S-1 1 forms-1.htm

 

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 29, 2021.

 

Registration No. 333-[●]

 

 

 

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

 

EF HUTTON ACQUISITION CORP.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware   6770   86-2524422
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
  (Primary Standard Industrial
Classification Code Number)
  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

 

 

 

24 Shipyard Drive, Suite 102

Hingham, MA 02043

Telephone: 929-528-0767

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

 

 

 

Benjamin Piggott
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
24 Shipyard Drive
, Suite 102

Hingham, MA 02043
Telephone: 929-528-0767

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

 

 

 

Copies to:

 

Mitchell S. Nussbaum, Esq.
Tahra Wright, Esq.
Loeb & Loeb LLP
345 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10154
Telephone: (212) 407-4000
 

Michael K. Hoffman, Esq.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

One Manhattan West

New York, New York 10001

Telephone: (212) 735-3000

 

Kenneth E. Burdon, Esq.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

500 Boylston Street

Boston, Massachusetts 02116

Telephone: (617) 573-4800

 

 

 

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 common stock, $0.0001 par value, and one-half of one redeemable warrant(2)    14,375,000 Units  $10.00   $143,750,000   $13,325.63 
Shares of common stock included as part of the units(3)    14,375,000 Shares           (4)
Redeemable warrants included as part of the units(3)   7,187,500 Warrants           (4)
Shares of common stock underlying redeemable warrants included as part of the units(3)    7,187,500 Warrants  $11.50   $82,656,250    7,662.23 
Total          $226,406,250   $20,987.86 

 

 

(1) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).
(2) Includes 1,875,000 units, consisting of 1,875,000 shares of common stock and 937,500 redeemable 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 under the Securities Act, there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions.
(4) No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS   SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED
OCTOBER 29, 2021

 

$125,000,000
EF Hutton Acquisition Corp.
12,500,000 Units

 

EF Hutton Acquisition Corp. 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 as our initial business combination throughout this prospectus. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business or industry, we intend to focus our search on companies within the consumer and retail industry.

 

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 common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant. Only whole warrants are exercisable. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments as described herein. 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 our liquidation, as described herein. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. The underwriters have a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to 1,875,000 additional units to cover over-allotments, if any.

 

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of our 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, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account described below as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding shares of our common stock that were sold as part of the units in this offering, which we refer to collectively as our public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as further described herein.

 

Prior to this offering, on March 21, 2021, Benjamin Piggott, David Boral and Joseph Rallo, our founders, who are also members of our executive management team and members of Platinum Arc Holdings, LLC (our “sponsor”), purchased an aggregate of 3,450,000 shares of our common stock (up to 450,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised) for an aggregate purchase price of $20,000. On March 22, 2021, CR Financial Holdings, Inc., Byron Roth and Aaron M. Gurewitz, as Trustee of the AMG Trust established January 23, 2007 (collectively referred to herein as the “Roth Affiliates”), purchased an aggregate of 862,500 shares of our common stock (up to 112,500 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised) for an aggregate purchase price of $5,000. These shares are collectively referred to herein as “founder shares.” Thereafter the founders transferred an aggregate total of 564,650 founder shares, and the Roth Affiliates transferred an aggregate total of 25,300 founder shares. Certain other private transfers occurred, and the founders then transferred their remaining founder shares to the sponsor. In August 2021, the sponsor established our planned public offering amount at $125,000,000. As a result, the total amount of founder shares to be issued is 3,593,750 founder shares rather than the 4,312,500 founder shares originally issued. Accordingly, certain holders of the founder shares executed a surrender and cancellation agreement pursuant to which such holders surrendered and delivered to us the excess founder shares held by such holders for cancellation by us.

 

As of October 1, 2021, the founder shares are held by the following individuals and entities (who we refer to collectively as the “initial stockholders” throughout this prospectus) as follows: the sponsor, our Chief Financial Officer, Kevin M. Bush, and our directors, Thomas Wood, Stanley Hutton Rumbough, Paul Hodge Jr., Blair Friedensohn and Anne Lee, collectively own 2,724,841 founder shares in the aggregate (up to 367,418 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised); the following entities and individuals affiliated with Roth Capital Partners, LLC (“Roth”): CR Financial Holdings, Inc. owns 451,147 founder shares (up to 61,436 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised), Eight is Awesome LLC owns 158,217 founder shares (up to 21,545 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised), Aaron M. Gurewitz, as Trustee of the AMG Trust established January 23, 2007, owns 67,807 founder shares (up to 9,233 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised), and Matthew Day owns 11,279 founder shares (up to 1,536 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised); SHR Ventures, LLC owns 135,344 founder shares (up to 5,686 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised); and ARC Capital Limited owns 45,115 founder shares (up to 1,896 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised).

 

Our sponsor, Kevin M. Bush (our Chief Financial Officer), Paul Hodge Jr. (one of our directors), certain entities and individuals affiliated with Roth, including CR Financial Holdings, Inc., Eight is Awesome LLC, Aaron M. Gurewitz, as Trustee of the AMG Trust established January 23, 2007, and Matthew Day, and the following entities—SHR Ventures, LLC and ARC Capital Limited—have agreed to purchase an aggregate of 563,000 private units (or 619,250 private units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $10.00 per unit (the “private units”). Our sponsor and certain members of our management team consisting of Messrs. Bush and Hodge will purchase an aggregate of 417,936 private units (or 462,936 private units to the extent the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $4,179,360 (or $4,629,360 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), CR Financial Holdings, Inc. will purchase an aggregate of 73,788 private units (or 81,159 private units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $737,880 (or $811,590 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), Eight is Awesome LLC will purchase an aggregate of 25,877 private units (or 28,461 private units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $258,770 (or $284,610 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), Aaron M. Gurewitz, as Trustee of the AMG Trust established January 23, 2007, will purchase an aggregate of 11,090 private units (or 12,199 private units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $110,900 (or $121,990 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), Matthew Day will purchase an aggregate of 1,845 private units (or 2,031 private units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $18,450 (or $20,310 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full); SHR Ventures, LLC will purchase 24,348 private units for a purchase price of $243,480 and ARC Capital Limited will purchase 8,116 private units for a purchase price of $81,160. For further information relating to the ownership of the private units, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions – Private Units.” The private units will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the purchase of the units in this offering. The private units are identical to the units sold in this offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this prospectus. All holders of the private units are referred to as “private placement participants” throughout this prospectus.

 

Currently, there is no public market for our units, common stock or warrants. We have applied to have our units listed on The Nasdaq Global Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “EFHTU” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. We expect the common stock and warrants comprising the units to begin separate trading on the 90th day following the date of this prospectus (or if such date is not a business day, the following business day) unless Wells Fargo Securities, LLC (“Wells Fargo”) and Roth, the representatives of the underwriters (the “representatives”), inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our satisfaction of certain conditions. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the common stock and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “EFHT” and “EFHTW,” respectively.

 

We are an “emerging growth company” and “smaller reporting company” under applicable federal securities laws and will therefore be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 34 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 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 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   $125,000,000 
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1)  $0.20   $2,500,000 
Proceeds, before expenses  $9.80   $122,500,000 

 

  (1) The underwriters will receive compensation in addition to the underwriting discount. Please see the section entitled “Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest)” for further information relating to the arrangements agreed to between us and the underwriters.

 

Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private units described in this prospectus, $126,250,000 or $145,187,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.10 per unit in either case, regardless of whether or not the underwriters exercise any portion of their option to purchase additional units) will be deposited into a segregated trust account in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $1,880,000 will be available to pay expenses in connection with this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering.

 

The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. Wells Fargo and Roth are joint book-running managers. The underwriters expect to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about _________ __, 2021.

 

Wells Fargo Securities

 

Roth Capital Partners

 

The date of this prospectus is         , 2021.

 

 

 

 

 

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

  Page
   
SUMMARY 1
THE OFFERING 11
RISK FACTORS 34
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 70
USE OF PROCEEDS 71
DIVIDEND POLICY 75
DILUTION 76
CAPITALIZATION 78
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS 79
PROPOSED BUSINESS 86
MANAGEMENT 114
PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS 123
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS 125
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES 130
UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS 145
UNDERWRITING (CONFLICTS OF INTEREST) 154
LEGAL MATTERS 163
EXPERTS 163
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 163
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS F-1

 

We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and neither we nor the underwriters take any 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.

 

No dealer, salesperson or any other person is authorized to give any information or make any representations in connection with this offering other than those contained in this prospectus and, if given or made, the information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorized by us. This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security other than the securities offered by this prospectus, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities by anyone in any jurisdiction in which the offer or solicitation is not authorized or is unlawful.

 

This prospectus includes estimates regarding market and industry data and forecasts which are based on publicly available information, industry reports and publications, reports from government agencies and management’s estimates based on third-party data. Third-party industry publications and forecasts generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources generally believed to be reliable. We have not independently verified such third-party information, nor have we ascertained the underlying economic assumptions relied upon in those sources, and we cannot assure you of the accuracy or completeness of such information contained in this prospectus. Such data involve risks and uncertainties and is subject to change based on various factors, see “Risk Factors”.

 

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TRADEMARKS

 

This prospectus contains references to trademarks and service marks belonging to other entities. Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this prospectus may appear without the ® or TM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that the applicable licensor will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, its rights to these trademarks and trade names. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trade names, trademarks or service marks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other companies.

 

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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 “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.

 

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

 

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

 

“common stock” are to our shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share;

 

● “founders” are to Benjamin Piggott, David Boral and Joseph Rallo;

 

● “founder shares” are to shares of our common stock held by our initial stockholders prior to this offering (including an aggregate of up to 468,750 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our initial stockholders depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised);

 

“initial stockholders” are to the holders of our founder shares acquired prior to this offering (or their permitted transferees);

 

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

 

● “Platinum Arc” are to Platinum Arc Holdings, LLC, our founders are members of Platinum Arc Holdings, LLC;

 

● “private units” are to the units we are selling privately to the private placement participants simultaneously with the consummation of this offering;

 

“private placement” are to the private offering of 563,000 private units (up to 619,250 private units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $5,630,000 (up to $6,192,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), which will close simultaneously with the completion of this offering;

 

● “private placement participants” are to all of the purchasers of the private units;

 

“private shares” are to the shares of common stock underlying the private units;

 

“private warrants” are to the warrants underlying the private units;

 

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

 

“public shares” are to shares of our 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, except that our initial stockholders and/or members of our management team will not have redemption rights with respect to any public shares they own;

 

● “public warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market, including warrants that may be acquired by our initial stockholders or their affiliates in this offering or thereafter in the open market);

 

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● “representatives” are to Wells Fargo and Roth, which are the representatives of the underwriters in this offering;

 

● “Roth” are to Roth Capital Partners, LLC;

 

● “Roth Affiliates” are to CR Financial Holdings, Inc., Eight is Awesome LLC and Aaron M. Gurewitz, as Trustee of the AMG Trust established January 23, 2007;

 

● “SHR Ventures” are to SHR Ventures, LLC, which is owned by Stanley Hutton Rumbaugh, one of our independent directors;

 

● “sponsor” are to Platinum Arc Holdings, LLC;

 

● “underwriters” are to the underwriters of this offering, for which Wells Fargo and Roth are acting as representatives;

 

● “warrants” are to our redeemable warrants, which includes the public warrants, the private warrants, as well as the private warrants underlying private units issued upon conversion of working capital loans to the extent they are no longer held by the initial holders or their permitted transferees;

 

● “Wells Fargo” are to Wells Fargo Securities, LLC; and

 

● “we,” “us,” “our,” “company” or “our company” are to EF Hutton Acquisition Corp.

