DRS 1 filename1.htm Draft Registration Statement
Table of Contents

As confidentially submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 21, 2021.

This draft registration statement has not been publicly filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and all information herein remains strictly confidential.

Registration No. 333-          

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

BIOPLUS ACQUISITION CORP.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Cayman Islands   6770   98-1583272

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

260 Madison Avenue

Suite 800

New York, New York 10016

Telephone: (212) 287-4092

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

 

 

Alan C. Mendelson

Chairman of the Board of Directors

Ross Haghighat

J. Leighton Read, M.D.

Co-Chief Executive Officers

260 Madison Avenue

Suite 800

New York, New York 10016

Telephone: (212) 287-4092

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

 

 

Copies to:

 

Joshua M. Dubofsky, Esq.

Brian D. Paulson, Esq.

Latham & Watkins LLP

140 Scott Drive

Menlo Park, California 94025

(650) 328-4600

 

Stuart Neuhauser, Esq.

Lijia Sanchez, Esq.

Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

1345 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10105

(212) 370-1300

 

 

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 Class A ordinary share, $0.0001 par value, and one-third of one redeemable warrant(2)

  25,300,000   $10.000   $253,000,000   $27,603

Class A ordinary shares included as part of the units(3)

  25,300,000   —     —     —  (4)

Redeemable warrants included as part of the units(3)

  8,433,333   —     —     —  (4)

Total

          $253,000,000   $27,603

 

 

(1)

Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee.

(2)

Includes 3,300,000 units, consisting of 3,300,000 Class A ordinary shares and 1,100,000 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, there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from share sub-divisions, share dividends or similar transactions.

(4)

No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g).

 

 

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.

 

 

 


Table of Contents

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

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS    SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED     , 2021

$220,000,000

BioPlus Acquisition Corp.

22,000,000 Units

 

 

BioPlus Acquisition Corp. is a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any business or industry, we intend to focus our search on companies in the life sciences industry.

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Only whole warrants are exercisable. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. The underwriters have a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to an additional 3,300,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or during any shareholder approved extension period, we will redeem 100% of the public shares for cash, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as further described herein.

Our sponsor, BioPlus Sponsor LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company, and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., the representative of the underwriters, which we refer to as Cantor, have agreed to purchase an aggregate of 640,000 placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit (420,000 placement units by our sponsor and 220,000 placement units by Cantor), for an aggregate purchase price of $6,400,000. Each placement unit will be identical to the units sold in this offering, except as described in this prospectus. The placement units will be sold in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.

Our initial shareholders, which include our sponsor, own an aggregate of 6,325,000 Class B ordinary shares (up to 825,000 shares of which are subject to cancellation depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised), which will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein and in our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof, as described herein. Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will be entitled to vote on the appointment or removal of directors and to vote to continue the company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our Class B ordinary shares and holders of our Class A ordinary shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.

Currently, there is no public market for our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants. We will apply to have our units listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market, or NASDAQ, under the symbol “BIOS.U.” We expect that our units will be listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market 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 Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Cantor informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject in either case to our satisfaction of certain conditions. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on NASDAQ under the symbols “BIOS” and “BIOS.W,” respectively.

 

 

We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk  Factors” beginning on page 39 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      $ 220,000,000  

Underwriting discounts and commissions(1)

   $ 0.55      $ 12,100,000  

Proceeds, before expenses, to BioPlus Acquisition Corp.

   $ 9.45      $ 207,900,000  

 

(1)

Includes $0.35 per unit, or $7,700,000 in the aggregate, payable to the representatives of the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised, 5.5% of the gross proceeds from the over-allotment ($0.55 per unit or up to $1,815,000 in the aggregate) will be deposited in the trust account as deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred commissions will be released to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. for its own account only on completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus. Does not include certain fees and expenses payable to the underwriters in connection with this offering. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Underwriting” beginning on page 183 for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters.

Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the placement units described in this prospectus, $220 million or $253 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit in either case) will be deposited into a trust account in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.

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

Book-Running Manager

Cantor

                , 2021


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

     Page  

Summary

     1  

Risk Factors

     39  

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

     78  

Use of Proceeds

     79  

Dividend Policy

     84  

Dilution

     85  

Capitalization

     88  

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

     89  

Proposed Business

     95  

Management

     129  

Principal Shareholders

     144  

Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions

     147  

Description of Securities

     150  

Income Tax Considerations

     172  

Underwriting

     183  

Legal Matters

     193  

Experts

     194  

Where You Can Find Additional Information

     195  

Index to Financial Statements

     F-1  

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

 

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SUMMARY

This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing.

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

 

   

“Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association” are to the memorandum and articles of association of the Company to be in effect upon completion of this offering;

 

   

“Cantor” are to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., the representative of the underwriters in this offering;

 

   

“Companies Act” are to the Companies Act (as amended) of the Cayman Islands;

 

   

“founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering, and Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the conversion thereof as provided herein;

 

   

“initial shareholders” are to our sponsor and any other holders of our founder shares prior to this offering (or their permitted transferees);

 

   

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

 

   

“ordinary resolution” are to a resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the votes cast by the holders of the issued shares present in person or by proxy at a general meeting of the Company and entitled to vote on such matter;

 

   

“ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares, collectively;

 

   

“placement units” are to the units being purchased separately by our sponsor and Cantor in the private placement, each placement unit consisting of one placement share and one-third of one placement warrant;

 

   

“placement shares” are to the ordinary shares included within the placement units being purchased separately by our sponsor and Cantor in the private placement;

 

   

“placement warrants” are to the warrants included within the placement units being purchased separately by our sponsor and Cantor in the private placement;

 

   

“private placement” are to the private placement of 640,000 placement units being purchased by our sponsor (420,000 units) and Cantor (220,000 units) at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $6,400,000, which will occur simultaneously with the completion of this offering;

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

“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 sponsor or its affiliates in this offering or thereafter in the open market) and to any


 

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placement warrants sold as part of the placement units or warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans in each case that are sold to third parties that are not initial purchasers or executive officers or directors (or permitted transferees) following the consummation of our initial business combination;

 

   

“special resolution” are to a resolution of which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution at a general meeting as a special resolution has been duly given and such resolution is adopted by the affirmative vote of at least a two-thirds (2/3) majority (or such higher threshold as specified in the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association) of the votes cast by the holders of the issued shares present in person or represented by proxy at a general meeting of the Company and entitled to vote on such matter;

 

   

“sponsor” are to BioPlus Sponsor LLC, a Cayman Islands limited liability company;

 

   

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

 

   

“we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to BioPlus Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company.

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

Our Company

We are a newly incorporated blank check company, incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Throughout this prospectus we will refer to this as our initial business combination. 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 life sciences industry. We believe our management team and board of directors’ operational expertise and global network will allow us to provide significant value post merger with a target business. Our ability to locate a potential target is subject to the uncertainties discussed elsewhere in this prospectus.

Industry Opportunity

The intersection of technological innovation and the ability to harness that innovation within the healthcare industry is providing an opportunity for significant value creation in the public markets for companies seizing the moment. Our management team believes the healthcare industry, particularly the life sciences sector, represents an enormous and growing target market with a large number of potential companies that will benefit from our expertise and networks to accelerate the company’s trajectory through the public markets. We believe that, with the structural factors highlighted below and combined with the proper mentorship and guidance from our management team’s collective experience, particularly within the life sciences sector, we will be able to identify and merge with an attractive biotechnology or life sciences company that will deliver long-term compounded returns for our investors.

Rising healthcare and pharmaceutical spending

Healthcare spending represents a massive market, driven by favorable demographics and accelerating innovation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) estimate that U.S. national healthcare


 

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expenditures currently exceed $3.6 trillion or 18% of the U.S. GDP, and are expected to outpace the broader U.S. economy to grow at an average rate of 5 — 6% per year until 2028, when the national healthcare expenditures are predicted to reach $6.2 trillion, or 20% of the U.S. GDP. Global market dynamics are similar, with Deloitte projecting global healthcare spending to increase at an annual rate of 5.4% from 2018 to 2022, an acceleration from 2.9% in 2013 to 2017. We expect that this growth will continue to be supported by multi-decade global, secular trends, including population growth, improved life expectancy, increased prevalence of chronic diseases, and access to drugs in emerging markets brought about by growth of the middle classes.

Global market dynamics for pharmaceutical spending mirror these trends. EvaluatePharma and IQVIA estimate that global prescription drug sales are expected to grow at a CAGR of over 7% from approximately $870 billion in 2019 to $1.4 trillion in 2026. We believe these budgetary pressures will support the demand for innovative biotechnology and life sciences companies that create more efficient and effective medical treatments.

Rapid growth in private biotechnology company formation

Over recent years, there has been an explosion in private biotechnology company formation and growth as the pharmaceutical industry has increasingly shifted its research and development (“R&D”) strategy towards external innovation through in-licensing transactions and strategic acquisitions. According to IQVIA estimates, in the period from 2014 to 2019, the 15 largest pharmaceutical companies increased annual R&D spending by approximately 5% per year from $87 billion to $110 billion. In data from Pitchbook, this was dramatically outpaced by global life sciences venture capital deal volume which accelerated meaningfully to grow at over 28% per year from 2014 to 2020, reaching $53.4 billion in 2020, and helping to fund the proliferation of new entities.

 

 

LOGO

We believe the role of early-stage biotechnology companies will only continue to grow due to the rapid pace of biomedical innovation, the favorable regulatory environment for promising drugs, the emergence of efficient patient selection strategies for clinical trials, the strong underlying demand for novel therapies, and abundance of attractive exit opportunities. According to a 2019 report published by Silicon Valley Bank, nearly 60% of FDA-approved drugs which originated in the U.S. came from venture capital-backed startups. According to Pitchbook estimates, out of the nearly 26,600 biotechnology and pharmaceuticals companies globally, only approximately 3,000 are currently publicly traded, indicating a high volume of private biotechnology companies that could potentially be a strong fit for a business combination with us.



 

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Increasing role of public markets in a biotechnology company’s life cycle

Early-stage companies need capital and market reach to maximize their commercial potential. We believe that biotechnology and life sciences companies, at a certain stage in their development, see material benefits from being publicly-traded, including greater access to capital, a liquid currency and increased market awareness.

In recent years, the process of going public has played an increasingly important role in the life cycle of early-stage biotechnology companies. According to data from Factset, from 2014 to 2019, a total of more than 311 biotechnology companies completed an initial public offering (“IPO”) in the United States, more than any other industry sector. Despite the equity market volatility resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, based on Factset estimates, 2020 was a record year for biotechnology companies completing IPOs in the United States, with more than $14 billion of capital raised in 84 IPOs. At the same time, the NASDAQ Biotech Index (“NBI”) outperformed the general market in 2020, with a 27% return for the NBI versus a 15% return for the S&P 500. Despite the strong investor appetite in the equity markets for biotechnology stocks, the increase in dollar volume of venture capital and private equity capital allocated to the sector from 2010 to 2020 far exceeded the increase in IPO dollar volume, indicating significant untapped potential for SPACs to fill the void as a valid exit mechanism to the public markets.

 

 

LOGO

SPACs Offer a Unique Opportunity for Private Companies and Investors Alike

We believe an acquisition by a special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”) with a respected management team and board of directors that is well-known to biotechnology and life sciences investors and prospective management teams can be an attractive mechanism for accessing the public markets. Furthermore, we believe that the benefits of accessing the public market through a SPAC could be more attractive for some private companies than a traditional IPO through 1) more primary capital to fund operations, 2) more certainty about deal completion that could be anchored through a private investment in public equity (“PIPE”) concurrent with a business combination, 3) a defined investor base, 4) operational expertise and networks of the SPAC sponsor team to support the company through the approval and commercialization phase and/or a potential sale to a strategic acquirer.

SPACs focused on life science companies currently represent only a small portion of the SPAC market (less than 10%) relative to other sectors. According to data from SPACResearch, of the approximately $83.4 billion



 

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raised by SPACs in 2020, only 8.4%, or $7.0 billion, was focused on the healthcare sector. SPACs focused on life science companies are underrepresented in relation to the number of privately held healthcare companies that eventually require access to the public capital markets. We believe there is a significant number of high-quality private life sciences companies seeking alternative routes to the public markets and life sciences investors willing to participate in SPACs and their business combinations.

Acceleration in Medical Innovation and Regulatory Speed to Market

There has been a significant acceleration of medical research in recent years, leading to a better understanding of the molecular origins of disease and the identification of new potential targets for therapeutic intervention. The biotechnology sector of the life sciences industry has also recently experienced an acceleration in discovery and validation of novel emerging treatment modalities such as genetic medicines and cell therapy, among others. Significant breakthroughs in medicine and science have generated attractive investment opportunities.

