggenheim on their behalf, may be seeking acquisition opportunities and related financing at any time. We may compete with any one or more of them on any given acquisition opportunity. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between, on the one hand, us and, on the other hand, investment funds or companies, accounts, co-investment vehicles and other entities advised or managed by Guggenheim or its affiliates, Guggenheim will resolve such conflicts of interest in their sole discretion in accordance with their then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor. See “Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Management Team—Our sponsor and Mr. Andrew Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, are affiliated with Guggenheim, which could create significant potential conflicts of interest, including without limitation with our search for an initial business combination.”

Guggenheim Securities and Guggenheim Investments are and in the future will continue to, be engaged in a variety of business activities on their own behalf and on behalf of clients, including investing and underwriting, arranging, syndicating or providing investment management or other financial advisory services with respect to, various forms of debt, equity and other financial instruments. Guggenheim may seek (but are not obligated) to provide these services to us or a business we seek to acquire, and may seek to provide these services to competitors of ours. In connection with these activities, Guggenheim, its affiliates or on behalf of its clients may provide or participate in any debt financing arrangement in connection with any acquisition, financing or disposition of any target business that we may make or any such transaction that may be made in competition with us. As a result, Guggenheim or its clients may have interests that differ materially from or take actions that are directly adverse to us, our public stockholders or a business we seek to acquire, especially where we, any future target or underlying business is facing financial distress.

Additional conflicts could arise where one or more Guggenheim Investments funds or other clients has invested or will in the future invest in part of a company’s capital structure and we

 

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are investing in, or considering investing in, a different part of the same company’s (or its affiliate’s) capital structure (including but not limited to investments in public versus private securities, investments in debt versus equity, or investments in senior versus subordinated debt), or where the same or similar instruments in a given issuer or borrower are held by us and Guggenheim Investments’ funds or other clients but we have different rights or benefits. With respect to an existing or future economic interests of its clients in a company (i) Guggenheim Investments will solely consider the interests of its clients (and not us), including any potential adverse effects to its clients, when deciding whether or not to enforce rights associated with such economic interests on behalf of its clients, and (ii) Guggenheim Investments will take all necessary actions to preserve or protect the value or rights of its funds or other clients associated with such economic interests, without regard to our interests, which may have an adverse effect on our interests, including but not limited to when we are considering a target for our initial business combination, or during or after such initial business combination.

Furthermore, to the extent that we acquire in connection with our initial business combination a company in which Guggenheim Investments’ clients, affiliates or related persons hold equity or debt instruments, we may be subject to additional significant conflicts. Guggenheim Investments may take or have the ability to direct actions that are adverse to or suboptimal to us, particularly in situations in which the target experiences financial or operational challenges. For example, Guggenheim Investments, on behalf of its clients, could sponsor or support reorganizations, recapitalizations or similar workout arrangements for a company in which we are invested that could result in a substantial or even total loss of our investment. We do not and will not have the ability, or obligation to determine what investments Guggenheim Investments makes on behalf of its clients. Such economic interests of Guggenheim Investments’ funds or other clients, affiliates or related persons in companies may create significant potential conflicts among us and we may not be able to timely identify such conflicts. Such conflicts are also likely to be resolved not in our favor. In addition, to the extent a prospective target for our initial business combination (or one of its affiliates) is a Guggenheim Investments’ client an additional potential conflict exists, which may preclude us from making an investment.

To the extent that any conflict of interest arises between us and Guggenheim Investments or its clients you should expect that any such conflicts of interest will be resolved in favor of Guggenheim Investments or its clients, as applicable.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain a waiver of the corporate opportunity doctrine, which will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless (i) such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company, (ii) such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue and (iii) the director or officer is permitted to refer the opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. The purpose for the surrender of corporate opportunities is to allow officers or directors with multiple business affiliations to continue to serve as an officer of our company or on our board of directors. Our officers and directors may from time to time be presented with opportunities that could benefit both another business affiliation and us. In the absence of the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our charter, certain candidates would not be able to serve as an officer or director. We believe we substantially benefit from having representatives who bring significant, relevant and valuable experience to our management, and, as a result, the “corporate opportunity” waiver in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides us with greater flexibility to attract and retain the officers and directors that we feel are the best candidates.

 

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However, the personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. The different timelines of competing business combinations could cause our directors and officers to prioritize a business combination due to timing over finding a more suitable acquisition target for our business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest, which could negatively impact the timing for a business combination.