 

Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option.

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide you with different information. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer of these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer is not permitted.

 

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Our Company

 

We are a newly-organized blank check company incorporated in March 2021 as a Delaware corporation whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to as our initial business combination. To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities as well as activities related to this offering. We have not selected any specific business combination target, and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target.

 

While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geography, our business strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination within the consumer and retail industry.

 

Our Management Team

 

We have assembled a sponsor team and a management team, including an independent board of directors, with sourcing, diligence, valuation, and operational expertise which we expect will provide us with a significant differentiated pipeline of opportunities.

 

Our leadership team has a diverse and long-term operational and investment experience with small and mid-cap companies across various sectors over the course of several business cycles. The sponsor has established middle-market expertise through various careers in the public equity asset management, investment banking, and consumer staples management industries. We believe that our core competency as small cap growth specialists places us in a unique position to scour the middle market to identify and transact upon a superior business at an attractive price. Over the course of their careers, our management team has developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world through sourcing, acquiring, and financing businesses. This team has garnered a reputation of integrity and fair dealing, particularly within the commonly underserved small-cap ecosystem. We believe this growing network and reputational excellence will provide us with proprietary deal flow as exceptional investors and partners.

 

Our management team is led by Benjamin Piggott, the Chairman of our Board and our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), Kevin M. Bush, our Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), and David Boral and Joseph Rallo, our Co-Presidents. Messrs. Boral and Rallo are founding partners, and Mr. Piggott is currently a partner of EF Hutton, a division of Benchmark Investments, LLC (“EF Hutton”), a boutique middle market investment bank focused exclusively on small and mid-cap issuers.

 

Our Chairman and CEO, Benjamin Piggott, has been a partner at EF Hutton since its inception in June 2020. Prior to joining EF Hutton, Mr. Piggott was Head of Corporate Development at Laird Superfood (NYSE AMEX: LSF), a plant-based, omni-channel natural food company based in Sisters, OR. Mr. Piggott had served as an investor in Laird Superfood and later joined as Head of Corporate Development, assisting in capital raising efforts, including Laird Superfood’s initial public offering (“IPO”) on September 23, 2020. While at Laird Superfood, Mr. Piggott built a strong pipeline of acquisition candidates in the natural food and beverage sector by vetting over 100 companies. Mr. Piggott also helped to successfully negotiate the sale of a minority equity stake in the company to Danone S.A. Prior to Laird Superfood, Mr. Piggott spent fifteen years in the investment industry, ten of which were with the Small Cap Team at Fidelity Management & Research Company where he served as both a research analyst and sector portfolio manager. Mr. Piggott also spent two years at Legg Masson Capital Management as a generalist covering small mid-cap companies. During his time on the buy-side, Mr. Piggott has been active in analyzing a number of IPO opportunities. As a result of his fifteen years of experience on the buy-side, Mr. Piggott has strong relationships with participants in the investment community that are active in special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”) IPOs and private investment in public equity deals (“PIPEs”). During his tenure on the buy-side, Mr. Piggott covered various sectors, both domestically and internationally, including consumer, technology, healthcare, energy, industrials and utilities. We plan to leverage Mr. Piggott’s network and relationships garnered from his experience in corporate development, investment management, and on the buy-side to develop a proprietary pipeline of targets to complete a high-quality merger.

 

Our CFO, Kevin M. Bush, is the Chief Strategy Officer at Fresh Dining Concepts (“FDC”) as well as the Managing Partner of Green Shoot Partners (“GSP”), the majority shareholder of FDC. Mr. Bush founded GSP as an investment firm focused on lower-middle-market private businesses with a concentration in franchising. Mr. Bush also has strong relationships with several of the Limited Partners at GSP who are members of the buy-side community. In 2019, GSP completed its inaugural transaction in the space, purchasing FDC. FDC is one of the largest Focus Brands franchisee groups. Through the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, FDC’s long track record of successful M&A and development has only accelerated under the ownership of GSP. Prior to founding GSP, Mr. Bush spent nine years at Fidelity Management and Research Company as a research analyst covering numerous sectors including consumer, real estate, technology, media, telecom, industrials, aerospace and emerging markets. Mr. Bush’s experience and relationships developed while at FDC and GSP as well as at Fidelity Management and Research Company, will help contribute to sourcing and acquiring a high-quality target.

 

Our Co-Presidents, Joseph Rallo and David Boral, are the founding partners of EF Hutton. Collectively, they have raised gross proceeds of approximately $4.2 billion across 100 transactions since founding EF Hutton in May of 2020. Thus far, in 2021 Mr. Rallo and Mr. Boral as principals at EF Hutton have successfully brought public 14 SPACs for a total capital amount of approximately $1.5 billion. EF Hutton’s emphasis on quality diligence and trusted partnerships has created a continuously expanding ecosystem of high-quality small and mid-cap corporations. We plan to leverage this network and reputation to garner both trust and respect in the sourcing process to complete a high-quality merger.

 

Our affiliation with EF Hutton will allow us to not only leverage the knowledge and expertise of Messrs. Piggott, Rallo and Boral but all of the thirty-five investment professionals at the organization.

 

We have also assembled a group of independent directors who will provide public company governance, executive leadership, operational oversight, private equity investment management and capital markets experience. Our board members have extensive experience, having served as directors or officers for numerous publicly-listed and privately-owned companies. Our directors will play an active role in sourcing and conducting due diligence on targets.

 

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Anne Lee, an independent director, is a former investment banker with Nomura Securities International, Inc. (“Nomura Securities”) and Stephens Inc. Ms. Lee has over a decade of investment banking experience and has executed numerous transactions focused on M&A, debt & equity raises, spin-offs, IPOs, and SPACs. Ms. Lee has worked alongside CEOs and CFOs and has vast knowledge of private and public markets within the consumer sector. During her investment banking career, Ms. Lee has spearheaded several transactions for Utz Brands, Inc. (NYSE:UTZ referred to herein as “Utz”) including the minority capital raise from Metropoulos & Co. and the acquisition of Inventure Foods, Inc. (formerly Nasdaq:SNAK) through a going-private tender offer that were pivotal amongst other acquisitions for Utz to quickly scale from a private company to a public company and to become the #3 brand platform in U.S. Salty Snacks and one of the fastest growing salty snack platforms of scale. While at Nomura Securities, Ms. Lee advised Collier Creek Holdings on its $1.6 billion SPAC merger with Utz in 2020. Most recently, Ms. Lee also worked as an M&A consultant for Utz Brands, Inc., from 2020 to 2021, where she led the acquisition of Vitner’s snack brand from Snak-King Corp. and helped with the acquisition of Truco Enterprises, a leading seller of tortilla chips, salsa and queso under the ON THE BORDER® brand from Insignia Capital Group and the acquisition of the H.K. Anderson peanut butter-filled pretzel brand from Conagra Brands. Ms. Lee received her Master of Science in Finance from Purdue University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from the University of Utah.

 

Paul Hodge Jr. is an independent director. Mr. Hodge co-founded Laird Superfood and has served as its President and CEO and a member of its board of directors since its founding in 2015. Prior to founding the company, in 2015, Mr. Hodge founded GolfBoard Inc. In 2014, Mr. Hodge founded GB Leasing, a leasing company designed to lease fleets of GolfBoards. From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Hodge was CEO and founder of Solar Nation, Inc., a vertically-integrated solar systems and equipment company which developed, engineered, constructed and financed commercial and utility scale solar systems.

 

Thomas Wood, an independent director, is a serial entrepreneur, having started and taken public three energy services companies over the course of his career. In 2017, Mr. Wood was a sponsor and the CFO of National Energy Services Reunited Corp. (NASDAQ: NESR), a $200 million SPAC, that successfully completed a business acquisition with Gulf Energy SAOC and National Petroleum Services on June 6, 2018. Mr. Wood was instrumental in the IPO raising of the SPAC and the search of merger candidates and remains an active board member of the combined company, which has an enterprise value of approximately $1.7 billion as of June 30, 2021.

 

Stanley Hutton Rumbough, an independent director, is a private investor and philanthropist. Through his family office, SHR Ventures, LLC, Mr. Rumbough pursues investments across a range of businesses spanning real estate and resort development, minerals exploration, and financial technology, including most notably the Adirondack Club & Resort (under development) and HUTN, Inc. (formerly EF Hutton America, Inc.) which was engaged in developing a consumer-oriented digital finance and investment platform. Mr. Rumbough is the grandson of Edward Francis Hutton, noted financier and co-founder of E.F. Hutton & Co., one of the largest and most influential financial firms of the 20th century. The family legacy includes ownership and management of some of mid-century America’s best-known companies including General Foods, Birdseye, and Colgate-Palmolive, as well as E.F. Hutton & Co. Building on generations of investment expertise, his father founded and/or ran more than 40 companies, provided initial investments into the Vail ski resort, and served on U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s White House Staff. Mr. Rumbough’s deeply entrenched investment network should prove invaluable in both vetting and attracting potential targets and partners. Mr. Rumbough served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1970 to 1978. He hold a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Denver and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University.

 

The past performance of the members of our management team or their affiliates is not a guarantee that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of the performance of our management team or any of its affiliates’ performance as indicative of our future performance.