The significant pace of innovation is also reflected in the FDA’s recent drug approval rates, which have increased from 34 drugs per year from 2010 to 2015 to 46 per year from 2015 to 2020. In the last three years alone, the FDA has approved more drugs than the combined total of approvals in the five years preceding that. This success is due in part to the increased use of special approval and development programs such as fast track designation, breakthrough therapy designation and accelerated approval, and it also reflects the FDA’s increasing willingness to use surrogate endpoints and single trials to accelerate approval timelines. Furthermore, small and medium sized firms account for a majority of new approvals and many of those successful are acquired by the larger companies. A continuance of this trend would support drug development efforts and investments.

 

 

LOGO

In addition to the multi-decade structural tailwinds building up to a “golden age of innovation” for the biotechnology sector, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown an unprecedented compression of the innovation cycle from drug development to regulatory approval to market, as is evident in the speed to market of multiple novel therapeutic methods and drugs aimed at controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that this experience could help further accelerate the innovation and life cycle of promising, innovative life science companies.

Our Management Team

Our management team is comprised of industry experts, who are well positioned to identify and evaluate businesses within the biotechnology and life sciences sectors that would benefit from their experience of leading



 

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public companies. We believe our management team offers extensive experience in growing and operating companies, as well as a deep network of contacts in the biotechnology and life sciences sectors both within the United States and globally outside of the United States. Our management team is spearheaded by our Chairman, Alan C. Mendelson, Co-Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer Ross Haghighat and Co-Chief Executive Officer J. Leighton Read, M.D. Our management team will further be supported by our independent board members, Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D, Stephen Sherwin, M.D., Jonathan Rigby and Glen Giovannetti, and strategic advisor, Sapna Srivastava, Ph.D. who collectively bring extensive operational experience and deep global networks within the venture capital, growth equity and strategic ecosystem.

Alan C. Mendelson

Alan C. Mendelson, our Chairman, is a Retired Partner of Latham & Watkins LLP (“Latham”), where he spearheaded the growth of the partnership’s life sciences practice. Mr. Mendelson is widely recognized as a leading figure in the biotechnology ecosystem, having practiced law in the biotechnology industry since 1980. Mr. Mendelson started his career with Cooley LLP, where he was an associate and partner from 1973 through May 2000, when he joined Latham. At Latham, Mr. Mendelson served as the Global Co-Chair of the Life Sciences Industry Group. As of January 2021, The Legal 500, an industry publishing firm, ranked Mr. Mendelson among just four individuals receiving a star in its Hall of Fame for legal professionals serving the life sciences sector. In addition, Mr. Mendelson was recognized as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States by the National Law Journal in 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2006. Mr. Mendelson retired from Latham in December 2020.

Mr. Mendelson served as the incorporator of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) in April 1980 and played a leading role in all of the major transactions in which Amgen engaged during the first 10 years of its existence, including its sole round of venture capital financing, its IPO, a joint venture with Kirin Brewery, major research and development partnerships, a European convertible debt transaction and a co-promotion agreement for Europe with Roche. From April 1990 to April 1991, Mr. Mendelson served as secretary and acting general counsel of Amgen.

Mr. Mendelson brings extensive public company board and leadership experience in the life sciences sector. Mr. Mendelson currently serves as the corporate secretary and part-time general counsel of Blade Therapeutics, Inc., and corporate secretary of TriSalus Life Sciences, Inc., and on the Board of Directors at Coherus Biosciences (NASDAQ: CHRS) and several private companies, including BBI Medical Solutions LLC, Neuvogen, Inc., and Xomics Biopharma, Inc. He previously served on the Board of Directors at several public biotechnology companies, including Aviron Inc. (NASDAQ: AVIR), CV Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVTX), QLT, Inc. (NASDAQ: QLTI), and Valentis, Inc (NASDAQ: VLTS). Mr. Mendelson has also served as corporate secretary of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG), Corvus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CRVS), Eargo, Inc. (NASDAQ: EAR) and 4D Molecular Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FDMT). He also serves on the boards of trustees of the UC Berkeley Foundation and The Buck Institute for Research on Aging and on the board of directors of the National Kidney Foundation.

Mr. Mendelson received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Ross Haghighat

Ross Haghighat, one of our co-Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer, is a United States based business executive, serial entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. Mr. Haghighat is the founding partner at Jasper Capital Partners, an investment firm investing in transformational technology-inspired growth companies focused on Australia and Asia, and Chairman of Triton Systems, Inc, a private early to mid-stage product development and venture firm creating product-driven enterprises focusing on next-generation innovative technologies including microsensors, medical devices and immunotherapy. Mr. Haghighat has been a founder,



 

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co-founder, and board member of more than a dozen private and public technology companies in the US, Europe, China and Australia. During Mr. Haghighat’s expansive career as an operator, he raised over $1 billion in funding and generated in excess of $4 billion in shareholder value through his roles transforming companies from early-stage technology firms to successful corporations, as well as integrated divisions of Fortune 500 companies. From 1994 to 2001, Mr. Haghighat co-founded and led Coretek Inc, a photonic-based firm that developed the first tunable optoelectronic laser platform for telecom and was acquired by Nortel Networks in 2001 for $1.4 billion.

Mr. Haghighat currently serves on the Board of Directors at Chinook Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KDNY), a leading immunotherapy company targeting autoimmune, inflammatory renal and oncology diseases, where Mr. Haghighat is Chairman of the Transaction Committee; CITIC Capital Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: CCAC), a blank check company focused on consummating a deal within the clean technology industry in China or Asia; Mr. Haghighat serves as Chair of the Audit Committee, Fluence Corporation (ASX: FLC), a leading EGS global water treatment technology company, where Mr. Haghighat serves as Vice Chairman; Angel Medical Systems, a commercial-stage private medical device company with a pipeline of implantable cardiovascular devices with product distribution in US, Australia and Asia, where Mr. Haghighat serves as Lead Director, and FRX Polymers, Inc., a global sustainable specialty chemicals company, where Mr. Haghighat serves as Chairman. These roles position Mr. Haghighat to help identify next generation trends and equip him with the network and access to identify and select attractive targets that meet our acquisition criteria.

Mr. Haghighat received a Bachelor of Science in Advanced Materials Engineering from Rutgers University and Master of Science in Organometalic Chemistry from Rutgers University, as well as an MBA from Boston College — Wallace E Carroll School of Management.

J. Leighton Read, M.D.

J. Leighton Read, M.D., one of our co-Chief Executive Officers and a Director nominee, has over three decades of experience as a C-level and Board-level executive at leading health science firms. In addition to steering these firms toward commercial success at scale, Dr. Read has successfully engineered multiple exits to industry-leading strategic buyers, returning billions of dollars to shareholders in the process. From 2003 to 2005, Dr. Read served as founding Chief Executive Officer at Avidia, a biopharmaceutical company engaged in discovering and developing therapeutic proteins and continued on the board representing Alloy Ventures through its acquisition by Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) in September 2006. Prior to Avidia, Dr. Read served as the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aviron (NASDAQ: AVIR), the vaccine developer that created FluMist, leading the company through its initial public offering in November 1996 and continuing as Chairman and Director until its eventual sale to MedImmune (NASDAQ: MEDI) in December 2001 for $1.5 billion. From 1988 to 1991, Dr. Read was Co-Founder and Managing Director of Affymax NV (NASDAQ: AFMXF), a research-stage biopharmaceutical company developing peptide-based drugs, which was later acquired by Glaxo in 1995 for $533 million.

Dr. Read also brings extensive board leadership experience, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of several biotechnology companies including Global Kinetics Corporation, a digital health company focused on the management of Parkinson’s disease, where Dr. Read is acting Executive Chairman, EBR Systems, a developer of wireless cardiac stimulation therapies, Allay Therapeutics, a developer of opioid-free solutions for treating postoperative pain, and Okogen, an ophthalmic specialty pharmaceutical company. Dr. Read previously served on the Board of Directors of Alexza (NASDAQ: ALXA), AnaptysBio (NASDAQ: ANAB), and CV Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVTX). He is also a founding director of BioVentures for Global Health and has served as a Trustee or Director for a number of other non-profit organizations, including the Santa Fe Institute, the Institute for Systems Biology, the UC Berkeley Foundation and BIO.



 

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Earlier in his career, Dr. Read completed internal medicine training at Duke University and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and held faculty appointments at the Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health, where his research on decision theory and cost-effectiveness analysis contributed to some of the earliest efforts to demonstrate the economic value of biomedical innovation.

Dr. Read has brought his extensive operating experience into roles as a leading investor in the life science space, and currently serves as a Venture Partner at Brandon Capital Partners, Australia and New Zealand’s largest life science investment fund that manages the Medical Research Commercialization Fund. Dr. Read previously served as Managing Director at Alloy Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm targeting investments in life sciences, information technology and cleantech companies, where Dr. Read continues to serve as a Venture Partner. These roles position Dr. Read to gain early access to key industry trends and deal flow that will accelerate the process of evaluating and selecting an appropriate target for our shareholders.

Dr. Read holds a Bachelor of Science from Rice University and an M.D. from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Our Independent Board Members

Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D.

Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D., one of our Director nominees, has a long and distinguished career as a leading entrepreneur, investor and academic leader in the biotechnology sector, and has been at the forefront of the development of the biotechnology industry over the last three decades. Dr. Lange founded CV Therapeutics (“CVT” and NASDAQ: CVTX), a biotechnology company focused on cardiovascular diseases, in 1992 and served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Lange led the initial public offering of CVT in 1996 after $50 million in venture investments and oversaw the commercial success of CVT, spearheading the growth of Ranexa® and Lexiscan®, two drugs with combined sales in excess of $1.5 billion dollars. Dr. Lange led the sale of CV Therapeutics to Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) in 2009 for $1.4 billion dollars, and stayed on as a Senior Advisor reporting to the Chief Executive Officer of Gilead Sciences until 2019.

After successfully selling CVT, Dr. Lange founded and sold two additional biotech companies. In 2017, GE Healthcare acquired Rapidscan Pharma Solutions (“RPS”), a developer of a biopharmaceutical stress agent used in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.

In 2015, Audentes Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BOLD) acquired gene therapy products developer Cardiogen Sciences; Dr. Lange stayed on as lead Director up to the sale of Audentes Therapeutics to Astellas Pharma (TYO:4503) in 2020 for $3.1 billion. Currently, Dr. Lange is a Partner at Asset Management Ventures (“AMV”), an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investments in the digital health, technology, and life sciences sectors, sitting at the forefront of key innovation trends and deal flow within the biotechnology space. Dr. Lange has led over 12 investments across all areas of biotechnology companies.

In addition to Dr. Lange’s operational and investing experience, Dr. Lange spent 22 years in academic medicine at Harvard and Washington University, where he served as Chief of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine at Jewish Hospital at Washington University School of Medicine from 1985-1992 and was one of the first academicians in molecular cardiology. Currently, Dr. Lange serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Rochester, a role he has held since 1998. As Chair of the Health Affairs committee that oversees all of the medical operations for five years, Dr. Lange has been part of the leadership team for strategic re-invigoration of the medical center with construction of two research buildings and recruitment of over 100 faculty members.



 

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Dr. Lange has also led the most respected industry and trade associations in the biotechnology sector. From 1999 to 2009, Dr. Lange served on the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (the trade organization of biotech companies) leading the largest committee of member companies for two years, and was picked as one of two biotech executives to attend the ceremonies at the White House for the signing of the Bioterrorism bill in 2004. Dr. Lange has been on numerous other public and private Boards in both the non-profit and for-profit arena, including the Institute of Systems Biology (“ISB”), a nonprofit biomedical research organization co-founded by industry stalwart Dr. Leroy (“Lee”) Hood, and the UCSF Gladstone Institute, an independent, nonprofit life science research organization located in the epicenter of biomedical and technological innovation in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr. Lange will leverage his extensive operating and academic experience and industry networks to work alongside the management team in identifying high-potential therapeutic areas and treatment approaches, as well as sourcing, evaluating and negotiating with potential targets.

Dr. Lange has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester, an M.D. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry, also from Harvard University.

Stephen Sherwin, M.D.