In addition, our sponsor, The Gores Group, Guggenheim and our officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our sponsor, officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved. Although we have no formal policy in place for vetting potential conflicts of interest, our board of directors will review any potential conflicts of interest on a case-by-case basis. In particular, affiliates of our sponsor are currently sponsoring seven other blank check companies, Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II. On February 7, 2021, Gores Holdings VI entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Matterport. On February 23, 2021, Gore Holdings V entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AMP. Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII may seek to complete a business combination in any location and each is not focusing on any particular industry for business combinations. Gores Metropoulos II may seek to complete a business combination in any location and is focusing on a business combination in the consumer products and services industry. Gores Technology and Gores Technology II may seek to complete a business combination in any location and each is focusing on a business combination in the technology industry. Further, Mr. Gores, our Chairman, serves as Chief Executive Officer of Gores Metropoulos II, Mr. Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII, and Mr. McBride, our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II.

Any such companies, including Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts with Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II would materially affect our ability to identify and pursue initial business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination, because (i) Gores Holdings VI has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Matterport, and Gore Holdings V has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AMP. (ii) Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II each have a Chief Executive Officer that is different than Gores Guggenheim’s Chief Executive Officer, (iii) we expect that Mr. Gores will lead the search for a business combination target for each of Gores Holdings VII and Gores Holdings VIII and given the industry focus of Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II, Mr. Metropoulos will lead the search for a business combination target for Gores Metropoulos II and Ted Fike and Justin Wilson will lead the search for a business combination target for Gores Technology and Gores Technology II, (iv) three of the four directors that will be on our board are not directors of either Gores Technology or Gores Technology II, two of the four directors that will be on our board are not directors on Gores Holdings V and Gores Holdings VIII and one of

 

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the four directors that will be on our board is not a director of Gores Holdings VII and (v) we believe the different composition of our leadership will mitigate any potential conflicts of interest with respect to Gores Holdings V, Gores Holdings VI, Gores Metropoulos II, Gores Holdings VII, Gores Holdings VIII, Gores Technology and Gores Technology II and (vi) our management team has significant experience in identifying and executing multiple acquisition opportunities simultaneously, and we are not limited by industry or geography in terms of the acquisition opportunities we can pursue.

In addition, Mr. Andrew Rosenfield, our president and director nominee, is also serving as Chief Executive Officer and director of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, an affiliate of Guggenheim and another blank check company, incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a business combination. Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I may have interests that differ materially from or take actions that are directly adverse to us, our public stockholders or a business we seek to acquire. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between us and Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, Mr. Rosenfield, as a member of the board of directors of Guggenheim Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. I, will resolve such conflicts of interest in his sole discretion in accordance with his then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor.

Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:

 

   

None of our officers or directors is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities.

 

   

In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

 

   

Our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial stockholders until 180 days after the completion of our initial business combination. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors 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 because of their financial interest in completing an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering.

 

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None of our officers or directors is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities.

 

   

In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

 

   

Our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial stockholders until 180 days after the completion of our initial business combination. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors 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 because of their financial interest in completing an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering.

 

   

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 was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

 

   

Our sponsor, officers or directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a business combination and financing arrangements as we may obtain loans from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or any of our officers or directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $2.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.

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

 

  (i)

duty to act in good faith, with the care of a prudent person, and in the best interest of the corporation as a whole.

 

  (ii)

duty to refrain from self-dealing, usurping corporate opportunities and receiving improper personal benefits.

 

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  (iii)

duty to make decisions on an informed basis, in good faith and in the honest belief that the action was taken in the best interest of the corporation and that these decisions will be protected by the “business judgment rule.”

In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:

 

   

the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity;

 

   

the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and

 

   

it would not be fair to our company and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation.

Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors may have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the doctrine of corporate opportunity will not apply with respect to any of our officers or directors in circumstances where the application of the doctrine would conflict with any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations they may have, and none of our directors or officers will be required to offer any such corporate opportunity of which he may become aware to us. Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers, directors and director nominees currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may present a conflict of interest:

 

Name of Individual

  

Entity Name

   Entity’s Business    Affiliation

Alec Gores

   The Gores Group    Investments    Chief Executive
Officer
   Gores Holdings V, Inc.(1)(2)    Investments    Chairman
   Gores Holdings VI, Inc.(2)(3)    Investments    Chairman
   Gores Metropoulos II, Inc.(2)    Investments