 

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Business Strategy

 

Our business strategy is to identify and complete an initial business combination with a strong and predictable cash flow generative business that has an enterprise value in the range of $500 million to $1 billion. We intend to specifically focus on companies aligned with the core principles that create enduring businesses and cash flow streams such as: multi-year operating history of financial performance including strong growth, current or potential near-term free cash flow generation, valuable brand equity, long duration growth dynamics, seasoned senior management team, and a strong structurally sustainable competitive position. We plan to prioritize and invest in underlying company characteristics, not specific businesses or industries that may possess great attributes. We believe the lower middle private markets hold the greatest potential to unlock shareholder value when coupled with our management expertise and public market financing background. The following characteristics are indicative of the types of strong and predictable cash flow generative businesses that we intend to consider:

 

  Businesses with a track record of top-line growth and strong prospects for continued top-line growth;
  Business that have the ability to generate strong free cash flow and re-invest it at high incremental rates of return;
  Businesses that have the ability to build long term sustainable competitive advantages from factors such as, but not limited to branding, distribution, intellectual property, network effects and scale;
  Businesses that have proven adept in acquiring and retaining customers at a lower cost and longer duration than their competitors;
  Businesses that command a fair valuation for the quality of their assets;
  Business that have management teams with a firm grasp of the importance around capital allocation, whose incentives are aligned with shareholders and who understand the importance of driving value on a per share basis; and
  Businesses that can leverage a public currency to both accelerate organic growth initiatives and deploy it at accretive terms for M&A to drive long term shareholder value.

 

We will effectively employ the industry skills, experience and extensive network of our management team and directors to add substantive value to our target company. Our management team seeks to employ the following strategies and skills to realize this potential.

 

Leverage Talented and Capable Management Team: Draw on a wealth of knowledge across the Consumer & Retail spectrum to reach full potential.

 

Exploit Deep Industry Relationships: Capitalize on decades of industry expertise and extensive industry networks across various sectors and the largest financial institutions in the world.

 

Capital Allocation to Drive Growth: Drive platform strategy; identify roll-up and roll-out opportunities to put capital to work.

 

Leverage Capital Markets and M&A Experience: Leverage experience in sourcing debt and equity capital and history of acquiring and integrating acquisitions; focus on companies in target rich sectors.

 

Maximize Shareholder Value: Maximize shareholder value at every opportunity; the management team will strive to unlock hidden value through tested strategies.

 

Competitive Advantages

 

We believe our initial stockholders and advisors, including SHR Ventures, LLC (the family office of a descendant of the founding families of E.F. Hutton & Co., one of the largest and most influential financial firms of the 20th century, and Colgate-Palmolive), as well as EF Hutton, will provide us with multiple channels of high quality, proprietary deal flow. Furthermore, we plan on leveraging traditional sources that include, but are not limited to various corporate networks, investment banks, family offices, financial sponsors, hedge funds, trade associations, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. We will seek to leverage the strengths of each of our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors as a source for the best possible deal for our shareholders. EF Hutton is an emerging small-cap boutique investment bank that, as of August 31, 2021, employed thirty-five investment professionals who have regular access to deal flow in both private and public markets.

 

We believe that the following factors differentiate our strategy and management team from other SPACs:

 

  Being small on purpose: A significant number of potential targets are available to our SPAC given its size, and there is less competition for such targets;

 

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  Differentiated vantage point: Our team has spent decades scouring the globe and studying businesses across industries and geographies, creating a mosaic of industry agnostic success.
     
  Learned from Fortune 1000 C-Suite Executives: With their prior experience as equity research analysts, having led thousands of closed-door interviews with Fortune 1000 C-suite executives, Messrs. Piggott and Bush have gained important insight into business strategy and operational execution. We believe these invaluable conversations have equipped us with pattern recognition for identifying successful, and perhaps just as important, unsuccessful, decision making. Messrs. Piggott and Bush have covered hundreds of companies, serving as equity research analysts and managing investment portfolios at Fidelity; and
     
  Experienced Investors and Operators: We have experience investing in and building brands, historically taking both controlling or minority interest in both public and private, mission-driven companies. Each of Messrs. Piggott and Bush have more than a decade of investment experience in both public and private investing, often focusing on the consumer and retail industry and acquisitive platform companies. These years of investment management experience, coupled with their respective ventures into private consumer investing, demonstrate our holistic approach to sourcing and vetting.

 

We believe our leadership team’s successful track record, both investing and operational, will prove attractive to prospective companies with experienced guidance and insight.

 

Industry Opportunity

 

While we may acquire a business in any industry, our focus will be on identifying targets in the consumer and retail industry. In addition, we believe that the lower middle-market exhibits the most fertile ground to find enduring growth businesses as the pool of viable targets vastly outnumbers the available capital providers. We believe the growing size of both SPAC IPO’s and venture capital deals suggests that the lower middle market is increasingly overlooked and underserved. We believe these smaller companies may grow faster than their larger peers and should gain greater incremental benefit from an efficient capital injection, and that this supply-demand dynamic should lead to a highly remunerative investment for both our investors and target acquisition. We believe our targeted small cap ecosystem, at the intersection of quality and value, holds the greatest potential return on capital for all stakeholders involved.

 

We believe there are numerous founder- and privately-owned businesses in the lower middle market that could benefit from our active ownership, operating model and capital to scale their businesses. We believe that our company represents an attractive business combination alternative to owners in our target industry and sectors given (a) the significant demand for consumer and retail equities by public market investors who understand these sectors and often value the perceived stability and cash flow generation of consumer and retail assets, (b) the potential for well-run, diversified and scaled consumer and retail businesses to trade at a premium relative to potential private transaction values for smaller consumer and retail assets and (c) our potential to add significant value to target businesses through our management team’s experience and operational strategies. We also believe the consumer and retail industry and related sectors may present attractive returns for investors during this stage in the economic cycle as our experience has shown that numerous sub-segments, such as consumer staples, have historically exhibited limited cyclicality and resilience to economic recessions.

 

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Additionally, we believe the consumer and retail industry presents attractive investment opportunities due to the following reasons:

 

  Large and Growing Industry:1 U.S. consumer and retail sales are estimated to be $5.2 trillion in 2021, up from $4.4 trillion in 2016, and are forecasted to grow to $6.2 trillion by 2025E at a 4.5% CAGR;
     
  Supportive Macroeconomic Backdrop:2 As COVID-19 lockdown restrictions are eased and vaccination rates increase, economists expect that consumer spending will continue to be a key driver of growth in the second half of 2021. For full year 2021, the U.S. economy is expected to grow by 5.9% (year-over-year) and GDP growth in 2022 and 2023 is expected to outpace pre-pandemic levels; and
     
  High Degree of Fragmentation:3 Many subsectors within consumer products remain highly fragmented and contain a large number of privately held businesses that we believe could benefit from our management team’s experience as the consumer landscape becomes increasingly supportive of smaller consumer brands. Nearly one-third of CPG industry growth in 2020 was from smaller manufacturers. The year 2020 marked the fifth consecutive year of market share loss for large manufacturers (those with channel sales exceeding $5.5 billion). Smaller CPGs gained market share in 9 of the 10 categories tracked by IRI, including alcohol, frozen food and breakfast, all categories that saw overall growth in 2020 as at-home consumption rose.

 

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 intend to 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. While we intend to utilize these criteria in evaluating business combination opportunities, we expect that no individual criterion will entirely determine a decision to pursue a particular opportunity.

 

We are focused on strong and predictable cash flow generative businesses with enterprise values in the range of $500 million to $1 billion, aligned with the following four pillars:

 

  Attractive business profile: We are focused on companies with established market presence given the fragmented nature of the targeted lower middle market, along with defensible competitive moat in the form of ‘brand’ and ‘distribution’, and combined with proven qualities in acquiring and retaining customers at a lower cost and longer duration than their competitors;
     
  Positioned at the intersection of quality and value: We are looking to acquire a target at a reasonable valuation based on the quality of its assets and believe our experienced management team and board members are in the position to identify such targets;
     
  Strong and disciplined management team: Operators with a firm grasp of the importance around capital allocation, whose incentives are aligned with shareholders and who understand the importance of driving value on a per share basis; and
     
  Growth opportunities via capital allocation: Given the fragmented nature of our target lower middle market, we believe strong business platforms can accelerate opportunistic growth through precise organic development and inorganic bolt-on M&A aided by prudent leverage.

 

1 See Euromonitor

2 See “The Conference Board Economic Forecast for the US Economy,” The Conference Board, 2021, https://www.conference-board.org/research/us-forecast

3 See “Small CPG see big growth in 2020”, Food & Beverage Insider, 2021, https://www.foodbeverageinsider.com/market-trends-analysis/small-cpgs-see-big-growth-2020

 

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We intend to focus our search on fundamentally sound businesses that we believe have a competitive advantage, can be industry leaders, can scale rapidly, can capitalize on one or more of the above trends, and where there is substantial opportunity for operational improvements. We intend to avoid targeting businesses experiencing or at significant risk of experiencing material disruption to their businesses from technology, shifting consumer preferences or other factors.

 

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 from time to time our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

 

Initial Business Combination

 

Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time we sign a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or, if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

 

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 prior owners of the target business, 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 initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as our initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

 

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

 

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspections of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information made available to us as we deem appropriate. We may also retain consultants with expertise relating to a prospective target business.

 

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

 

Sourcing of Potential Initial Business Combination Targets

 

We are continuously made aware of potential business opportunities in the consumer products sector, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for an initial business combination; we have not, however, selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors will provide us with multiple channels of high-quality, proprietary deal flow. We will leverage the strengths of each of our initial stockholders, officers, directors and advisors to source the best possible deal for our shareholders. EF Hutton is an emerging small cap boutique investment bank that, as of August 31, 2021, employs thirty-five investment professionals who have regular access to deal flow in both private and public markets. The members of our board of directors also have significant executive management experience and bring additional relationships that further broaden our industry network.

 

We believe that the network of contacts and relationships of our management team will provide us with an important source of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business combination candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment banks and other market participants, family offices, financial sponsors, hedge funds, trade associations, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises.

 

Members of our management team, including our independent directors, will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private units 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 is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

 

In addition, 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 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 initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest” for additional information.

 

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

 

Corporate Information

 

Our executive offices are located at 24 Shipyard Drive, Suite 102, Hingham, MA 02043, and our telephone number is (617) 783-5462.

 

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

 

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

 

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter, 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 will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

 

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.

 

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THE OFFERING

 

In deciding 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   12,500,000 units (or 14,375,000 units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

 

    one share of common stock; and
       
    one-half of one redeemable warrant.