Stephen Sherwin, M.D., one of our Director nominees, is a medical oncologist who has spent over 35 years in the biotechnology industry, helping to create and manage companies that discover and develop new treatments for patients with cancer. During his career as a C-level executive, Dr. Sherwin co-founded and served as CEO and/or chairman of industry-leading biotechnology companies that generated over $2.0 billion in shareholder value. From 1990 to 2009, Dr. Sherwin served as the Chief Executive Officer of Cell Genesys, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEGE), a cancer immunotherapy company, and was its Chairman from 1994 until the company’s merger in 2009 with BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., NASDAQ: ANIP). In addition, Dr. Sherwin co-founded and served as chairman of Abgenix, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABGX), an antibody company that was acquired by Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) in 2006 and co-founded and served as Chairman of Ceregene, Inc., a gene therapy company acquired by Sangamo Biosciences (NASDAQ: SGMO) in 2013. Prior to Cell Genesys, Dr. Sherwin served as Vice President of Clinical Research at Genentech (NYSE: DNA) and was the first medical doctor hired by the company. In addition to his corporate experience, Dr. Sherwin previously served on the board of directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization from 2001 to 2014 and as its chairman from 2009 to 2011.

Dr. Sherwin currently divides his time between advisory work in the life science industry and patient care and teaching in his specialty of medical oncology. Dr. Sherwin is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a volunteer Attending Physician in Hematology-Oncology at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. In addition, Dr. Sherwin currently serves as a Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures, a leading healthcare venture firm, and on the boards of directors of Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB), a multinational commercial-stage biotechnology company and Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: NBIX), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on neurological and endocrine diseases. Through his prior and current experiences and roles, Dr. Sherwin is uniquely able to lend his expertise on next-generation biotechnology trends to work with the team in sourcing an appropriate target with commercial and therapeutic potential, and to provide operational guidance that will be crucial in helping our target achieve successful commercialization and scale as a public company.

Dr. Sherwin received his Bachelor of Arts in Biology at Yale University, and his M.D. at Harvard Medical School.

Jonathan Rigby

Jonathan Rigby, one of our Director Nominees, brings over 30 years of experience leading private and publicly traded biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in the US, UK, and Israel, and is uniquely



 

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positioned to successfully prepare a high-potential target for a successful next phase in the public markets. Mr. Rigby is currently President, Group Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at REVOLO Biotherapeutics (formerly Immune Regulation Ltd and Inc.), a US and UK based clinical stage biotech company developing novel, first-in-class, drug therapies for autoimmune and allergic diseases. From 2011 to 2018, Mr. Rigby served as President and Chief Executive Officer of SteadyMed (NASDAQ: STDY), a US and Israel based company, and led its successful IPO and subsequent public to public company sale to United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR); he continued to lead the successful integration of the company until November 2019. Mr. Rigby brings extensive experience leading several other private biotechnology companies to the public markets including Xeris Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: XERS), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of drug delivery enabled pharmaceuticals, where he was a member of the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and member of the IPO pricing committee from 2016-2019. In 2006, Mr. Rigby conceived and co-founded Zogenix Inc. (NASDAQ: ZGNX), that is developing and commercializing transformative therapies for rare diseases, with a successful initial public offering in 2010. Earlier in his career, Mr. Rigby held various commercial roles at Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Mr. Rigby also currently serves on the Board of Directors at ImmunoMolecular Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing medicines for autoimmune diseases, and was previously Chairman of the Board at Collplant Biotechnologies (NASDAQ: CLGN), a regenerative medicine company. As a seasoned international Chief Executive Officer and Board member, Mr. Rigby will be instrumental in bringing his experience to guide an early-stage biopharmaceutical company through successful commercialization at scale.

Mr. Rigby has a Bachelor of Science Degree, with Honors, in Biological Sciences from Sheffield University, UK, and an M.B.A. from Portsmouth University, UK.

Glen Giovannetti

Glen Giovannetti, one of our Director nominees, is a retired partner of Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”), where he was instrumental in spearheading the growth of the firm’s life sciences practice. Mr. Giovannetti is a widely recognized industry expert and thought leader, bringing over 36 years of deep life sciences domain knowledge, leadership success, risk and reporting expertise, and board governance credentials. At EY, Mr. Giovannetti served as the Global Biotechnology Leader (2007-2018) and Global Life Sciences Leader (2010-2016) and was intimately involved as lead partner on numerous IPOs and following-on offerings as well as consulting on alliance, merger, and spin-off transactions. Mr. Giovannetti supported client teams from the U.S., across Europe, China, India, Japan, and Brazil. Furthermore, Mr. Giovannetti’s team was responsible for producing EY’s industry leading Thought Leadership life sciences publications including the annual reports such as Progressions, Beyond Borders, and Pulse of the Industry. He is also a co-author of “Managing Biotechnology: From Science to Market in the Digital Age.” Mr. Giovannetti retired from EY in December 2020.

Mr. Giovannetti brings extensive company board and leadership experience in the life sciences sector. Mr. Giovannetti currently serves on the Board of Directors at XWPharma Ltd. (formerly XW Laboratories Inc.), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for patients with neurodegenerative diseases, and Teon Therapeutics, Inc., a developer of single-target small molecules intended to restore antitumor immunity and suppress cancer cell proliferation. Mr. Giovannetti previously served on the Board of Directors and as a Member of the Finance and Audit Committee at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (“BIO”). Furthermore, Mr. Giovannetti serves on the Board of Directors at Life Science Cares, a nonprofit organization that connects life science executives and companies with other nonprofits addressing issues of poverty in California, Boston, and Philadelphia.

Mr. Giovannetti holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Linfield College and is a CPA in Massachusetts and California (inactive).



 

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Our Strategic Advisor

Sapna Srivastava, Ph.D.

Sapna Srivastava, Ph.D., our Strategic Advisor, is a seasoned finance and strategy executive in the biotechnology sector, and brings more than 20 years of experience as a Board member, CFO, and senior biotechnology research analyst. Dr. Srivastava spent over a decade at the leading investment banks on Wall Street, including at Goldman Sachs where she was the senior research analyst and team leader of the biotechnology group. Prior to that, Dr. Srivastava was the senior biotechnology analyst at Morgan Stanley and ThinkEquity Partners, LLC and began her career at J.P Morgan.

Since 2012, Dr. Srivastava has complemented her Wall Street experience with deep operational experience, having served as a Chief Financial Officer and independent board member and strategy advisor to several high growth potential, therapeutic focused, biotechnology companies, and co-founded a neuroscience focused biotechnology company. Dr. Srivastava is currently the Chief Financial Officer for eGenesis, a company focused on transforming the field of transplantation. Prior to that, she most recently served as the Chief Financial and Strategy Officer for Abide Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company developing serine hydrolase inhibitors with a focus on neurological diseases, from September 2017 to January 2019; the company was acquired by H. Lundbeck A/S (CPH:LUN) in May 2019. Prior to this, Dr. Srivastava served as the Chief Financial and Strategy Officer for Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NTLA), a leading gene editing company, from April 2015 to December 2016, where she played a key role in setting the strategic direction of the company, and in equity financings including leading the company through its initial public offering in May 2016.

Dr. Srivastava also currently serves on the Board of Directors of SQZ Biotechnology (NYSE: SQZ), a biotechnology company that develops cell therapies for patients with cancer, infectious diseases, and other serious conditions, Talaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TALS), a late-clinical stage biotechnology company that is developing a cell therapy that eliminates the burden of chronic immunosuppression for organ transplant recipients and treats patients with autoimmune disorders and other serious conditions, and Asclepix Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company using computational biology to identify and develop potent peptide regulators of vascular homeostasis that is disrupted in retinal and oncologic diseases. Dr. Srivastava is also an independent director nominee for Social Capital Suvretta Holdings Corp II, a blank check company focused on a business combination within the biotechnology industry within the oncology subsector of such industry.

Dr. Srivastava received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from New York University and her B.Sc. from St. Xavier’s College in India.

Acquisition Criteria

Our management team plans to proactively and aggressively search for potential global life sciences business combination candidates using the relationships of our management team and board of directors with company executives, venture capitalists and growth equity firms. Our management and board nominees each have decades of operational and investment experience in both the private and public sectors of the life sciences industry and extensive networks with current industry investors and executives in the United States and globally outside the United States as a result of that experience. We believe that the direct sourcing opportunity this collective experience and network affords will allow us to competitively identify actionable business combination opportunities efficiently and effectively.

We have identified the following criteria that will serve as guidelines for evaluating acquisition opportunities, which we expect to apply during our search. All are indicators of compelling growth potential. The attributes we most strongly seek include the following:

 

   

Industry: We intend to focus on the global life sciences industry, where we have deep knowledge and expertise. We believe our team’s extensive operational, investment and leadership experience within


 

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the life sciences sector uniquely positions us to a) identify assets globally and across multiple therapeutic areas, including, but not limited to, oncology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, gene therapy, gene editing, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, b) evaluate and support the operating plan for a post-transactional path to successful development of the asset(s) and/or sale to a strategic buyer; and c) negotiate favorable terms for maximal shareholder value creation;

 

   

Stage: We believe that a compelling opportunity exists for investing in a company with strong preclinical or clinical data driving confidence in successful clinical proof of concept;

 

   

Scientific fundamentals: We intend to seek a target business with fundamental scientific data that indicate a drug candidate or platform has high potential to generate a differentiated therapeutic approach that will alter or significantly enhance the treatment paradigm for patients, physicians and health systems;

 

   

Market potential: We intend to focus on a first-in-class or best-in-class potential asset which addresses a significant unmet need that also represents meaningful commercial opportunities, with clear significant value inflection drivers in a 18 to 24 months’ time frame;

 

   

Strong management: We intend to seek companies with the key elements of a strong management team already in place. We will spend significant time assessing a company’s leadership and culture, and the potential to complement its leaders with our additional deep experience;

 

   

Will benefit from being public: We intend to seek companies that can inherently benefit from a public listing. These inherent benefits include greater capital available for optimizing and accelerating pipeline and/or platform development, enhanced access to debt and equity capital markets, and more tangible incentives for employee share compensation;

 

   

Strategic alliance opportunities: We plan to leverage our deep relationships with large pharmaceutical companies and knowledge of their strategies to define a development path for our target company’s programs that maximizes its potential for value creating strategic alliances. Moreover, our management team and Directors have extensive experience in developing emerging public life sciences companies and in executing M&A transactions.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet certain of the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet certain of the above criteria in our shareholder 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. 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.

We intend to acquire a company with an enterprise value significantly above the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the placement units. Depending on the size of the transaction or the number of public shares we become obligated to redeem, we may potentially utilize several additional financing sources, including but not limited to the issuance of additional securities to the sellers of a target business, debt issued by banks or other lenders or the owners of the target, a PIPE to raise additional funds, or a combination of the foregoing. 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 to meet our obligations or our working capital needs, we may need to obtain additional financing.



 

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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 deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing 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 either (i) in such a way so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses, 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 target management team or shareholders, 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 of 1940, as amended, or the “Investment Company Act.” Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the 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 share capital of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses is 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 shareholder approval, as applicable.

Our Business Combination Process

In evaluating prospective business combinations, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review process that will encompass, among other things, a review of historical and projected financial and operating data, meetings with management and their advisors (if applicable), on-site inspection of facilities and assets, discussion with customers and suppliers, legal reviews and other reviews as we deem appropriate. We will also seek to utilize the expertise of our management team in analyzing biotechnology and life sciences companies and evaluating operating projections, financial projections and determining the appropriate return expectations given the risk profile of the target business.

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company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

Certain of our officers and directors presently have fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations to present the opportunity to such entity, he may need to honor his fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will not materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that we renounce, to the maximum extent permitted by law, our interest or expectancy in, or being offered an opportunity to participate in any business combination opportunity: (i) which may be a corporate opportunity for both us and our sponsor or its affiliates and any companies in which our sponsor or its affiliates have invested about which any of the officers or directors acquire knowledge; or (ii) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to another entity, and we will waive any claim or cause of action we may have in respect thereof. In addition, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will contain provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to our company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity. In addition, our officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to the completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved.

Corporate Information

Our executive offices are located at 260 Madison Avenue, Suite 800, New York, New York 10016, and our telephone number is (212) 287-4092.

Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies wishing to conduct business outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (as amended) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 30 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.

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



 

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periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

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

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of 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 Class A ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. 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 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 ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th.



 

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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

22,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

 

   

one Class A ordinary share; and

 

   

one-third of one redeemable warrant.

 

Proposed NASDAQ symbols

Units: “BIOS.U”

 

  Class A ordinary shares: “BIOS”

 

  Warrants: “BIOS.W”

 

Trading commencement and separation of Class A ordinary shares and warrants

The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We expect the Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Cantor informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares 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 three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.

 

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

In no event will the Class A ordinary shares 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 promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.


 

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Units:

 

Number outstanding before this offering and
the private placement

0

 

Number outstanding after this offering and the
private placement

22,640,000(1)

Ordinary Shares:

 

Number outstanding before this offering and
the private placement

6,325,000 Class B ordinary shares(2)

 

Number outstanding after this offering and
the private placement

28,140,000 Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares(1)(3)

Redeemable Warrants:

 

Number outstanding before this offering and the
private placement

0

 

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

7,546,666(1)

 

Exercisability

Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share and only whole warrants are exercisable.