 

Proposed Nasdaq symbols  

Units: “EFHTU”

 

Common Stock: “EFHT”

 

Warrants: “EFTHW”

     
Trading commencement and separation of common stock and warrants   The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We expect the common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 90th day following the date of this prospectus (or if such date is not a business day, the following business day), unless the representatives 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 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 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 two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.
     
Separate trading of the common stock and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K   In no event will the 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 reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K containing such balance sheet promptly after the closing of this offering. 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 and the private placement   0

 

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Number outstanding after this offering and the private placement   13,063,000(1)
     
Common stock:    
     
Number outstanding before this offering and the private placement   3,593,750 founder shares(2)
     
Number outstanding after this offering and the private placement   16,188,000 shares of common stock(1)(3)
     
Warrants:    
     
Number outstanding before this offering and the private placement   0
     
Number of warrants to be outstanding after this offering and the private placement   6,531,500(1)(4)
     
Exercisability   Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of our common stock, subject to adjustments as provided herein. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade and are exercisable.
     
    We structured each unit to contain one-half of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for one share of common stock, as compared to units issued by some other similar blank check companies which contain whole warrants exercisable for one whole share, in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of an initial business combination as compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive initial business combination partner for target businesses.

 

(1) Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and includes the private units.
(2) Reflects the founder shares purchased by the initial stockholders prior to this offering (including an aggregate of up to 468,750 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our initial stockholders depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised).
(3) Includes (i) 12,500,000 public shares of common stock included in the units to be sold in this offering, (ii) 3,125,000 shares purchased by the initial stockholders prior to this offering (excluding up to 468,750 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our initial stockholders depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised), and (iii) 563,000 private shares underlying the private units.
(4) Includes 6,250,000 public warrants and 281,500 private warrants (assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised).

 

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Exercise price   $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments as described herein. In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our initial stockholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial stockholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the greater of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described below under “Redemption of warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the greater of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
     
Exercise period   The warrants will become exercisable on the later of:

 

    30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, and
       
    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 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 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 30 days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to cause such registration statement to become effective within 90 days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 90th day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis.
     
    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; provided, however, that the private warrants that are part of the private units to be acquired by affiliates of Roth will not be exercisable more than five years after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8)(A). 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 public and private warrants   Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants:

 

    in whole and not in part;
       
    at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
       
    upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption given after the warrants become exercisable (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and
       
    if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period commencing once the warrants become exercisable and ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

 

    We will not redeem the warrants unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of 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 not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were offered by us in this offering.

 

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    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 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 common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of 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” for this purpose shall mean the average last reported sale price of the 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 — Redeemable Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information.

 

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Founder shares  

On March 21, 2021, Benjamin Piggott, David Boral and Joseph Rallo, our founders, who are also members of our executive management team and members of Platinum Arc Holdings, LLC (our “sponsor”), purchased an aggregate of 3,450,000 shares of our common stock (up to 450,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised) for an aggregate purchase price of $20,000. On March 22, 2021, the Roth Affiliates purchased an aggregate of 862,500 shares of our common stock (up to 112,500 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised) for an aggregate purchase price of $5,000. These shares are collectively referred to herein as “founder shares.” Thereafter the founders transferred an aggregate total of 564,650 founder shares and the Roth Affiliates transferred an aggregate total of 25,300 founder shares. Certain other private transfers occurred and the founders then transferred their remaining founder shares to the sponsor. In August 2021, the sponsor established the Company’s planned public offering amount at $125,000,000. As a result, the total amount of founder shares to be issued is 3,593,750 founder shares, rather than the 4,312,500 founder shares originally issued. Accordingly, certain holders of the founder shares executed a surrender and cancellation agreement pursuant to which such holders surrendered and delivered to us the excess founder shares held by such holders for cancellation by us.

 

As of October 1, 2021, the founder shares are held by the following individuals and entities (who we refer to collectively as the “initial stockholders” throughout this prospectus) as follows: the sponsor, our CFO Kevin M. Bush, and our directors Thomas Wood, Stanley Hutton Rumbough, Paul Hodge Jr., Blair Friedensohn and Anne Lee collectively own 2,724,841 founder shares in the aggregate (up to 367,418 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised), the following entities and individuals affiliated with Roth: CR Financial Holdings, Inc. owns 451,147 founder shares (up to 61,436 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised), Eight is Awesome LLC owns 158,217 founder shares (up to 21,545 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised), Aaron M. Gurewitz, as Trustee of the AMG Trust established January 23, 2007 owns 67,807 founder shares (up to 9,233 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised) and Matthew Day owns 11,279 founder shares (up to 1,536 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised); SHR Ventures, LLC owns 135,344 founder shares (up to 5,686 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised) and ARC Capital Limited, owns 45,115 founder shares (up to 1,896 shares of which are subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised).

 

For further information relating to the ownership of the founder shares, including the applicable over-allotment options, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions - Founder Shares.” Prior to the initial investment in the Company of $25,000 by our founders and the Roth Affiliates, the Company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to 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 (excluding the shares of common stock underlying the private units and the private warrants). As such, our initial stockholders will collectively own founder shares representing 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering or the private placement). Neither our initial stockholders, nor any of our officers or directors have expressed an intention to purchase any units in this offering. Up to 468,750 founder shares held by certain of the initial stockholders, in the aggregate, will be subject to forfeiture, on a pro rata basis, depending upon 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 (excluding the shares of common stock underlying the private units and the private warrants). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital, or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering.

 

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

 

    the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below;
       
    our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame;

 

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    pursuant to the letter agreement, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and private shares and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. 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 then outstanding shares of common stock present and entitled to vote at the meeting to approve the initial business combination are voted in favor of the initial business combination. As a result, in the event that only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum is present at a stockholders’ meeting held to vote on our initial business combination, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares and private shares, we would need only 359,001, or 2.9%, of the 12,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised, that the initial stockholders do not purchase any units in this offering or units or shares in the after-market); and
       
    the founder shares are entitled to registration rights.

 

    The founder shares purchased by affiliates of Roth are deemed underwriter’s compensation by FINRA pursuant to Rule 5110 of the FINRA Manual and subject to FINRA lock-up requirements as described under “Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest)—Acquisition of Securities by Affiliates of Roth”.

 

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Transfer restrictions on founder shares   The founder shares are subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in a letter agreement with us to be entered into by our initial stockholders, and our officers and directors. Those lock-up provisions provide, subject to certain exceptions, that founder shares may not be assigned, transferred or sold until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination, or (B) subsequent to the initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. In the case of the private units, including the underlying shares of common stock, the private units shall not be salable or transferable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination pursuant to a letter agreement between us and the initial stockholders. The founder shares are subject to the foregoing restrictions on transfer except for transfers in each case to the foregoing individuals and entities, who we refer to as “permitted transferees” under this prospectus (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, the other initial stockholders, or any affiliates or family members of the initial stockholders, (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of any of our officers, our directors or the initial stockholders; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of an initial business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (f) in the event of our liquidation prior to the completion of our initial business combination; or (g) in the event of our liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (e) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreements and by the same agreements entered into by our initial stockholders and the private placement participants with respect to such securities (including provisions relating to voting, the trust account and liquidating distributions described elsewhere in this prospectus). (See “Principal Stockholders — Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Units”) Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.
     
Voting Rights   Each share of common stock entitles the holder to one vote, except as required by law.

 

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Private units   Our sponsor, Kevin M. Bush (our Chief Financial Officer), Paul Hodge Jr. (one of our directors), certain entities and individuals affiliated with Roth: including CR Financial Holdings, Inc., Eight is Awesome LLC, Aaron M. Gurewitz, as Trustee of the AMG Trust established January 23, 2007, and Matthew Day, and the following entities SHR Ventures, LLC and ARC Capital Limited have agreed to purchase an aggregate of 563,000 private units (or 619,250 private units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $10.00 per unit (the “private units”). Our sponsor and certain members of our management team consisting of Messrs. Bush and Hodge will purchase an aggregate of 417,936 private units (or 462,936 private units to the extent the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $4,179,360 (or $4,629,360 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), CR Financial Holdings, Inc. will purchase an aggregate of 73,788 private units (or 81,159 private units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $737,880 (or $811,590 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), Eight is Awesome LLC will purchase an aggregate of 25,877 private units (or 28,461 private units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $258,770 (or $284,610 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), Aaron M. Gurewitz, as Trustee of the AMG Trust established January 23, 2007, will purchase an aggregate of 11,090 private units (or 12,199 private units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $110,900 (or $121,990 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), Matthew Day will purchase an aggregate of 1,845 private units (or 2,031 private units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $18,450 (or $20,310 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full); SHR Ventures, LLC will purchase 24,348 private units for a purchase price of $243,480 and ARC Capital Limited will purchase 8,116 private units for a purchase price of $81,160. For further information relating to the ownership of the private units, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions – Private Units.” The private units will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the purchase of the units in this offering. The private units will be identical to the units sold in this offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this prospectus. All holders of the private units are referred to as “private placement participants” throughout this prospectus.
     
    Each private unit is identical to the public units offered by this prospectus except as described below.

 

  the private shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below;
     
  our private placement participants shall enter into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their private shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their private shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their private shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame;

 

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  pursuant to the letter agreement, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed to vote their private shares in favor of our initial business combination. 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 then outstanding shares of common stock present and entitled to vote at the meeting to approve the initial business combination are voted in favor of the initial business combination. As a result, in the event that only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum is present at a stockholders’ meeting held to vote on our initial business combination, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares and private shares, we would need only 359,001, or 2.9%, of the 12,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised, that the initial stockholders do not purchase any units in this offering or units or shares in the after-market);
     
  The shares underlying the private units (including the shares underlying the private warrants) are entitled to registration rights.

 

    For so long as private units are held by affiliates of Roth, the warrants that are part of such private units will not be exercisable more than five years from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8)(A).
     
    The private units purchased by affiliates of Roth are deemed underwriter’s compensation by FINRA pursuant to Rule 5110 of the FINRA Manual and subject to FINRA lock-up requirements as described under “Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest)—Acquisition of Securities by Affiliates of Roth”.
     
Transfer restrictions on private units   The private units and their component securities will not be transferable, assignable or saleable until 30 days after the consummation of our initial business combination except to permitted transferees, as described above.

 

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Proceeds to be held in trust account   Nasdaq rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private units be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private units, $126,250,000, or $10.10 per unit ($145,187,500, or $10.10 per unit, if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be deposited into a segregated trust account in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.
     
    The proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private units held in the trust account 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 submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), 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 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. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government securities 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 will disclose in each quarterly and annual report filed with the SEC prior to our initial business combination whether the proceeds deposited in the trust account are invested in U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds or a combination thereof. Based upon current interest rates, we expect the trust account to generate approximately $75,750 of pre-tax interest annually assuming an interest rate of 0.06% per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount.

 

    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 units not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $980,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $900,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and
       
    any loans or additional investments from the initial stockholders, 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 an initial business combination.

 

Conditions to completing our initial business combination   Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of we sign a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination target, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination target, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately, or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

 

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    We anticipate structuring our initial business combination either (i) in such a way 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, or (ii) in such a way so that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the prior owners of the target business, the target management team or stockholders, or for other reasons. However, we will only complete an initial business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target 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 initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target.
     
    In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions 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 and public warrants 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 public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares or warrants our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. However, apart from the purchase of the private units, 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 be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller 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 expect that any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
     
    None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or public warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination. See “Proposed Business — Permitted Purchases of Our Securities” for a description of how our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
     
    The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of common stock or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

 

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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 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 interest earned on the funds held in the trust account, 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 $10.10 per public share, regardless of whether or not the underwriters exercise any portion of their option to purchase additional units. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will be reduced by the fee payable to Wells Fargo and Roth pursuant to the business combination marketing agreement. See the section entitled “Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest)—Business Combination Marketing Agreement.” There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
     
Manner of conducting redemptions   We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed initial 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 applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. Under Nasdaq rules, asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would typically require stockholder approval. We may 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. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with Nasdaq’s stockholder approval rules.

 

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    If 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 then outstanding shares of common stock present and entitled to vote at the meeting to approve the initial business combination are voted in favor of the initial 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, pursuant to the letter agreement, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and private shares and any public shares acquired by them during or after this offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an initial business combination, 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 the founder shares and private shares, we would need only 359,001, or 2.9%, of the 12,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised and that the initial stockholders do not purchase any units in this offering or units or shares in the after-market).
     
    We intend to give approximately 30 days (but 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.

 

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    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.

 

    Such provisions may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon.
     
    Whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on Nasdaq, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above. Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant 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 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. 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.
     
    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 mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial 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 initial 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.

 

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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 initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, without our prior consent. 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. Without 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 an initial 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 initial business combination, particularly in connection with an initial 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 initial business combination.

 

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Proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation   Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-initial business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of units into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our 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 at least 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 (“DGCL”) or applicable stock exchange rules.
     
    Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or on our initial business combination or that would entitle holders thereof to receive funds from the trust account. Our initial stockholders, who will beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (excluding any private units purchased in the private placement and 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 private placement participants, and our officers and directors pursuant to a written agreement with us, will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow holders to redeem their shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with 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, the funds held in the trust account will be used to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination.” We will use the remaining funds 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, including the fee payable to Wells Fargo and Roth pursuant to the Business Combination Marketing Agreement described under “Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest)—Business Combination Marketing Agreement,” which fee we refer to throughout this prospectus as the “Marketing Fee.” If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or for redemptions of our 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 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   Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we will have until 12 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 12 months, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to two times, each by an additional three months (for a total of up to 18 months to complete a business combination). Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on the date of this prospectus, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon ten days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account $1,250,000 (or $1,437,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, or $0.10 per share for a three-month extension, on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, or up to an aggregate of $2,500,000 (or $2,875,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $0.20 per share if we extend for the full six months. Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan. Any such loans will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If we do not complete a business combination, we will not repay such loans. Furthermore, the letter agreement with our initial stockholders contains a provision pursuant to which our sponsor has agreed to waive its right to be repaid for such loans out of the funds held in the trust account in the event that we do not complete a business combination. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. You will not be able to vote on or redeem your shares in connection with any such extension. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) (and our stockholders have not approved an amendment to our charter extending this time period), we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above 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 private warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month time period.

 

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    Our initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares 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 their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if our initial stockholders 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.
     
Limited payments to insiders   There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursement, consulting fee, non-cash payments, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors or any affiliate of our sponsor, officers or directors prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, the following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private units held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:

 

    Repayment of up to an aggregate of $300,000 in loans made to us by affiliates of our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;
       
       
       
    Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and
       
    Repayment of non-interest bearing loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors (a) to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which (other than as described above) have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto, or (b) in connection with additional deposits into the trust account in order to extend the time available to us to consummate our initial business combination. Up to $3,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private units, at a price of $10.00 per private unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The private units are identical to the public units, except as described elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

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      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.
       
      There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us; provided, however, that to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account and the interest income earned on the amounts held in the trust account available to us, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination. Our audit committee will review and approve all reimbursements and payments made to any initial stockholder or member of our management team, or their respective affiliates, and any reimbursements and payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our Board of Directors, with any interested director abstaining from such review and approval.
       
      We have also engaged Wells Fargo and Roth as advisors in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the business combination marketing agreement described under “Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest) — Business Combination Marketing Agreement.” We will pay Wells Fargo and Roth a marketing fee for such services upon the consummation of our initial business combination in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering, including any proceeds from the full or partial exercise of the over-allotment option. As a result, Wells Fargo and Roth will not be entitled to the Marketing Fee unless we consummate our initial business combination.

 

Conflicts of Interest   CR Financial Holdings, Inc., Eight is Awesome LLC, Aaron M. Gurewitz, as Trustee of the AMG Trust, and Matthew Day are affiliates of Roth, one of the representatives of the underwriters in this offering, and collectively own approximately 19.2% of our outstanding common stock prior to this offering. As a result, Roth is deemed to have a “conflict of interest” within the meaning of FINRA Rule 5121. Accordingly, this offering is being made in compliance with the applicable requirements of Rule 5121. Roth will not confirm sales to any account over which it exercises discretionary authority without the specific prior written approval of the account holder. In addition, Rule 5121 requires that a “qualified independent underwriter,” as defined in Rule 5121, participate in the preparation of the registration statement and prospectus and exercise the usual standards of due diligence with respect thereto. Wells Fargo has agreed to act as a qualified independent underwriter for this offering. We have agreed to indemnify Wells Fargo against certain liabilities incurred in connection with acting as a qualified independent underwriter, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Wells Fargo will not receive any fee for acting as qualified independent underwriter.
     
   

Although we do not believe any conflict currently exists between us and our sponsor, officers and directors, our sponsor, officers, directors, or their respective affiliates may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If such entities decide to pursue an opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunity. Neither our sponsor, officers, nor directors will have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware, unless presented to such member specifically in his or her capacity as an officer or director of the Company. Our management team and/or our advisors, in their capacities as employees or affiliates of our sponsor or in their other endeavors, may be required to present potential business combinations to future sponsor’s affiliates or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us.

 

Our officers may become an officer or director of any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act, even before we enter into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time).

 

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SUMMARY OF RISK FACTORS

 

We are a newly formed blank check company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues to date. 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.” Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 34 of this prospectus, that represent challenges that we face in connection with the successful implementation of our strategy. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section entitled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may materially adversely affect our ability to effect a business combination, and may have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. Such risks include, but are not limited to:

 

  newly formed company without an operating history;
     
  our ability to continue as a “going concern;”
     
  lack of opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination;
     
  lack of protections afforded to investors of blank check companies;
     
  issuance of equity and/or debt securities to complete an initial business combination;
     
  lack of working capital;
     
  third-party claims reducing the per-share redemption price;
     
  negative interest rate for securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account;
     
  our stockholders being held liable for claims by third parties against us;
     
  failure to enforce our sponsor’s indemnification obligations;
     
  the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company;
     
  dependence on key personnel;
     
  conflicts of interest of our initial stockholders, officers and directors and the representatives;
     
  the delisting of our securities by Nasdaq;
     
  dependence on a single target business with a limited number of products or services;
     
  shares being redeemed and warrants becoming worthless;
     
  our competitors with advantages over us in seeking business combinations;
     
  our initial stockholders controlling a substantial interest in us;
     
  warrants’, and founder shares’ adverse effect on the market price of our common stock;
     
  disadvantageous timing for redeeming warrants;
     
  registration rights’ adverse effect on the market price of our common stock;
     
  impact of COVID-19 and related risks;
     
  business combination with a company located in a foreign jurisdiction;
     
  changes in laws or regulations; tax consequences to business combinations; and
     
  exclusive forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

 

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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.

 

   June 30, 2021 
   Actual   As Adjusted 
Balance Sheet Data:          
Working capital (deficiency)(1)  $(69,571)  $127,254,324 
Total assets (2)  $98,824   $127,254,324 
Total liabilities  $74,500    - 
Value of common stock subject to possible conversion/tender (3)  $-   $126,250,000 
Shareholders’ equity (4)  $24,324   $1,004,324 

 

(1) The “as adjusted” calculation includes $126,250,000 of cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private units, plus $980,000 of cash held outside the trust account, plus $24,324 of actual shareholders’ equity on June 30, 2021.

(2) The “as adjusted” calculation equals $126,250,000 of cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, plus $980,000 in cash held outside the trust account, plus $24,324 of actual shareholders’ equity on June 30, 2021.

(3) The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the “as adjusted” shareholders’ equity either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination.

(4) Excludes 12,500,000 shares of common stock sold in this offering, which are subject to redemption in connection with our initial business combination. The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the value of common stock that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination ($10.10 per share).

 

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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, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks

 

Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

 

A significant outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in a widespread health crisis that could continue to:

 

  adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, leading to changes in interest rates, reduced liquidity and a continued slowdown in global economic conditions;
     
  provoke turbulence in financial markets which could make it impossible to raise additional capital to consummate a deal including debt or equity;
     
  disrupt our operations and those of our potential partners, including those helping us diligence or search for targets, due to illness or efforts to mitigate the pandemic, including but not limited to government-mandated shutdowns, other social distancing measures, travel restrictions, office closures and measures impacting on working practices, such as the imposition of remote working arrangements, and quarantine requirements and isolation measures under local laws;
     
  negatively impact the health of members of our team;
     
  adversely affect our ability to conduct redemptions; and
     
  materially and adversely affect the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination.

 

Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or if 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 continue to emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the ongoing actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. The global spread of COVID-19 could materially and adversely affect our operations and financial condition due to the disruptions to commerce, reduced economic activity and other unforeseen consequences of a pandemic that are beyond our control. While vaccines for COVID-19 are being and have been developed, there is no guarantee that any such vaccine will be effective, work as expected or be made available or will be accepted on a significant scale and in a timely manner. 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.

 

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

 

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

 

We may choose not to hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the initial 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 applicable law or stock exchange requirements, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed initial 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 initial 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.