 

  We structured each unit to contain one-third of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share, 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 warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive initial business combination partner for target businesses.

 

Exercise price

$11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. In addition, if (x) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or such affiliates, as



 

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applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares 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.

 

(1)

Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the cancellation by our sponsor of 825,000 founder shares. Our sponsor and Cantor have agreed to purchase an aggregate of 640,000 placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $6,400,000 (420,000 placement units by our sponsor and 220,000 placement units by Cantor). Each placement unit will be identical to the units sold in this offering, except as described in this prospectus. The placement units are not subject to cancellation but will be subject to transfer restrictions as described in “Principal Shareholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units (including securities contained therein)”).

(2)

Includes up to 825,000 shares that are subject to cancellation by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.

(3)

Comprised of 22,640,000 Class A ordinary shares (including 640,000 placement shares) and 5,500,000 Class B ordinary shares. The Class B ordinary shares are convertible into our Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.”

 

Exercise period

The warrants will become exercisable on the later of:

 

   

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

 

   

12 months from the closing of this offering;

 

  provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to cause such registration statement to become effective and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the



 

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warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrantholders 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. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.

 

Redemption of warrants

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

 

   

in whole and not in part;

 

   

at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

   

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

 

   

if, and only if, the last sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share 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 send the notice of redemption to the warrantholders.

 

  We will not redeem the warrants unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares 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 ordinary shares 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 ordinary shares 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 shareholders of issuing the maximum number of Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares 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 reported last sale price of the Class A ordinary shares 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 Shareholders’ Warrants” for additional information.

 

  None of the placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the sponsor, Cantor, or their respective permitted transferees.

 

Founder shares

On March 18, 2021, our sponsor purchased 6,325,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per 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 issued and outstanding shares after this offering (excluding the placement units and underlying securities). As such, our initial shareholders will collectively own approximately 21.0% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (including the placement shares and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Neither our sponsor nor any of our officers or directors have expressed an intention to purchase any units in this offering. Up to 825,000 founder shares will be subject to cancellation by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised so that our initial shareholders will maintain ownership of 20% of our ordinary shares after this offering (excluding the placement units and underlying securities). We will effect a share dividend or share contribution prior to this offering should the size of the offering change, in order to maintain such ownership percentage.


 

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

 

   

prior to our initial business combination, only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the election of directors and holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason;

 

   

the founder shares are designated Class B ordinary shares that automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein;

 

   

prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will be entitled to vote to continue the company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands;

 

   

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

 

   

our sponsor, 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 shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (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 Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ 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 24 months from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

 

   

pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares and placement shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if it is approved by an



 

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ordinary resolution or such higher percentage as may be required by Cayman Islands law, and pursuant to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares and placement shares, we would need only 8,150,001, or 37.0%, of the 22,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or none (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum (being one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote at the meeting) are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 22,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have such initial business combination approved, assuming no other resolution or approval is required pursuant to Cayman Islands or other applicable law (see “Description of Securities—Certain Differences in Corporate Law”); and

 

   

the founder shares are entitled to registration rights.

 

Transfer restrictions on founder shares

Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share 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, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Shareholders — Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Placement Units”). Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.

 

Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights

The founder shares are designated as Class B ordinary shares and will automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of the initial business combination, the ratio at which Class B ordinary shares shall convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such


 

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issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all ordinary shares outstanding upon the completion of this offering (excluding the placement units and underlying securities) plus all Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial business combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination or any private placement-equivalent warrants issued to our sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans made to us). The term “equity-linked securities” refers to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for Class A ordinary shares issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt. Securities could be “deemed issued” for purposes of the conversion rate adjustment if such shares are issuable upon the conversion or exercise of convertible securities, warrants or similar securities.

 

Voting Rights

Holders of the Class A ordinary shares and holders of the Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders, with each share of ordinary shares entitling the holder to one vote.

 

Placement units

Our sponsor and Cantor have agreed to purchase an aggregate of 640,000 placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit (420,000 placement units by our sponsor and 220,000 placement units by Cantor), for an aggregate purchase price of $6,400,000. Each placement unit is identical to the units offered by this prospectus except as described below. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to the placement units, placement shares or placement warrants, which will expire worthless if we do not consummate a business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. Our initial shareholders and Cantor have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their placement shares (i) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our articles prior thereto, to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering or with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering or if we liquidate prior to the expiration of the 24 month period. However, our initial shareholders will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by them if we fail to consummate a business


 

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combination or liquidate within the 24 month period. In addition, for as long as the placement warrants are held by Cantor or its designees or affiliates, they may not be exercised after five years from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

 

Transfer restrictions on placement units

The placement units and their component securities will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the consummation of our initial business combination except to permitted transferees.

 

Redeemability and exercise of placement warrants

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

 

Proceeds to be held in trust account

NASDAQ rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the placement units be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the placement units, $220,000,000, or $10.00 per unit ($253,000,000, or $10.00 per unit, if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is


 

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exercised in full) will be placed into a trust account in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and UBS Financial Services and Morgan Stanley Wealth Management acting as investment managers.

 

  These proceeds include $7,700,000 (or $9,515,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions.

 

  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 held in the trust account will not be released 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 shareholder vote to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (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 articles prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ 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 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public shareholders.

 

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 $220,000 of pre-tax interest annually assuming an interest rate of 0.1% 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 placement units not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $750,000



 

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in working capital after the payment of approximately $1,250,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and

 

   

any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of 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 deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing 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. 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.

 

  We anticipate structuring our initial business combination either (i) in such a way so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses, 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 target management team or shareholders, 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 shareholders prior to the



 

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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 share capital of a target.

 

  In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses is 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 shareholder approval, as applicable.

 

Permitted purchases of public shares and public warrants by our affiliates

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase 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 shareholders, 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 placement 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 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 Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (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.


 

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  None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase 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 shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders 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 shareholder 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 Class A ordinary shares 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.

 

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

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their 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 and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and placement shares held by them and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our initial business combination or otherwise.


 

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Manner of conducting redemptions

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting of the shareholders of the company called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder 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 shareholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirements. Under NASDAQ rules, asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association would require shareholder approval. We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless shareholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek shareholder 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 such rules.

 

  If shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder 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 shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if it is approved by an ordinary resolution or such higher percentage as may be required by Cayman Islands law, and pursuant to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association. A quorum for such meeting will be present if the holders of one third of the issued and outstanding shares of the company entitled to vote at such meeting are represented in person or by proxy. Our initial shareholders will count towards this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares, placement shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking an ordinary resolution, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares and placement shares, we would need only 8,150,001, or 37.0%, of the 22,000,000 public shares sold



 

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in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or none (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum (being one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote at the meeting) are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 22,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have such initial business combination approved.

 

  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 shareholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

 

  If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association:

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

  Such provisions may be amended if approved by special resolution.

 

  Whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on NASDAQ, we will provide our public shareholders 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 our Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

 

 

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that



 

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would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public shareholders 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 shareholders 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 shareholders, 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 shareholders who elected to redeem their shares.

 

  Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association 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 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed initial business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed initial business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed 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 Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.


 

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

Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the 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 shareholders 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. By limiting our shareholders’ 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 shareholders 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 shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those shareholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination.

 

Redemption rights in connection with proposed amendments to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Incorporation

Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association provides that any of its provisions, including those related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein), but excluding the provisions relating to the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination may be amended if approved by special resolution, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our ordinary shares entitled to vote thereon.

 

 

Under our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, we may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association or on our initial business combination or that



 

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would entitle holders thereof to receive funds from the trust account. Our initial shareholders, who will collectively beneficially own approximately 21.0% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (including the placement shares and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Our sponsor, executive officers, and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (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 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and placement shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.

 

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


 

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

Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association provides that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 24-month period (and our shareholders have not approved an amendment to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association 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 shareholders’ rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month time period.

 

  Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares, placement warrants and placement shares if we are forced to liquidate. The underwriter has agreed to waive (i) its rights to their deferred underwriting commission and (ii) to redeem its placement shares, in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and subsequently liquidate and, in such event, the deferred fees will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.

 

Limited payments to insiders

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

 

   

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

 

   

Payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $15,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support;



 

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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 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. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units.

 

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

 

Audit Committee

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

 

Indemnity

Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have 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) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, 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 its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.


 

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RISKS

We are a newly incorporated Cayman Islands exempted company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business — Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.” You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 39 of this prospectus. Such risks include, but are not limited to:

 

   

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

 

   

Past performance by our management team and their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company.

 

   

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

 

   

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 shareholder approval of such business combination.

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

 

   

The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.

 

   

The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our business combination deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.

 

   

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


 

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We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.

 

   

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our securities.

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

   

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for the 24 months following the closing of this offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we may depend on loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or management team to fund our search, to pay our taxes, to pay our expenses relating to the administration of the trust account and to complete our initial business combination.

 

   

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



 

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SUMMARY FINANCIAL DATA

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

 

     March 31,
2021
(Unaudited)
     March 18,
2021
(Audited)
 

Balance Sheet Data:

     

Working capital (deficiency)

   $ (258,609    $ (144,861

Total assets

   $ 303,498      $ 189,861  

Total liabilities

   $ 283,498      $ 169,861  

Shareholder’s equity

   $ 20,000      $ 20,000  


 

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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

We are a newly incorporated Cayman Islands exempted 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 incorporated exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands 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 public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination.

We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the initial business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or if we decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons. Except as required by law, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our public shares do not approve of the initial business combination we complete.

Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business — Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.

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

Pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and placement shares, as well as any public shares purchased 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 initial shareholders’ founder shares and placement shares, we would need only 8,150,001, or 37.0%, of the 22,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or none (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum (being one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote at the meeting) are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 22,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have such initial business combination approved. Our initial shareholders will own shares representing approximately 21.0% of our outstanding ordinary shares immediately following the completion of this offering and the private placement. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.

 

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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 shareholder 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 shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the initial business combination, unless we seek such shareholder vote. Accordingly, if we do not seek shareholder 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 shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.

The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into 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 shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the initial business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition, each as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into an initial business combination with us.

The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B ordinary shares result in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our business combination. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming shareholders will reflect our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commissions.

 

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The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.

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

The requirement that we 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 business combination deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning an initial business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating 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.

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

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced, which has and is continuing to spread throughout the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic.” The pandemic, together with resulting voluntary and U.S. federal and state and non-U.S. governmental actions, including, without limitation, mandatory business closures, public gathering limitations, restrictions on travel and quarantines, has meaningfully disrupted the global economy and markets. Although the long-term economic fallout of COVID-19 is difficult to predict, it has and is expected to continue to have ongoing material adverse effects across many, if not all, aspects of the regional, national and global economy. The COVID-19 outbreak has and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 continues to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among

 

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others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.

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

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 shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association provides that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to 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 shareholders’ rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public shareholders may only receive $10.00 per share, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

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

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase 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 public warrants in such transactions.

Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption

 

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rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. 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 shareholder 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 warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.

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

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

We will comply with the 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 shareholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such shareholder 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 shareholders 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. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business — Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination — Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with Redemption Rights.”

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

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the 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, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions.

 

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Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on our redemption of our public shares, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more 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 placement 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 Class A ordinary shares which our public shareholders 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 an initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon our liquidation. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

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

The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that, upon the closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed 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 shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than

 

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$10.00 per share upon our liquidation. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the placement 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 placement units, only approximately $750,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,250,000, 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 $1,250,000, 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 $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units. 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 shareholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per share on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

Subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our share 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

 

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debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the initial business combination constituted an actionable material misstatement or omission.

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.

If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such 24 months before redemption from our trust account.

If we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon their redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination and do not amend certain provisions of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association. Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that, if a resolution of the Company’s shareholders is passed pursuant to the Companies Act to commence the voluntary liquidation of the company, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.

 

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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 life sciences industry but may also pursue other business combination opportunities, except that we will not, under our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, 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 shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

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

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

 

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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 shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy 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 shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, 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 shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

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 shareholders’ 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

 

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

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 shareholders’ 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 ordinary shares;

 

   

using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our ordinary shares 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, the sale of the placement units, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or product candidates and limited operating activities. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operating results and profitability.

Of the net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the placement units, $220,000,000 (or $253,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be available to complete our initial business combination and pay related fees and expenses (which includes up to $7,700,000, or up to $9,515,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, for the payment of deferred underwriting commissions).

 

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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.

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 targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.

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

 

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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.