 

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.

 

Pursuant to the letter agreement, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and private shares and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our founder shares and private shares, we would need only 359,001, or 2.9%, of the 12,500,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted, that the initial stockholders do not purchase any units in this offering or units or shares in the after-market) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Our initial stockholders will own founder shares representing 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the completion of this offering (excluding the private shares issued in the private placement and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial stockholders, officers and directors to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval for such initial business combination.

 

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

 

At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. Since our board of directors may complete an initial business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the initial 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 an initial business combination with a target.

 

We may seek to enter into an initial business combination agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the initial business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares unless our net tangible assets are at least $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into an initial business combination with us.

 

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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 initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for additional third party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the Marketing Fee payable to Wells Fargo and Roth pursuant to the terms of the business combination marketing agreement will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination.

 

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 initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your 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.

 

The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating an initial 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 initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.

 

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning an initial business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time). Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating an initial 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.

 

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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 $10.10 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we must complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time). 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, including as a result of terrorist attacks, natural disasters, or a significant outbreak of infectious diseases. For example, if 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 and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire.

 

If we have not completed our initial business combination within the prescribed period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above 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 $10.10 per share, or less than $10.10 per share, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.10 per share on the redemption of their shares. See Risk Factors — “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 $10.10 per share” and other risk factors herein.

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed initial business combination and reduce the public “float” of our 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 initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants or a combination thereof in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or public warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination.

 

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 or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination, or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination.

 

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Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. We expect that any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.

 

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock or public warrants 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 initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

 

We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, 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 deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial 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 disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business — Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination — Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”

 

You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares or 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, and then only in connection with those shares of common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision 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 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

 

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

 

Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private units 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 units 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. 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.”

 

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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 $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption, 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 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 financial, technical, human and other resources or more 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 units, 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 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 available to us for our initial business combination. This may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating and completing an initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See the section entitled “Description of Securities – Common Stock” for more information regarding redemptions of common stock. See Risk Factors — “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 $10.10 per share” and other risk factors herein.

 

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private units not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 12 months (or 18 months) following the closing of this offering, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

The funds available to us outside of the trust account to fund our working capital requirements may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 12 months (or 18 months) following the closing of this offering, 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 12 months (or 18 months) following such closing; 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 or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed initial business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See the section entitled “Description of Securities – Common Stock” for more information regarding redemptions of common stock. See Risk Factors — “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 $10.10 per share” and other risk factors herein.

 

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If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private units 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 an initial business combination, to pay our 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 units, approximately $980,000 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 $900,000, 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. The amount held in the trust account will not be impacted as a result of such increase or decrease. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $900,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. None of our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $3,000,000 of such loans, together with certain other loans that may be made in connection with extending the time available to us to consummate our initial business combination, may be convertible into private units, at a price of $10.00 per private unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The private units are identical to the public units, except as described elsewhere in this prospectus. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to 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 $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See the section entitled “Description of Securities – Common Stock” for more information regarding redemptions of common stock. See Risk Factors — “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 $10.10 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 debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the initial 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 unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the initial business combination constituted an actionable material misstatement or omission.

 

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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 $10.10 per share.

 

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain 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. Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of this offering, will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.

 

Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.10 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement, the form of which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our sponsor has agreed that they will be liable to us, on a pro rata basis, if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.10 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.10 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy their indemnity obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

 

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

 

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations.

 

While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.10 per share.

 

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We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive officers.

 

We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

 

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public 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 some or all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, 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 initial business combination.

 

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:

 

  restrictions on the nature of our investments; and
     
  restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.

 

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

 

  registration as an investment company with the SEC;
     
  adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and
     
  reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to.

 

In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading 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 will be to identify and complete an initial business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.

 

We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. This offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), 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 an initial business combination or may result in our liquidation. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

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 the funds in 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 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) 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 18th month from the closing of this offering in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.

 

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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 the funds in 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 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), 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 no later than 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 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.

 

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 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 resale of the founder shares, the private units, the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the private units and underlying the private warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the resale of such shares of common stock, warrants or the common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to complete. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our 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.

 

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Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.

 

We will seek to complete an initial business combination with companies in the consumer and retail industry, but may also pursue other business combination opportunities, except that we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected 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 complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

 

We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise.

 

Although we intend to focus on identifying companies in the consumer products industry, we may consider an initial business combination outside of our management’s area of expertise if an initial business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company or we are unable to identify a suitable candidate in this sector after having expanded a reasonable amount of time and effort in an attempt to do so. 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 an initial business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination 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 who choose to remain stockholders following our initial 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 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 applicable law or stock exchange requirements, 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 $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See the section entitled “Description of Securities – Common Stock” for more information regarding redemptions of common stock. See Risk Factors — “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 $10.10 per share” and other risk factors herein.

 

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

 

To the extent we complete our initial business combination with 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 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 a fairness opinion 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 initial 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 or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

 

Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations 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 $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, consultants 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 $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See the section entitled “Description of Securities – Common Stock” for more information regarding redemptions of common stock. See Risk Factors — “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 $10.10 per share” and other risk factors herein.

 

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

 

Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. 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.

 

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

 

The net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private units will provide us with approximately $126,250,000 (or $145,187,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our initial business combination.

 

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

 

  solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or
     
  dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.

 

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

 

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

 

If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. We do not, however, intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with 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 an initial business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

 

In pursuing our initial business combination 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 an initial 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 may structure an initial 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 initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. 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 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.

 

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

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares unless our net tangible assets are at least $5,000,001. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, all shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.

 

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

 

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires us to provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity.

 

To the extent any such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.

 

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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), including an amendment to permit us to withdraw funds from the trust account such that the per share amount investors will receive upon any redemption or liquidation is substantially reduced or eliminated, may be amended with the approval of holders of at least 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.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-initial business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private units into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein and including to permit us to withdraw funds from the trust account such that the per share amount investors will receive upon any redemption or liquidation is substantially reduced or eliminated) may be amended if approved by holders of at least 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 at least 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. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our initial stockholders, through their ownership of founder shares, will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (excluding the private shares underlying the private warrants and 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-initial business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete an initial 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 initial stockholders, 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 (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement that we have entered into with our initial stockholders, 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 initial stockholders, 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.

 

We have not selected any specific business combination target, but intend to target businesses larger than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private units. As a result, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, the amount of additional financing we may be required to obtain could increase as a result of future growth capital needs for any particular transaction, 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 and/or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or 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 $10.10 per share, on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, as described in the risk factor entitled “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 $10.10 per share,” under certain circumstances our public stockholders may receive less than $10.10 per share upon the liquidation of the trust account.

 

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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, the initial stockholders will own founder shares and private shares representing approximately 23% 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 common stock. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the initial business combination. If there is an annual meeting because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.

 

The initial stockholders paid an aggregate of $25,000 for the founder shares, or approximately $0.007 per founder share. As a result of this low initial price, the initial stockholders, which includes certain members of our management team, stand to make a substantial profit even if an initial business combination subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for our public stockholders.

 

As a result of the low acquisition cost of our founder shares, the initial stockholders, which includes certain members of our management team could make a substantial profit even if we select and consummate an initial business combination with an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for our public stockholders. Thus, such parties may have more of an economic incentive for us to enter into an initial business combination with a riskier, weaker-performing or financially unstable business, or an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, than would be the case if such parties had paid the full offering price for their founder shares.

 

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

 

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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. 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. There can be no assurance that these trends will not continue.

 

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

 

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.

 

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

 

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. 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 initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.

 

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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 initial 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 our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete an initial business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the initial 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.

 

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 $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we must complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time). 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, if 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 pay our 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 the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above 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 $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless. See Risk Factors — “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 $10.10 per share” and other risk factors below.

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed initial business combination and reduce the public “float” of our 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 initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants or a combination thereof in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or warrants in such transactions.

 

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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 or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination, or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. We expect that any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.

 

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock or public warrants 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 initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

 

We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, 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 deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial 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 disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business — Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination — Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”

 

You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares or 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, and then only in connection with those shares of common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision 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 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

 

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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, including but not limited to 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.

 

There are risks related to the consumer products industry and related sectors to which we may be subject.

 

Business combinations with companies with operations in the consumer products industry and related sectors entail special considerations and risks. If we are successful in completing a business combination with a target business with operations in the consumer products industry and related sectors, we will be subject to, and possibly adversely affected by, the following risks, including but not limited to:

 

Significant competition in the consumer products industry and related sectors, which could cause a loss of market share, lower prices or an increase in advertising and promotional expenditures;

 

Ability to predict, identify and interpret changes in consumer preferences and develop and offer new products rapidly enough to meet those changes;

 

Uncertain global economic conditions decreasing demand for products or causing customers and other business partners to suffer financial hardship;

 

Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;

 

Failure to optimize the supply chain or disruption of the supply chain;

 

Cost fluctuations, including due to changes in the prices of commodities and raw materials and the costs of labor, transportation, energy, pension and healthcare;

 

Product recalls or product liability claims should products cause injury, illness or death;

 

Significant changes in customer relationships or in customer demand for products;

 

Ability to maintain and expand reputation and brand image;

 

Reliance on third parties, such as suppliers, distributors and contractors, for certain functions; and

 

Ability to obtain, maintain and enforce necessary intellectual property protections and to avoid infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others.

 

Any of the foregoing could have an adverse impact on our operations following a business combination. However, our efforts in identifying prospective target businesses will not be limited to the consumer products industry and related sectors. Accordingly, if we acquire a target business in another industry, these risks will likely not affect us and we will be subject to other risks attendant with the specific industry in which we operate or target business which we acquire, none of which can be presently ascertained.

 

If our management team following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.

 

Following our initial business combination, our founding team may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the business combination partner may assume the roles of executive officers and directors of our company. Such officers and directors may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If our new management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.

 

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After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and social conditions and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.

 

As we may acquire a business located outside of the United States as part of our initial business combination, the economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations would be located following our initial business combination could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.

 

Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause our target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.

 

In the event we acquire a non-U.S. business as part of our initial business combination, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.

 

We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.

 

In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the U.S. to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.

 

An investment in this offering involves uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences.

 

An investment in this offering involves uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, the Internal Revenue Service could challenge the allocation an investor makes with respect to allocating the purchase price of a unit between the share of common stock and one-half of one warrant to purchase one share of common stock included in each unit. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of warrants included in the units is unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our shares of common stock suspend the running of a U.S. Holder’s (as defined in “U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations”) holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of common stock is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered a “qualified dividend” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, each prospective investor is urged to consult a tax advisor with respect to the specific tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our securities, including the applicability and effect of state, local, or foreign tax laws, as well as U.S. federal tax laws. See the section entitled “United States Federal Income Tax Considerations” for a summary of the material United States Federal income tax consequences of an investment in our securities.

 

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There may be tax consequences to our business combinations that may adversely affect us.

 

While we expect to undertake any merger or acquisition so as to minimize taxes both to the acquired business and/or asset and us, such business combination might not meet the statutory requirements of a tax-free reorganization, or the parties might not obtain the intended tax-free treatment upon a transfer of shares or assets. A reorganization that does not qualify as tax-free could result in the imposition of substantial taxes on holders of our securities.

 

Risks Relating to our Sponsor and 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 initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, 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 employ 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 initial business combination candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of an initial business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an initial business combination 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 initial business combination candidate’s management team will remain associated with the initial business combination candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an initial business combination 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.

 

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

 

Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our executive officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.

 

Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.

 

Our key personnel may be able to remain with the company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the initial business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the initial 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 initial 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 initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial 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 the consummation of our initial business combination.

 

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We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company, which could, in turn, negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.

 

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

 

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

 

Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for an initial business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors may 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.”

 

Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in 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 (such as operating companies or investment vehicles) that are engaged in a similar business and our officers and directors may become officers or directors of another special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities intended to be registered under the Exchange Act, even prior to us entering into a definitive agreement for our initial business combination. 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.

 

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. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. The determination of whether an opportunity has been expressly offered to a director of officer solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company will made based on express statements by the person offering the opportunity, and if a director or officer is unsure of whether an opportunity was offered in such capacity, he or she shall seek guidance on such determination from the audit committee of our board of directors

 

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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, stockholders 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, stockholders 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 an initial business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, significant stockholders, 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. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

 

We may engage in an initial 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 and officers 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 initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning an initial 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 an initial 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 or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, regarding the fairness to our stockholders from a financial point of view of an initial business combination with one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the initial business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

 

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

 

Our initial stockholders own 3,593,750 founder shares, in the aggregate, which was purchased for $25,000, or approximately $0.007 per share (of which 468,750 shares are subject to forfeiture in the event the over-allotment option is not exercised). The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. The private placement participants have agreed to purchase an aggregate of 563,000 private units (or 619,250 private units to the extent the over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $5,630,000 (or $6,192,500 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), Each whole warrant underlying the private units is exercisable to purchase one whole share of common stock at $11.50 per share. These securities will also be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. The private placement participants have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed initial business combination and (B) not to redeem any founder shares or private shares held by them 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 our officers or directors. The personal and financial interests of our sponsor, 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.

 

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Risks Relating to Our Securities

 

The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.10 per share.

 

The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations 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. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $100,000 of interest). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.10 per share.

 

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 have applied to have our units listed on Nasdaq. We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Following the date the shares of our common stock and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the shares of our common stock and warrants will be separately listed on Nasdaq. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. 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 market value of listed securities of $75,000,000 and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 400 public 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 securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, maintain a minimum amount in market value of listed securities of $75,000,000 and a minimum of 400 round lot holders (with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding securities with a market value of at least $2,500) of our securities. We cannot assure you that 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 common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our 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.

 

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The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our common stock and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq, our units, 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, including in connection with our 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 common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our 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 without our prior consent, 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 initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

 

We are not registering the shares of 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. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless.

 

We are not registering the shares of 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 that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 30 days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration under the Securities Act of the issuance of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 90 days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the 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, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the issuance of the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. We will 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 net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and 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 will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of common stock included in the units. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were offered by us in this offering. However, there may be instances in which holders of our public warrants may be unable to exercise such public warrants but holders of our private units may be able to exercise such private units.

 

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If you exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis,” you will receive fewer shares of common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.

 

There are circumstances in which the exercise of the public warrants may be required or permitted to be made on a cashless basis. First, if a registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 90th day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Second, if a registration statement covering the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, provided that such exemption is available; if that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. Third, if we call the public warrants for redemption, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis. In the event of an exercise on a cashless basis, a holder would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (as defined in the next sentence) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” for this purpose shall mean the average last reported sale price of the common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent or on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, as applicable. As a result, you would receive fewer shares of common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.

 

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. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 100,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering and the sale of the private units, there will be 83,812,000 (assuming, in each case, that the underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option) authorized but unissued shares of common stock, which amount does not take into account the shares of common stock reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants. Immediately after the consummation of this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.

 

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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 (although our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may not issue securities that can vote with common stockholders on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity). 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. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with the approval of our stockholders. However, our 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 (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.

 

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 our 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;
     
  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 units, common stock and/or warrants.

 

Our initial stockholders paid a nominal price for the founder shares and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our shares of common stock.

 

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the common stock and none to the warrants included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our initial stockholders acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 97.3% (or $9.73 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $0.27 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit.

 

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We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least a majority 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 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 between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants (which may include public warrants acquired by our sponsor or their affiliates, or our officers and directors in this offering or thereafter in the open market). Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least a majority 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 a majority of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our 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.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope 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.

 

This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.

 

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

 

We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period commencing once the warrants become exercisable and 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. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were offered by us in this offering. 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. None of the private units will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the private placement participants or their permitted transferees.

 

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The issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of public warrants and private warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.

 

We will be issuing warrants to purchase 6,250,000 shares of our common stock (or up to 7,187,500 shares of 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 private warrants underlying private units in a private placement, consisting of private warrants to purchase 281,500 (or up to 309,625 shares if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). Our initial stockholders currently own an aggregate of 3,593,750 founder shares (up to 468,750 shares, in the aggregate are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full). In addition, if our sponsor makes any working capital loans or loans in connection with extending the time available to us to consummate an initial business combination, up to $3,000,000 of such loans may be converted into private units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The private warrants underlying the private units would be identical to the public warrants. However, because the private units will be issued in a private transaction, the private placement participants and their permitted transferees will be allowed to exercise the private warrants for cash even if a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such private warrants is not effective and receive unregistered shares of common stock. Also, the private warrants underlying the private units to be acquired by affiliates of Roth, for so long as they are held by affiliates of Roth, will not be exercisable more than five years after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8)(A).

 

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

 

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

 

Each unit contains one-half of one redeemable warrant. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. 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 an initial business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive 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.

 

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

 

Unlike most blank check companies, if

 

  (i) we issue additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share;
     
  (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and
     
  (iii)  the Market Value is below $9.20 per share,

 

then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the greater of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the greater of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.

 

The determination of the offering price of our units, the size of this offering and the terms of the units 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 the representatives of the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the 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 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, size and terms of the units 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 and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases). Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.

 

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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 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 a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

 

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.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty and certain other actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will, subject to certain exceptions, be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel, which may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty and certain other actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in 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 or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This choice of forum provision may limit or make more costly a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. 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. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of 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.

 

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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 an initial business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

 

Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”

 

On March 22, 2021, we had cash of $49,970 and working capital deficit of $30. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.

 

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

 

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

 

Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination and results of operations.

 

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

 

Past performance by our management team 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 our management team’s performance as indicative of our future performance of an investment in the company or the returns the company will, or is likely to, generate going forward. None of our directors has experience with blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies. Additionally, in the course of their respective careers, members of our management team have been involved in businesses and deals that were unsuccessful.

 

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 ability to consummate a business combination and lead to financial loss.

 

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

 

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

 

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in 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 common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the 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.

 

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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,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:

 

  our being a newly formed company with no operating history and no revenues;
  our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses in our target industry or otherwise;
  our ability to complete our initial business combination in our target industry or otherwise;
  our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses in the consumer products industry ;
  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 in the consumer products industry;
  our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the ongoing coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases);
  the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities;
  our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;
  the lack of a market for our securities;
  the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;
  the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or
  our financial performance following this offering.

 

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

 

We are offering 12,500,000 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 units 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)  $125,000,000   $143,750,000 
Gross proceeds from private units offered in the private placement to the private placement participants   5,630,000    6,192,500 
Total gross proceeds  $130,630,000   $149,942,500 
Estimated Offering expenses(2)          
Underwriting commissions (2.0% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, other than units sold pursuant to the underwriters’ overallotment option)(3)  $2,500,000   $2,875,000 
Legal fees and expenses   225,000    225,000 
Accounting fees and expenses   45,000    45,000 
SEC Expenses   20,988    20,988 
FINRA Registration Fee   34,461    34,461 
Reimbursement to underwriters for expenses   200,000    200,000 
Reimbursement for underwriters legal fee expenses   

235,000

    

235,000

 
Nasdaq listing and filing fees   75,000    75,000 
Printer and engraving expenses   30,000    30,000 
Miscellaneous   

34,551

    34,551 
Total offering expenses (excluding underwriting commissions)  $900,000   $900,000 
Proceeds after estimated offering expenses  $127,230,000   $146,167,500 
Held in trust account(3)  $126,250,000   $145,187,500 
% of public offering size   101%   101%
Not held in trust account  $980,000   $980,000 

 

The following table shows the use of the approximately $980,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account.(4)

 

   Amount   % of Total 
Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel, and other expenses in connection with any business combination(5)  $200,000    20.4%
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations   100,000    10.2%
Due diligence, identification and research of prospective target businesses and reimbursement of out of pocket due diligence expenses to management   100,000    10.2%
Director and Officer liability insurance premiums   415,000    42.3%
Miscellaneous   165,000    16.9%
Total  $980,000    100.00%

 

(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 affiliates of our sponsor of up to $300,000 as described in this prospectus. As of June 30, 2021, we had borrowed $74,500 under the promissory note with our sponsor to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These amounts will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $900,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions). In the event that offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, they will be repaid using a portion of the $980,000 of offering proceeds not held in the trust account and set aside for post-closing working capital expenses. 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.

 

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(3) We have engaged the underwriters as advisors in connection with our business combination to assist us in identifying a target for our initial business combination. We will pay the underwriters a cash fee for such services upon the consummation of our initial business combination in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering, including any proceeds from the full or partial exercise of the over-allotment option; provided that up to 30% of the fee may be allocated in our sole discretion to other third parties who are investment banks or financial advisory firms not participating in this offering that assist us in identifying and consummating an initial business combination.
   
(4) These expenses are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring our initial business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify an initial business combination target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses.
   
(5) Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our initial business combination to fund a “no shop” provision and commitment fees for financing.