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 placement 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 shareholders 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 shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive approximately $10.00 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 shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share,” under certain circumstances our public shareholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of the trust account.

After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.

It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws, including federal securities laws. See “Description of Securities — Certain Differences in Corporate Law — Enforcement of Civil Liabilities.”

 

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

We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity (or may otherwise result in adverse tax consequences). In the event of a reincorporation pursuant to our initial business combination, such tax liability may attach prior to any consummation of redemptions. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay such taxes.

In addition, shareholders or warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of our shares after the reincorporation.

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

The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on 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.

There are risks related to the life sciences industry to which we may be subject.

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

 

   

Competition could reduce profit margins.

 

   

Our inability to comply with governmental regulations affecting the life sciences industry could negatively affect our operations.

 

   

An inability to license or enforce intellectual property rights on which our business may depend.

 

   

The success of our planned business following consummation of our initial business combination may depend on maintaining a well-secured business and technology infrastructure.

 

   

If we are required to obtain governmental approval of our products, the production of our products could be delayed and we could be required to engage in a lengthy and expensive approval process that may not ultimately be successful.

 

   

Continuing government and private efforts to contain healthcare costs, including through the implementation of legal and regulatory changes, may reduce our future revenue and our profitability following such business combination.

 

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Changes in the healthcare related wellness industry and markets for such products affecting our customers or retailing practices could negatively impact customer relationships and our results of operations.

 

   

The life sciences industry is susceptible to significant liability exposure. If liability claims are brought against us following a business combination, it could materially adversely affect our operations.

 

   

Dependence of our operations upon third-party suppliers, manufacturers or contractors whose failure to perform adequately could disrupt our business.

 

   

The Affordable Care Act, possible changes to it or its repeal, and how it is implemented could negatively impact our business.

 

   

A disruption in supply could adversely impact our business.

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 life sciences industry. 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.

Risk Relating to our Securities

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 shareholders 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 Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (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 articles prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

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 that our Class A ordinary shares and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that our Class A ordinary shares 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 share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in shareholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with

 

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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 share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our shareholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5.0 million and we would be required to have a minimum of 300 round lot holders (with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding securities with a market value of at least $2,500) 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 Class A ordinary shares is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;

 

   

a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

 

   

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

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on NASDAQ, our units, Class A ordinary shares 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.

Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to our initial business combination, NASDAQ may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of NASDAQ’s rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that would otherwise provide protection to shareholders of other companies.

After completion of this offering, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. As a result, NASDAQ may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of NASDAQ’s corporate governance standards. Under NASDAQ corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors is held by an individual, a group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:

 

   

we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under NASDAQ rules;

 

   

we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and

 

   

we have independent director oversight of our director nominations.

We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of NASDAQ, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize

 

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some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of NASDAQ’s corporate governance requirements.

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

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

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will 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. WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of the 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 shareholders could be less than the $10.00 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 it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or similar agreement or business

 

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combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, 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 its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

The securities in which we invest the proceeds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the interest income available for payment of taxes or reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

Certain proceeds of this offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement units will be held in an interest bearing trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in direct U.S. Treasury obligations having a maturity of 185 days or less, or in money market funds which invest only in direct U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a 7 under the Investment Company Act. While short term U.S. Treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we may withdraw to pay income taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income. As a result of negative interest rates the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

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

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations.

While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment 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 shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

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

We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust

 

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account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and 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 shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.

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

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

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

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

 

   

restrictions on the nature of our investments; and

 

   

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

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

 

   

registration as an investment company;

 

   

adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and

 

   

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

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

 

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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 shareholder vote to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (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 articles prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete an initial business combination or may result in our liquidation. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

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

If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our officers and directors who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offense and may be liable for a fine of up to approximately $18,300 and imprisonment for up to five years in the Cayman Islands.

We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our shareholders 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. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to discuss company affairs with management.

 

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We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants 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 Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business 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 Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.

If the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption.

In no event will warrants 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 or qualification is available.

Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available. Exercising the warrants on a cashless basis could have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold than they would have upon a cash exercise.

In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in this offering. In such an instance, our sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. If and when the warrants

 

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become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.

If you exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis,” you will receive fewer Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrantholders 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 Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares 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 reported last sale price of the Class A ordinary shares 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 Class A ordinary shares from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.

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

Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the placement warrants, the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the placement warrants, the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the founder shares, the Class A ordinary shares included in the placement units and holders of unit that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register such Class A ordinary shares, warrants or the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such units and warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the securities owned by our initial shareholders or holders of working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.

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 shareholders do not agree.

Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that

 

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would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (such that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed 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 Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.

We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 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 our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.

Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any 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 its affiliates 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 shares, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

Our warrants are expected to be accounted for as a warrant liability and will be recorded at fair value upon issuance with any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.

Following the consummation of this offering and the concurrent private placement of units, we will have 7,546,666 warrants outstanding (comprised of the 7,333,333 public warrants and the 213,333 placement warrants, assuming the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised). We currently expect to account for these warrants as a warrant liability, which means that we will record them at fair value upon issuance with any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities. In addition, potential targets may seek a business combination partner that does not have warrants that are accounted for as a warrant liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.

 

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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 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 sales price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share 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 ordinary shares 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 ordinary shares 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 placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees.

 

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

We will be issuing warrants to purchase 7,333,333 of our Class A ordinary shares (or up to 8,433,333 Class A ordinary shares 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 an aggregate of 213,333 placement warrants (regardless of whether the over-allotment option is exercised in full or in part). Our initial shareholders currently own an aggregate of 6,325,000 founder shares. The founder shares are convertible into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor makes any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units. To the extent we issue Class A ordinary shares to effectuate an initial business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants and conversion rights could make us a less attractive business combination vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the initial business combination. Therefore, our warrants and founder shares may make it more difficult to effectuate an initial business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.

The placement warrants included in the placement units are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by us, (ii) they (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis.

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

Each unit contains one-third of one redeemable warrant. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three 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 ordinary shares 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-third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.

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

Unlike most blank check companies, if

 

  (i)

we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per 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

 

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

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

 

   

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

 

   

prior offerings of those companies;

 

   

our prospects for acquiring an operating business;

 

   

a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;

 

   

our capital structure;

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

other factors as were deemed relevant.

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

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

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

Risks Relating to our Sponsor and Management Team

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

Past performance by our management team and advisors 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 or advisors’ 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. Additionally, in the course of their respective careers, members of our management team have been involved in businesses and deals that were unsuccessful.

 

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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 life sciences companies, we will 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 shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

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 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.

 

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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 our initial business combination.

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, including other special purpose acquisition companies before we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding 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 Memorandum and

 

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Articles of Association will provide that we renounce, to the maximum extent permitted by law, our interest or expectancy in, or being offered an opportunity to participate in any business combination opportunity: (i) which may be a corporate opportunity for both us and our sponsor or its affiliates and any companies in which our sponsor or its affiliates have invested about which any of the officers or directors acquire knowledge; or (ii) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to another entity, and we will waive any claim or cause of action we may have in respect thereof. In addition, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will contain provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to our company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity. For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see the sections of this prospectus entitled “Management — Directors and Officers,” “Management — Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

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

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into an initial business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. We do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. 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 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 independent 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 shareholders from a financial point of view of an initial business combination with one or more businesses affiliated with our 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 shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

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

On March 18, 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 6,325,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share.

 

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The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the issued and outstanding shares after this offering (excluding the placement shares). The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. Our sponsor and Cantor have also agreed to purchase an aggregate of 640,000 placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit (420,000 placement units by our sponsor and 220,000 placement units by Cantor), for an aggregate purchase price of $6,400,000. Each placement unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one warrant. Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one whole share of ordinary shares at $11.50 per share. The private placement units and underlying securities will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. Holders of founder shares 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 in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsor, affiliates of our sponsor or an officer or director. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination.

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 shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to 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 Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding share capital 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 ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain 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.

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

Upon the closing of this offering, our initial shareholders will own shares representing approximately 21.0% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (including the placement shares and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial shareholders purchase any units in this offering or if our initial shareholders purchase any additional ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our initial shareholders, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all

 

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of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the initial business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our initial shareholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.

Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our founder shares.

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A ordinary shares and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A ordinary shares after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 93.7% (or $9.37 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $0.68 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. In addition, because of the anti-dilution rights of the founder shares described above adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights,” any equity or equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A ordinary shares.

Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 for the founder shares, or approximately $0.004 per founder share. As a result of this low initial price, our sponsor, its affiliates and our management team and advisors stand to make a substantial profit even if an initial business combination subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for our public shareholders.

As a result of the low acquisition cost of our founder shares, our sponsor, its affiliates and our management team and advisors 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 shareholders. 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.

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

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will require a special resolution, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least a majority of the public warrants (which may include public warrants acquired by our sponsor or its affiliates in this offering or thereafter in the open market). In addition, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association requires us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (A) to modify

 

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the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our articles prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ 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 articles or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.

General Risk Factors

We may issue additional ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.

Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association authorizes the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 77,360,000 and 14,500,000 (assuming, in each case, that the underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option) authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance, which amount does not take into account the Class A ordinary shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of Class B ordinary shares. Immediately after the consummation of this offering, there will be no preference shares issued and outstanding. Class B ordinary shares are convertible into our Class A ordinary shares initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination.

We may issue a substantial number of additional ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination (although our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that we may not issue securities that can vote with ordinary shareholders on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity). We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association. However, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. These provisions of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, like all provisions of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, may be amended only by a special resolution. However, our executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (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 articles prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment

 

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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 ordinary shares or preference shares:

 

   

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

 

   

may subordinate the rights of holders of ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our ordinary shares;

 

   

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

 

   

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

We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.

If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder (as defined in the section of this prospectus captioned “Income Tax Considerations — U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations — U.S. Holders”) of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. Holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend upon the status of an acquired company pursuant to a business combination and whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception (see the section of this prospectus captioned “Income Tax Considerations — U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations — U.S. Holders — Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules”). Depending on the particular circumstances, the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year (and if the start-up exception may be applicable, potentially not until after the two taxable years following). Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon written request, we currently intend to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election with respect to our Class A ordinary shares, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. investors to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules to holders of our ordinary shares and warrants. For a more detailed discussion of the tax consequences of PFIC classification to U.S. Holders, see “Income Tax Considerations — U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations — U.S. Holders — Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.”

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

An investment in this offering may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we are issuing in this offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the share of Class A ordinary shares and the one-third of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share included in each unit could be challenged by the IRS or the courts. 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 Class A ordinary shares suspend the running of a U.S. Holder’s holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A ordinary shares is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered “qualified dividend income” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. See the section titled “Material

 

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Income Taxation — U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” for a summary of the U.S. federal income tax considerations of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.

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 attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.

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

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 ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares 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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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 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.

Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.

We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or executive officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.

Our corporate affairs will be governed by our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.

We have been advised by Walkers, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages

 

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may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.

As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.

The provisions of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), 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 a special resolution, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.

Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that any of its provisions, including those related to pre-initial business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders 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), but excluding the provisions relating to the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination may be amended if approved by special resolution, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our ordinary shares entitled to vote thereon. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association. Our initial shareholders, who will collectively beneficially own approximately 21.0% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (including the placement shares and assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association which govern our pre-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 shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association.

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

 

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Provisions in our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.

Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference 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.

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

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

Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries

If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.

If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

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

 

   

costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations;

 

   

rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

 

   

complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

 

   

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

 

   

exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;

 

   

tariffs and trade barriers;

 

   

regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

 

   

local or regional economic policies and market conditions;

 

   

unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;

 

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longer payment cycles;

 

   

tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;

 

   

currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

 

   

rates of inflation;

 

   

challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

 

   

cultural and language differences;

 

   

employment regulations;

 

   

underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;

 

   

corruption;

 

   

protection of intellectual property;

 

   

social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances;

 

   

regime changes and political upheaval;

 

   

terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; and

 

   

deterioration of political relations with the United States.

We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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

Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.

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

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

 

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

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

We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law.

Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from seeking a business combination target.

Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.