 

The rules of Nasdaq provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private units be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private units, $126,250,000, or $10.10 per unit (or $145,187,500, or $10.10 per unit, if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be deposited in a segregated trust account in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company 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 pre-tax interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $75,750 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.06% per year; however, we can provide no assurance regarding this amount. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our tax obligations and up to $100,000 of interest that may be used for our dissolution expenses, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private units 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 submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision 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 initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), subject to applicable law.

 

The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination. We may use substantially all of the net proceeds of this offering, including the funds held in the trust account, to acquire a target business and to pay our expenses relating thereto, including a fee in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering payable to Wells Fargo and Roth, our underwriters, upon consummation of our initial business combination for assisting us in connection with our initial business combination, as described under the section entitled “Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest) — Business Combination Marketing Agreement.” If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our common stock, 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. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination.

 

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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 business combination, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of an initial business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial 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 closing of this offering, affiliates of our sponsor have agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due promptly after the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $900,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions). In the event that offering expenses are more than expected, they will be repaid using a portion of the $980,000 of offering proceeds not held in the trust account and set aside for post-closing working capital expenses.

 

We may pay Wells Fargo, Roth or an affiliate of our sponsor, cash compensation for acting as placement agent for a private placement or for services in connection with our initial business combination that are in addition to the services required to be performed pursuant to the business combination marketing agreement that are payable to Wells Fargo and Roth, contingent on the closing of our initial business combination, in amounts consistent with market standards for comparable services.

 

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 on a non-interest bearing basis 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 $3,000,000 of such loans, together with certain other loans that may be made in connection with extending the time available to us to consummate our initial business combination, may be convertible into private units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The private units are identical to the public units sold in this offering. However, because the private units will be issued in a private transaction, the private placement participants and their permitted transferees will be allowed to exercise the private warrants for cash even if a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such private warrants is not effective and receive unregistered shares of common stock. Furthermore, the private placement participants have agreed (A) to vote the private shares in favor of any proposed business combination, (B) not to propose, or vote in favor of, an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would stop our public stockholders from converting or selling their shares to us in connection with a business combination or affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete a business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) unless we provide dissenting public stockholders with the opportunity to convert their public shares in connection with any such vote, (C) not to redeem any private shares for cash from the trust account in connection with a stockholder vote to approve our proposed initial business combination or a vote to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity and (D) that the private shares shall not participate in any liquidating distribution upon winding up if a business combination is not consummated. Also, the private warrants underlying the private units to be acquired by affiliates of Roth, for so long as they are held by affiliates of Roth, will not be exercisable more than five years after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8)(A).

 

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The private placement participants have also agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private units or underlying securities (except to the same permitted transferees as the insider shares and provided the transferees agree to the same terms and restrictions as the permitted transferees of the insider shares must agree to, each as described above) until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The private units and components thereof, will be entitled to registration rights. Other than as described above, 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 initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. 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 nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller 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. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or public warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination. See “Proposed Business — Permitted Purchases of Our Securities” for a description of how our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, officers or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.

 

The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of common stock or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

 

Our 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. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares or the initial 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 submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision 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 initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 18 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), 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 initial 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 initial stockholders, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares 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 their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if our initial stockholders 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. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20.0% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock (excluding the private units and underlying securities and assuming the initial stockholders do not purchase units in this offering) upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

 

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DILUTION

 

The difference between the public offering price per share of common stock, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private units, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our 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 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 common stock which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding shares of our common stock.

 

At June 30, 2021, our net tangible book deficit was $69,571, or approximately $(0.02) per share. For purposes of the dilution calculation, in order to present the maximum estimated dilution as a result of this offering, we have assumed (i) the number of shares included in the units offered hereby will be deemed to be 12,500,000 (consisting of 12,500,000 shares of common stock) and (ii) the price per share in this offering will be deemed to be $10.00. After giving effect to the sale of 12,500,000 shares of common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 14,375,000 shares of common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the private units and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at June 30, 2021 would have been $1,004,324, or approximately $0.27 per share (or $0.24 per share if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of the approximately 12,500,000 shares of common stock that may be redeemed for cash, or 14,375,000 shares of common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $0.29 per share (or $0.26 per share if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) to our initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution of $9.73 per share or 97.3% to our public stockholders (or $9.76 per share or 97.6% if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) not exercising their redemption rights.

 

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

 

   No exercise of over-allotment option   Exercise of over-allotment option in full 
Public offering price       $10.00        $10.00 
Net tangible book value before this offering  $(0.02)      $(0.02)    
Increase attributable to public stockholders and sale of the private units   0.29        0.26     
Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering       0.27         0.24 
Dilution to public stockholders      $9.73        $9.76 
Percentage of dilution to public stockholders       97.3%        97.6%

 

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

 

   Shares Purchased   Total Consideration   Average Price 
   Number   Percentage   Amount   Percentage   Per Share 
Initial Stockholders(1)   3,125,000    19.3%  $25,000    0.02%  $0.008 
Shares included in private placement units   563,000    3.5%  $5,630,000    4.31%  $10.00 
Public Stockholders   12,500,000    77.2%  $125,000,000    95.67%  $ 10.00 
    16,188,000    100.0%  $130,655,000    100.00%     

 

(1) Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of an aggregate of 468,750 founder shares held by our initial stockholders.

 

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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  $(69,571)  $(69,571)
Net proceeds from this offering and sale of the private units, net of expenses(1)   127,230,000    146,167,500 
Plus: Offering costs paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value   93,895    93,895 
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption(2)   (126,250,000)   (145,187,500)
   $1,004,324   $1,004,324 

 

   Without
Over-allotment
   With
Over-allotment
 
Denominator:          
Founder shares outstanding prior to this offering   3,593,750    3,593,750 
Founder shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised   (468,750)   - 
Shares of common stock included in the units offered   12,500,000    14,375,000 
Shares of common stock included in the private units issued   563,000    619,250 
Less: Shares subject to redemption   (12,500,000)   (14,375,000)
    3,688,000    4,213,000 

 

(1) Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses to be capitalized of $900,000 (not including $415,000 for director and officer liability insurance premiums to be paid upon closing of this offering, which amount is not an offering expense to be capitalized) and underwriting commissions of $2,500,000 (or $2,875,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). See “Use of Proceeds.”
   
(2) 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 public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. In the event of any such purchases of our shares prior to the completion of our initial business combination, the number of shares of common stock subject to redemption will be reduced by the amount of any such purchases, increasing the pro forma net tangible book value per share. See “Proposed Business — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — Permitted Purchases of Our Securities.”

 

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CAPITALIZATION

 

The following table sets forth our capitalization at June 30, 2021, and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated certificates of incorporation, the sale of our units in this offering and the sale of the private units and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities, assuming no exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option:

 

   June 30, 2021 
   Actual   As Adjusted 
Notes payable to related party(1)  $74,500   $- 
Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized; 0 and 12,500,000 shares which are subject to possible redemption, respectively(2)   -    126,250,000 
Stockholders’ Equity  
          
Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized; 3,813,000 and 3,125,000 shares issued and outstanding(3)   359    368 
Additional paid-in capital(4)   156,446    - 
Accumulated deficit   (132,481)   1,003,956 
Total stockholders’ equity  $24,324   $1,004,324 
Total capitalization  $98,824   $127,254,324 

 

(1) Affiliates of our sponsor have agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the repayment of any loans made under this note out of the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private units. As of June 30, 2021, we had borrowed $74,500 under the promissory note.
   
(2) 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 pay our taxes, subject to the limitations described herein whereby our net tangible assets will be maintained at a minimum of $5,000,001 after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed initial business combination.
   
(3) Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares by our initial stockholders and as adjusted amount assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
   
(4) The Company will account for the fair value in excess of consideration paid of $7,069,249 with respect to the 2,753,800 founder shares sold to the non-initial stockholders as an offering cost that will be reflected as an increase to additional paid in capital offset by a reduction of the offering proceeds upon completion of this offering.

 

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

 

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. While our efforts to identify a target business may span many industries and regions worldwide, we intend to focus our search for prospects within the consumer products industry. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private units, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (including pursuant to backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing.

 

The issuance of additional shares in connection with an initial business combination to the owners of the target or other investors:

 

  may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering;
     
  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 common stock and warrants.

 

Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant debt to bank or other lenders or the owners of a target, it could result in:

 

  default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;
     
  acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
     
  our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand;
     
  our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding;
     
  our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;
     
  using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, 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;

 

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  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 June 30, 2021, we had $4,929 cash and deferred offering costs of $93,895. Further, we expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination 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 expenses as we conduct due diligence on prospective business combination candidates. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at June 30, 2021, we had $4,929 in cash and a working capital deficit of $69,571. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

 

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through a capital contribution from our initial stockholders of $25,000 for the founder shares and up to $300,000 in loans available from affiliates of our sponsor under an unsecured promissory note. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $900,000, underwriting commissions of $2,500,000 (or $2,875,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), and (ii) the sale of the private units for a purchase price of $5,630,000 (or $6,192,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $127,230,000 (or $146,167,500 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $126,250,000, or $10.10 per unit (or $145,187,500, or $10.10 per unit, if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be held in the trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations 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. The remaining $980,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $900,000, 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 $900,000, 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, to complete our initial business combination and pay our expenses, including a fee in an amount equal to, in the aggregate, 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering payable to Wells Fargo and Roth, our underwriters, upon consummation of our initial business combination for assisting us in connection with our initial business combination, as described under the section entitled “Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest) — Business Combination Marketing Agreement.” 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, which we may pay from funds from this offering held outside of the trust account. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. 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 approximately $980,000 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 an initial business combination.

 

In order to fund working capital deficiencies, or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto, or in connection with additional deposits into the trust account in order to extend the time available to us to consummate our 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 on a non-interest bearing basis 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 $3,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into private units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The private units are identical to the public units, except as described in this prospectus. Other than as described above, 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.

 

We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $200,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $100,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $100,000 for due diligence and identification of a prospective target business; $415,000 for director and officer liability insurance premiums; and approximately $165,000 for working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves.

 

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 or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed initial 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 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 initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. In addition, we intend to target businesses larger than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private units, and may as a result be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of 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. 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.

 

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Controls and Procedures

 

We are not currently required to evaluate and report on our system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. 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 has our independent registered public accounting firm tested our systems, of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, 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 initial business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:

 

  staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties;
     
  reconciliation of accounts;
     
  proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate;
     
  evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;
     
  documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and
     
  documentation of accounting policies and procedures.

 

Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control