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

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

 

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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 ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses in the life sciences industry;

 

   

our ability to complete our initial business combination in the life sciences industry;

 

   

our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses in the life sciences 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 life sciences industry;

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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 22,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the placement 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)

   $ 220,000,000     $ 253,000,000  

Gross proceeds from placement units offered in the private placement

     6,400,000       6,400,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total gross proceeds

   $ 226,400,000     $ 259,400,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Offering expenses(2)

    

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

   $ 4,400,000     $ 4,400,000  

Legal fees and expenses

     350,000       350,000  

Printing and engraving expenses

     40,000       40,000  

Accounting fees and expenses

     37,500       37,500  

SEC expenses

     27,603       27,603  

FINRA expenses

     38,450       38,450  

Travel and road show

     25,000       25,000  

Director and Officer liability insurance premiums

     500,000       500,000  

Stock exchange listing and filing fees

     15,000       15,000  

Miscellaneous

     216,447       216,447  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total offering expenses (excluding underwriting commissions)

   $ 1,250,000     $ 1,250,000  

Proceeds after offering expenses

   $ 220,750,000     $ 253,750,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Held in trust account(3)

   $ 220,000,000     $ 253,000,000  

% of public offering size

     100     100

Not held in trust account

   $ 750,000     $ 750,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The following table shows the use of the approximately $750,000 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)

   $ 250,000        33.3

Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations

     120,000        16.0

Payment for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support ($15,000 per month for up to 24 months)

     360,000        48.0

Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses

     20,000        2.7
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $ 750,000        100.0
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

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(1)

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

(2)

A portion of the offering expenses will be paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsor of up to $300,000 as described in this prospectus. As of March 31, 2021, we had not borrowed any amounts (of up to $300,000 available to us) under the promissory note with our sponsor. These amounts will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $1,250,000 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 $750,000 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.

(3)

The representatives of the underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised, 5.5% of the gross proceeds from the over-allotment ($0.55 per unit or up to $1,815,000 in the aggregate) will be deposited in the trust account as deferred underwriting commissions. Upon completion of our initial business combination, $7,700,000, which constitutes the underwriters’ deferred commissions (or $9,515,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the representatives of the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account, and the remaining funds, less amounts released to the trustee to pay redeeming shareholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The representatives of the underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.

(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.

Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the placement units, $220,000,000 (or $253,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), including $7,700,000 (or $9,515,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will be placed in a trust account in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and UBS Financial Services and Morgan Stanley Wealth Management acting as investment managers, 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 $220,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.1% 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 held in the trust account will not be released 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 shareholder vote to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles

 

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of Association (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 articles prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ 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 24 months from the closing of this offering, 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. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released 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.

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.

Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of March 31, 2021, we had not borrowed any amounts (of up to $300,000 available to us) under the promissory note with our sponsor. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of September 30, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the offering proceeds not held in the trust account.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds 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 $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units. 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.

 

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If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase 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 shareholders, 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 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 shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders 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 shareholder 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 warrantholders 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 Class A ordinary shares 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.

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 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) and the agreement for our initial business combination may require as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders 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 shareholder 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 shareholder vote to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (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 articles prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ 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 24 months following the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) created by the terms

 

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of the proposed initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

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

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering we will effect a share dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial shareholders at 20.0% of the issued and outstanding our ordinary shares (excluding the placement units and underlying securities) 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 Class A ordinary share, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per Class A ordinary share 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 placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public shareholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of Class A ordinary shares which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding Class A ordinary shares.

At March 31, 2021, our net tangible book deficit was $(258,609), or approximately $(0.04) per share of ordinary shares. After giving effect to the sale of 22,000,000 Class A ordinary shares included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 25,300,000 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the 640,000 placement units and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at March 31, 2021 would have been $5,000,010, or approximately $0.63 per share (or $0.55 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 20,150,439 Class A ordinary shares that may be redeemed for cash, or 23,173,239 Class A ordinary shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $0.67 per share (or $0.59 per share if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) to our initial shareholders as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution of $9.37 per share or 93.70% to our public shareholders not exercising their redemption rights (or $9.45 per share or 94.50% if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full).

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

 

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

Public offering price

      $ 10.00        $ 10.00  

Net tangible book value before this offering

   $ (0.04      $ (0.04   

Increase attributable to public shareholders and sale of the placement units

     0.67          0.59     
  

 

 

      

 

 

    

Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering

        0.63          0.55  
     

 

 

      

 

 

 

Dilution to public shareholders

      $ 9.37        $ 9.45  
     

 

 

      

 

 

 

Percentage of dilution to public shareholders

        93.70        94.50
     

 

 

      

 

 

 

For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) by $201,504,390 because holders of up to approximately 91.6% of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or general meeting of the shareholders of the company, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes), divided by the number of Class A ordinary shares sold in this offering.

 

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The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial shareholders, Cantor and the public shareholders:

 

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

Initial Shareholders(1)

     5,500,000        19.55   $ 25,000        0.01   $ 0.0045  

Placement shares

     640,000        2.27     6,400,000        2.83   $ 10.00  

Public Shareholders

     22,000,000        78.18     220,000,000        97.16   $ 10.00  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   
     28,140,000        100.0   $ 226,425,000        100.00  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

(1)

Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding cancellation of an aggregate of 825,000 Class B ordinary shares held by our sponsor.

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

   $ (258,609    $ (258,609

Net proceeds from this offering and sale of the placement units, net of expenses(1)

     220,750,000        253,750,000  

Plus: Offering costs paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value

     278,609        278,609  

Less: Warrant liability(2)

     (6,565,600      (7,522,600

Less: Deferred underwriting commissions

     (7,700,000      (9,515,000

Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption to maintain net tangible assets of $5,000,001(3)

     (201,504,390      (231,732,390
  

 

 

    

 

 

 
   $ 5,000,010      $ 5,000,010  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 
     Without
Over-allotment
     With
Over-allotment
 

Denominator:

     

Class B ordinary shares outstanding prior to this offering

     6,325,000        6,325,000  

Class B ordinary shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised

     (825,000      —    

Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered

     22,000,000        25,300,000  

Ordinary shares included in the placement units issued

     640,000        640,000  

Less: Shares subject to redemption

     (20,150,439      (23,173,239
  

 

 

    

 

 

 
     7,989,561        9,091,761  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

(1)

Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of $1,250,000 and underwriting commissions of $4,400,000 (excluding deferred underwriting fees). See “Use of Proceeds.”

(2)

We will account for the warrants to be issued in connection with this offering (the public warrants and the placement warrants, assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, we will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in our statement of operations.

 

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(3)

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase 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 Class A ordinary shares 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 March 31, 2021, and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of our units in this offering and the sale of the placement units and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities, assuming no exercise by the underwriters of its over-allotment option:

 

     March 31, 2021  
     Actual      As Adjusted  

Notes payable to related party(1)

   $ —        $ —    

Deferred underwriting commissions

     —          7,700,000  

Warrant liability(2)

     —          6,565,600  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized; -0- and 20,150,439 shares are subject to possible redemption, respectively(3)

     —          201,504,390  

Preference shares, $0.0001 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted

     —          —    

Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized; -0- and 2,489,561 shares issued and outstanding (excluding -0- and 20,150,439 shares subject to possible redemption), actual and as adjusted, respectively(4)

     —          249  

Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 50,000,000 shares authorized, 6,325,000 and 5,500,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively

     633        551  

Additional paid-in capital

     24,367        5,376,860  

Accumulated deficit

     (5,000      (377,650
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total shareholders’ equity

   $ 20,000      $ 5,000,010  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total capitalization

   $ 20,000      $ 220,770,000  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

(1)

Our sponsor has 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 placement units. As of March 31, 2021, we had not borrowed any amounts (of up to $300,000 available to us) under the promissory note with our sponsor.

(2)

We will account for the warrants to be issued in connection with this offering (the public warrants and the placement warrants, assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, we will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in our statement of operations.

(3)

Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our shareholders 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 and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed initial business combination.

(4)

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

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Overview

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share 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 life sciences industry. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the placement units, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (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, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares;

 

   

may subordinate the rights of holders of our ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our ordinary shares;

 

   

could cause a change in control if a substantial number of our ordinary shares 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 share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and

 

   

may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A ordinary shares and/or 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 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 ordinary shares;

 

   

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

 

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at March 31, 2021, we had $24,889 of cash and deferred offering costs of $278,609. 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

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through a capital contribution from our sponsor of $25,000 for the founder shares and up to $300,000 in loans available from 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 $1,250,000, underwriting commissions of $4,400,000 (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $7,700,000 (or $9,515,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full)), and (ii) the sale of the placement units for a purchase price of $6,400,000, will be $220,750,000 (or $253,750,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $220,000,000 (or $253,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes $7,700,000 (or $9,515,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions. 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 approximately $750,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,250,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,250,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and expenses relating to the administration of the trust account excluding deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay taxes and expenses relating to the administration 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. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be

 

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sufficient to pay our taxes and expenses relating to the administration of the trust account. We expect the only taxes payable by us out of the funds in the trust account will be income and franchise taxes, if any. To the extent that our ordinary shares or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.

Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us the approximately $750,000 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, 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 $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units. 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 $250,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $120,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $360,000 for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support; and approximately $20,000 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 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

 

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acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the placement 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.

Controls and Procedures

We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer 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 improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expense in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.

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

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the placement units held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting

 

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certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

Related Party Transactions

On March 18, 2021, our sponsor purchased 6,325,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the issued and outstanding shares upon completion of this offering (excluding the placement units and underlying securities). 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. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering we will effect a share dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B ordinary shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial shareholders at 20.0% of the issued and outstanding our ordinary shares (excluding the placement units and underlying securities) upon the consummation of this offering.

Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

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

Prior to the consummation of this offering, our sponsor has 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 at the earlier of September 30, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $1,250,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions).

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

Our sponsor and Cantor have agreed to purchase an aggregate of 640,000 placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit (420,000 placement units by our sponsor and 220,000 placement units by Cantor), for an aggregate purchase price of $6,400,000. Each placement unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one warrant. Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one whole share of ordinary shares at $11.50 per share. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to the founder shares, placement shares or placement warrants, which will expire worthless if we do not consummate a business

 

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combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. Our initial shareholders and Cantor have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and placement shares (i) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our articles prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination within 24 months from the completion of this offering or if we liquidate prior to the expiration of the 24 month period. However, our initial shareholders will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by them if we fail to consummate a business combination or liquidate within the 24 month period. In addition, for as long as the placement warrants are held by Cantor or its designees or affiliates, they may not be exercised after five years from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement we will enter into with our initial shareholders on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. These holders, and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

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

As of March 31, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus, as we have conducted no operations to date.

JOBS Act

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

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

 

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PROPOSED BUSINESS

Our Company

We are a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Throughout this prospectus we will refer to this as our initial business combination. 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 life sciences industry. Our ability to locate a potential target is subject to the uncertainties discussed elsewhere in this prospectus.

The intersection of technological innovation and the ability to harness that innovation within the life sciences industry is providing an opportunity for significant value creation in the public markets for companies seizing the moment. Our management team believes the healthcare industry, particularly the life sciences sector, represents an enormous and growing target market with a large number of potential companies that will benefit from our expertise and networks to accelerate the company’s trajectory through the public markets. We believe that, with the structural factors highlighted below and combined with the proper mentorship and guidance from our management team’s collective experience, particularly within the life sciences sector, we will be able to identify and merge with an attractive life sciences company that will deliver long-term compounded returns for our investors.

Rising healthcare and pharmaceutical spending

Healthcare spending represents a massive market, driven by favorable demographics and accelerating innovation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) estimate that U.S. national healthcare expenditures currently exceed $3.6 trillion or 18% of the U.S. GDP, and are expected to outpace the broader U.S. economy to grow at an average rate of 5 – 6% per year until 2028, when the national healthcare expenditures are predicted to reach $6.2 trillion, or 20% of the U.S. GDP. Global market dynamics are similar, with Deloitte projecting global healthcare spending to increase at an annual rate of 5.4% from 2018 to 2022, an acceleration from 2.9% in 2013 to 2017. We expect that this growth will continue to be supported by multi-decade global, secular trends, including population growth, improved life expectancy, increased prevalence of chronic diseases, and access to drugs in emerging markets brought about by growth of the middle classes.

Global market dynamics for pharmaceutical spending mirror these trends. EvaluatePharma and IQVIA estimate that global prescription drug sales are expected to grow at a CAGR of over 7% from approximately $870 billion in 2019 to $1.4 trillion in 2026. We believe these budgetary pressures will support the demand for innovative biotechnology companies that create more efficient and effective medical treatments.

Rapid growth in private biotechnology company formation

Over recent years, there has been an explosion in private biotechnology company formation and growth as the pharmaceutical industry has increasingly shifted its research and development (“R&D”) strategy towards external innovation through in-licensing transactions and strategic acquisitions. According to IQVIA estimates, in the period from 2014 to 2019, the 15 largest pharmaceutical companies increased annual R&D spending by approximately 5% per year from $87 billion to $110 billion. In data from Pitchbook, this was dramatically outpaced by global life sciences venture capital deal, volume which accelerated meaningfully to grow at over 28% per year from 2014 to 2020, reaching $53.4 billion in 2020, and helping to fund the proliferation of new entities.

 

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LOGO

We believe the role of early-stage biotechnology and life sciences companies will only continue to grow due to the rapid pace of biomedical innovation, the favorable regulatory environment for promising drugs, the emergence of efficient patient selection strategies for clinical trials, the strong underlying demand for novel therapies, and abundance of attractive exit opportunities. According to a 2019 report published by Silicon Valley Bank, nearly 60% of FDA-approved drugs which originated in the U.S. came from venture capital-backed startups. According to Pitchbook estimates, out of the nearly 26,600 biotechnology and pharmaceuticals companies globally, only approximately 3,000 are currently publicly traded, indicating a high volume of private biotechnology companies that could potentially be a strong fit for a business combination with us.

Increasing role of public markets in a biotechnology company’s life cycle

Early-stage companies need capital and market reach to maximize their commercial potential. We believe that biotechnology and life sciences companies, at a certain stage in their development, see material benefits from being publicly-traded, including greater access to capital, a liquid currency and increased market awareness.

In recent years, the process of going public has played an increasingly important role in the life cycle of early-stage biotechnology companies. According to data from Factset, from 2014 to 2019, a total of more than 311 biotechnology companies completed an initial public offering (“IPO”) in the United States, more than any other industry sector. Despite the equity market volatility resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, based on Factset estimates, 2020 was a record year for biotechnology companies completing IPOs in the United States, with more than $14 billion of capital raised in 84 IPOs. At the same time, the NASDAQ Biotech Index (“NBI”) outperformed the general market in 2020, with a 27% return for the NBI versus a 15% return for the S&P 500. Despite the strong investor appetite in the equity markets for biotechnology stocks, the increase in dollar volume of venture capital and private equity capital allocated to the sector from 2010 to 2020 far exceeded the increase in IPO dollar volume, indicating significant untapped potential for the SPAC to fill the void as a valid exit mechanism to the public markets.

 

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LOGO

SPACs Offer a Unique Opportunity for Private Companies and Investors Alike

We believe an acquisition by a special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”) with a respected management team and board of directors that is well-known to biotechnology and life sciences investors and prospective management teams can be an attractive mechanism for accessing the public markets. Furthermore, we believe that the benefits of accessing the public market through a SPAC could be more attractive for some private companies than a traditional IPO through 1) more primary capital to fund operations, 2) more certainty about deal completion that could be anchored through a private investment in public equity (“PIPE”) concurrent with a business combination, 3) a defined investor base, 4) operational expertise and networks of the SPAC sponsor team to support the company through the approval and commercialization phase and/or a potential sale to a strategic acquirer.

SPACs focused on life science companies currently represent only a small portion of the SPAC market (less than 10%) relative to other sectors. According to data from SPACResearch, of the approximately $83.4 billion raised by SPACs in 2020, only 8.4%, or $7.0 billion, were focused on the healthcare sector. SPACs focused on life science companies are underrepresented in relation to the number of privately held healthcare companies that eventually require access to the public capital markets. We believe there is a significant number of high-quality private life sciences companies seeking alternative routes to the public markets and healthcare investors willing to participate in SPACs and their business combinations.

Acceleration in Medical Innovation and Regulatory Speed to Market

There has been a significant acceleration of medical research in recent years, leading to a better understanding of the molecular origins of disease and the identification of new potential targets for therapeutic intervention. The biotechnology sector of the life sciences industry has also recently experienced an acceleration in discovery and validation of novel emerging treatment modalities such as genetic medicines and cell therapy, among others. Significant breakthroughs in medicine and science have generated attractive investment opportunities.

The significant pace of innovation is also reflected in the FDA’s recent drug approval rates, which have increased from 34 drugs per year from 2010 to 2015 to 46 per year from 2015 to 2020. In the last three years alone, the FDA has approved more drugs than the combined total of approvals in the five years preceding that. This success is due in part to the increased use of special approval and development programs such as fast track

 

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designation, breakthrough therapy designation and accelerated approval, and it also reflects the FDA’s increasing willingness to use surrogate endpoints and single trials to accelerate approval timelines. Furthermore, small and medium sized firms account for a majority of new approvals and many of those successful are acquired by the larger companies. A continuance of this trend would support drug development efforts and investments.

 

 

LOGO

In addition to the multi-decade structural tailwinds building up to a “golden age of innovation” for the biotechnology sector, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown an unprecedented compression of the innovation cycle from drug development to regulatory approval to market, as is evident in the speed to market of multiple novel therapeutic methods and drugs aimed at controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that this experience could help further accelerate the innovation and life cycle of promising, innovative life sciences companies.

Our Management Team

Our management team is comprised of industry experts, who are well positioned to identify and evaluate businesses within the life sciences sector that would benefit from their experience of leading public companies. We believe our management team offers extensive experience in growing and operating companies, as well as a deep network of contacts in the life sciences sector. Our management team is spearheaded by our Chairman, Alan C. Mendelson, Co-Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer Ross Haghighat and Co-Chief Executive Officer J. Leighton Read, M.D.. Our management team will further be supported by our independent board members, Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D, Stephen Sherwin, M.D., Jonathan Rigby and Glen Giovannetti, and strategic advisor, Sapna Srivastava, Ph.D who bring extensive additional experience.

Alan C. Mendelson

Alan C. Mendelson, our Chairman, is a Retired Partner of Latham & Watkins LLP (“Latham”), where he spearheaded the growth of the partnership’s life sciences practice. Mr. Mendelson is widely recognized as a leading figure in the biotechnology ecosystem, having practiced law in the biotechnology industry since 1980. Mr. Mendelson started his career with Cooley LLP, where he was an associate and partner from 1973 through May 2000, when he joined Latham. At Latham, Mr. Mendelson served as the Global Co-Chair of the Life Sciences Industry Group. As of January 2021, The Legal 500, an industry publishing firm, ranked Mr. Mendelson among just four individuals receiving a star in its Hall of Fame for legal professionals serving the life sciences sector. In addition, Mr. Mendelson was recognized as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the

 

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United States by the National Law Journal in 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2006. Mr. Mendelson retired from Latham in December 2020.

Mr. Mendelson served as the incorporator of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) in April 1980 and played a leading role in all of the major transactions in which Amgen engaged during the first 10 years of its existence, including its sole round of venture capital financing, its IPO, a joint venture with Kirin Brewery, major research and development partnerships, a European convertible debt transaction and a co-promotion agreement for Europe with Roche. From April 1990 to April 1991, Mr. Mendelson served as secretary and acting general counsel of Amgen.

Mr. Mendelson brings extensive public company board and leadership experience in the life sciences sector. Mr. Mendelson currently serves as the corporate secretary and part-time general counsel of Blade Therapeutics, Inc. and corporate secretary of TriSalus Life Sciences, Inc., and on the Board of Directors at Coherus Biosciences (NASDAQ: CHRS) and several private companies, including BBI Medical Solutions LLC, Neuvogen, Inc., and Xomics Biopharma, Inc. He previously served on the Board of Directors at several public biotechnology companies, including Aviron Inc. (NASDAQ: AVIR), CV Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVTX), QLT, Inc. (NASDAQ: QLTI), and Valentis, Inc (NASDAQ: VLTS). Mr. Mendelson has also served as corporate secretary of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG), Corvus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CRVS), Eargo, Inc. (NASDAQ: EAR) and 4D Molecular Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FDMT). He also serves on the boards of trustees of the UC Berkeley Foundation and The Buck Institute for Research on Aging and on the board of directors of the National Kidney Foundation.

Mr. Mendelson received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Ross Haghighat

Ross Haghighat, one of our co-Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer, is a United States based business executive, serial entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. Mr. Haghighat is the founding partner at Jasper Capital Partners, an investment firm investing in transformational technology-inspired growth companies focused on Australia and Asia, and Chairman of Triton Systems, Inc, a private early to mid-stage product development and venture firm creating product-driven enterprises focusing on next-generation innovative technologies including microsensors, medical devices and immunotherapy. Mr. Haghighat has been a founder, co-founder, and board member of more than a dozen private and public technology companies in the US, Europe, China and Australia. During Mr. Haghighat’s expansive career as an operator, he raised over $1 billion in funding and generated in excess of $4 billion in shareholder value through his roles transforming companies from early-stage technology firms to successful corporations, as well as integrated divisions of Fortune 500 companies. From 1994 to 2001, Mr. Haghighat co-founded and led Coretek Inc, a photonic-based firm that developed the first tunable optoelectronic laser platform for telecom and was acquired by Nortel Networks in 2001 for $1.4 billion.

Mr. Haghighat currently serves on the Board of Directors at Chinook Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KDNY), a leading immunotherapy company targeting autoimmune, inflammatory renal and oncology diseases, where Mr. Haghighat is Chairman of the Transaction Committee; CITIC Capital Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: CCAC), a blank check company focused on consummating a deal within the clean technology industry in China or Asia; Mr. Haghighat serves as Chair of the Audit Committee, Fluence Corporation (ASX: FLC), a leading EGS global water treatment technology company, where Mr. Haghighat serves as Vice Chairman; Angel Medical Systems, a commercial-stage private medical device company with a pipeline of implantable cardiovascular devices with product distribution in US, Australia and Asia, where Mr. Haghighat serves as Lead Director, and FRX Polymers, Inc., a global sustainable specialty chemicals company, where Mr. Haghighat serves as Chairman. These roles position Mr. Haghighat to help identify next generation trends and equip him with the network and access to identify and select attractive targets that meet our acquisition criteria.

 

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Mr. Haghighat received a Bachelor of Science in Advanced Materials Engineering from Rutgers University and Master of Science in Organometalic Chemistry from Rutgers University, as well as an MBA from Boston College — Wallace E Carroll School of Management.

J. Leighton Read, M.D.

J. Leighton Read, M.D., one of our co-Chief Executive Officers and a director nominee, has over three decades of experience as a C-level and Board-level executive at leading health science firms. In addition to steering these firms toward commercial success at scale, Dr. Read has successfully engineered multiple exits to industry-leading strategic buyers, returning billions of dollars to shareholders in the process. From 2003 to 2005, Dr. Read served as founding Chief Executive Officer at Avidia, a biopharmaceutical company engaged in discovering and developing therapeutic proteins and continued on the board representing Alloy Ventures through its acquisition by Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) in September 2006. Prior to Avidia, Dr. Read served as the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aviron (NASDAQ: AVIR), the vaccine developer that created FluMist, leading the company through its initial public offering in November 1996 and continuing as Chairman and Director until its sale to MedImmune (NASDAQ: MEDI) in December 2001 for $1.5 billion. From 1988 to 1991, Dr. Read was Co-Founder and Managing Director of Affymax NV (NASDAQ: AFMXF), a research-stage biopharmaceutical company developing peptide-based drugs, which was later acquired by Glaxo in 1995 for $533 million.

Dr. Read also brings extensive board leadership experience, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of several biotechnology companies including Global Kinetics Corporation, a digital health company focused on the management of Parkinson’s disease, where Dr. Read is acting Executive Chairman, EBR Systems, a developer of wireless cardiac stimulation therapies, Allay Therapeutics, a developer of opioid-free solutions for treating postoperative pain, and Okogen, an ophthalmic specialty pharmaceutical company. Dr. Read previously served on the Board of Directors of Alexza (NASDAQ: ALXA), AnaptysBio (NASDAQ: ANAB), and CV Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVTX. He is also a founding director of BioVentures for Global Health and has served as a Trustee or Director for a number of other non-profit organizations, including the Santa Fe Institute, the Institute for Systems Biology, the UC Berkeley Foundation and BIO.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Read completed internal medicine training at Duke University and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and held faculty appointments at the Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health, where his research on decision theory and cost-effectiveness analysis contributed to some of the earliest efforts to demonstrate the economic value of biomedical innovation.

Dr. Read has brought his extensive operating experience into roles as a leading investor in the life science space, and currently serves as a Venture Partner at Brandon Capital Partners, Australia and New Zealand’s largest life science investment fund that manages the Medical Research Commercialization Fund. Dr. Read previously served as Managing Director at Alloy Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm targeting investments in life sciences, information technology and cleantech companies, where Dr. Read continues to serve as a Venture Partner. These roles position Dr. Read to gain early access to key industry trends and deal flow that will accelerate the process of evaluating and selecting an appropriate target for our shareholders.

Dr. Read holds a Bachelor of Science from Rice University and an M.D. from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Our Independent Board Members

Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D.

Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D., one of our director nominees, has a long and distinguished career as a leading entrepreneur, investor and academic leader in the biotechnology sector, and has been at the forefront of the development of the biotechnology industry over the last three decades. Dr. Lange founded CV Therapeutics

 

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(“CVT” and NASDAQ: CVTX), a biotechnology company focused on cardiovascular diseases, in 1992 and served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Lange led the initial public offering of CVT in 1996 after $50 million in venture investments and oversaw the commercial success of CVT, spearheading the growth of Ranexa® and Lexiscan®, two drugs with combined sales in excess of $1.5 billion dollars. Dr. Lange led the sale of CV Therapeutics to Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) in 2009 for $1.4 billion dollars, and stayed on as a Senior Advisor reporting to the Chief Executive Officer of Gilead Sciences until 2019.

After successfully selling CVT, Dr. Lange founded and sold two additional biotech companies. In 2017, GE Healthcare acquired Rapidscan Pharma Solutions (“RPS”), a developer of a biopharmaceutical stress agent used in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.

In 2015, Audentes Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BOLD) acquired gene therapy products developer Cardiogen Sciences; Dr. Lange stayed on as lead Director up to the sale of Audentes Therapeutics to Astellas Pharma (TYO:4503) in 2020 for $3.1 billion. Currently, Dr. Lange is a Partner at Asset Management Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investments in the digital health, technology, and life sciences sectors, sitting at the forefront of key innovation trends and deal flow within the biotechnology space. Dr. Lange has led over 12 investments across all areas of biotechnology companies.

In addition to Dr. Lange’s operational and investing experience, Dr. Lange spent 22 years in academic medicine at Harvard and Washington University, where he served as Chief of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine at Jewish Hospital at Washington University School of Medicine from 1985-1992 and was one of the first academicians in molecular cardiology. Currently, Dr. Lange serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Rochester, a role he has held since 1998. As Chair of the Health Affairs committee that oversees all of the medical operations for five years, Dr. Lange has been part of the leadership team for strategic re-invigoration of the medical center with construction of two research buildings and recruitment of over 100 faculty members.

Dr. Lange has also led the most respected industry and trade associations in the biotechnology sector. From 1999 to 2009, Dr. Lange served on the Board of Directors of Biotechnology Innovation Organization (the trade organization of biotech companies) leading the largest committee of member companies for two years and was picked as one of two biotech executives to attend the ceremonies at the White House for the signing of the Bioterrorism bill in 2004. Dr. Lange has been on numerous other public and private Boards in both the non-profit and for-profit arena, including the Institute of Systems Biology (“ISB”), a nonprofit biomedical research organization co-founded by industry stalwart Dr. Leroy (“Lee”) Hood, and the UCSF Gladstone Institute, an independent, nonprofit life science research organization located in the epicenter of biomedical and technological innovation in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr. Lange will leverage his extensive operating and academic experience and industry networks to work alongside the management team in identifying high-potential therapeutic areas and treatment approaches, as well as sourcing, evaluating and negotiating with potential targets.

Dr. Lange has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester, an M.D. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry, also from Harvard University.

Stephen Sherwin, M.D.

Stephen Sherwin, M.D., one of our Director nominees, is a medical oncologist who has spent over 35 years in the biotechnology industry, helping to create and manage companies that discover and develop new treatments for patients with cancer. During his career as a C-level executive, Dr. Sherwin co-founded and served as CEO and/or chairman of industry-leading biotechnology companies that generated over $2.0 billion in shareholder value. From 1990 to 2009, Dr. Sherwin served as the Chief Executive Officer of Cell Genesys, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEGE), a cancer immunotherapy company, and was its Chairman from 1994 until the company’s merger in 2009

 

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with BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., NASDAQ: ANIP). In addition, Dr. Sherwin co-founded and served as chairman of Abgenix, Inc.(NASDAQ: ABGX), an antibody company that was acquired by Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) in 2006 and co-founded and served as Chairman of Ceregene, Inc., a gene therapy company acquired by Sangamo Biosciences (NASDAQ: SGMO) in 2013. Prior to Cell Genesys, Dr. Sherwin served as Vice President of Clinical Research at Genentech (NYSE: DNA) and was the first medical doctor hired by the company. In addition to his corporate experience, Dr. Sherwin previously served on the board of directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization from 2001 to 2014 and as its chairman from 2009 to 2011.

Dr. Sherwin currently divides his time between advisory work in the life science industry and patient care and teaching in his specialty of medical oncology. Dr. Sherwin is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a volunteer Attending Physician in Hematology-Oncology at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. In addition, Dr. Sherwin currently serves as a Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures, a leading healthcare venture firm, and on the boards of directors of Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB), a multinational commercial-stage biotechnology company and Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: NBIX), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on neurological and endocrine diseases. Through his prior and current experiences and roles, Dr. Sherwin is uniquely able to lend his expertise on next-generation biotechnology trends to work with the team in sourcing an appropriate target with commercial and therapeutic potential, and to provide operational guidance that will be crucial in helping our target achieve successful commercialization and scale as a public company.

Dr. Sherwin received his Bachelor of Arts in Biology at Yale University, and his M.D. at Harvard Medical School.

Jonathan Rigby

Jonathan Rigby, one of our Director Nominees, brings over 30 years of experience leading private and publicly traded biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in the US, UK, and Israel, and is uniquely positioned to successfully prepare a high-potential target for a successful next phase in the public markets. Mr. Rigby is currently President, Group Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at REVOLO Biotherapeutics (formerly Immune Regulation Ltd and Inc.), a US and UK based clinical stage biotech company developing novel, first-in-class, drug therapies for autoimmune and allergic diseases. From 2011 to 2018, Mr. Rigby served as President and Chief Executive Officer of SteadyMed (NASDAQ: STDY), a US and Israel based company, and led its successful IPO and subsequent public to public company sale to United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR); he continued to lead the successful integration of the company until November 2019. Mr. Rigby brings extensive experience leading several other private biotechnology companies to the public markets including Xeris Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: XERS), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of drug delivery enabled pharmaceuticals, where he was a member of the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and member of the IPO pricing committee from 2016-2019. In 2006 Mr. Rigby conceived and co-founded Zogenix Inc. (NASDAQ: ZGNX), that is developing and commercializing transformative therapies for rare diseases, with a successful initial public offering in 2010. Earlier in his career, Mr. Rigby held various commercial roles at Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Mr. Rigby also currently serves on the Board of Directors at ImmunoMolecular Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing medicines for autoimmune diseases, and was previously Chairman of the Board at Collplant Biotechnologies (NASDAQ: CLGN), a regenerative medicine company. As a seasoned international Chief Executive Officer and Board member, Mr. Rigby will be instrumental in bringing his experience to guide an early-stage biopharmaceutical company through successful commercialization at scale.

Mr. Rigby has a Bachelor of Science Degree, with Honors, in Biological Sciences from Sheffield University, UK, and an MBA from Portsmouth University, UK.

 

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Glen Giovannetti

Glen Giovannetti, one of our director nominees, is a retired partner of Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”), where he was instrumental in spearheading the growth of the firm’s life sciences practice. Mr. Giovannetti is a widely recognized industry expert and thought leader, bringing over 36 years of deep life sciences domain knowledge, leadership success, risk and reporting expertise, and board governance credentials. At EY, Mr. Giovannetti served as the Global Biotechnology Leader (2007-2018) and Global Life Sciences Leader (2010-2016) and was intimately involved as lead partner on numerous IPOs and following-on offerings as well as consulting on alliance, merger, and spin-off transactions. Mr. Giovannetti supported client teams from the U.S., across Europe, China, India, Japan, and Brazil. Furthermore, Mr. Giovannetti’s team was responsible for producing EY’s industry leading Thought Leadership life sciences publications including the annual reports such as Progressions, Beyond Borders, and Pulse of the Industry. He is also a co-author of “Managing Biotechnology: From Science to Market in the Digital Age.” Mr. Giovannetti retired from EY in December 2020.

Mr. Giovannetti brings extensive company board and leadership experience in the life sciences sector. Mr. Giovannetti currently serves on the Board of Directors at XWPharma Ltd. (formerly XW Laboratories Inc.), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for patients with neurodegenerative diseases, and Teon Therapeutics, Inc., a developer of single-target small molecules intended to restore antitumor immunity and suppress cancer cell proliferation. Mr. Giovannetti previously served on the Board of Directors and as a Member of the Finance and Audit Committee at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (“BIO”). Furthermore, Mr. Giovannetti serves on the Board of Directors at Life Science Cares, a nonprofit organization that connects life science executives and companies with other nonprofits addressing issues of poverty in California, Boston, and Philadelphia.

Mr. Giovannetti holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Linfield College and is a CPA in Massachusetts and California (inactive).

Our Strategic Advisor

Sapna Srivastava, Ph.D.

Sapna Srivastava, Ph.D., our Strategic Advisor, is a seasoned finance and strategy executive in the biotechnology sector, and brings more than 20 years of experience as a Board member, CFO, and senior biotechnology research analyst. Dr. Srivastava spent over a decade at the leading investment banks on Wall Street, including at Goldman Sachs where she was the senior research analyst and team leader of the biotechnology group. Prior to that, Dr. Srivastava was the senior biotechnology analyst at Morgan Stanley and ThinkEquity Partners, LLC and began her career at J.P Morgan.

Since 2012, Dr. Srivastava has complemented her Wall Street experience with deep operational experience, having served as a Chief Financial Officer and independent board member and strategy advisor to several high growth potential, therapeutic focused, biotechnology companies, and co-founded a neuroscience focused biotechnology company. Dr. Srivastava is currently the Chief Financial Officer for eGenesis, a company focused on transforming the field of transplantation. Prior to this, she most recently served as the Chief Financial and Strategy Officer for Abide Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company developing serine hydrolase inhibitors with a focus on neurological diseases, from September 2017 to January 2019; the company was acquired by H. Lundbeck A/S (CPH:LUN) in May 2019. Prior to this, Dr. Srivastava served as the Chief Financial and Strategy Officer for Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NTLA), a leading gene editing company, from April 2015 to December 2016, where she played a key role in setting the strategic direction of the company, and in equity financings including leading the company through its initial public offering in May 2016.

Dr. Srivastava also currently serves on the Board of Directors of SQZ Biotechnology (NYSE: SQZ), a biotechnology company that develops cell therapies for patients with cancer, infectious diseases, and other serious conditions, Talaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TALS), a late-clinical stage biotechnology company that is developing a cell therapy that eliminates the burden of chronic immunosuppression for organ transplant

 

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recipients and treats patients with autoimmune disorders and other serious conditions, and Asclepix Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company using computational biology to identify and develop potent peptide regulators of vascular homeostasis that is disrupted in retinal and oncologic diseases. Dr. Srivastava is also an independent director nominee for Social Capital Suvretta Holdings Corp II, a blank check company focused on a business combination within the biotechnology industry within the oncology subsector of such industry.

Dr. Srivastava received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from New York University and her B.Sc. from St. Xavier’s College in India.

Acquisition Criteria

Our management team plans to proactively and aggressively search for potential global life sciences business combination candidates using the relationships of our management team and board of directors with company executives, venture capitalists and growth equity firms. Our management and board nominees each have decades of operational and investment experience in both the private and public sectors of the life sciences industry and extensive networks with current industry investors and executives as a result of that experience. We believe that the direct sourcing opportunity this collective experience and network affords will allow us to competitively identify actionable business combination opportunities efficiently and effectively.

We have identified the following criteria that will serve as guidelines for evaluating acquisition opportunities, which we expect to apply during our search. All are indicators of compelling growth potential. The attributes we most strongly seek include the following:

 

   

Industry: We intend to focus on the global life sciences industry, where we have deep knowledge and expertise. We believe our team’s extensive operational, investment and leadership experience within the life sciences sector uniquely positions us to a) identify assets globally and across multiple therapeutic areas, including, but not limited to, oncology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, gene therapy, gene editing, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, b) evaluate and support the operating plan for a post-transactional path to successful development of the asset(s) and/or sale to a strategic buyer; and c) negotiate favorable terms for maximal shareholder value creation;

 

   

Stage: We believe that a compelling opportunity exists for investing in a company with strong preclinical or clinical data driving confidence in successful clinical proof of concept;

 

   

Scientific fundamentals: We intend to seek a target business with fundamental scientific data that indicate a drug candidate or platform has high potential to generate a differentiated therapeutic approach that will alter or significantly enhance the treatment paradigm for patients, physicians and health systems;

 

   

Market potential: We intend to focus on a first-in-class or best-in-class potential asset which addresses a significant unmet need that also represents meaningful commercial opportunities, with clear significant value inflection drivers in a 18 to 24 months’ time frame;

 

   

Strong management: We intend to seek companies with the key elements of a strong management team already in place. We will spend significant time assessing a company’s leadership and culture, and the potential to complement its leaders with our additional deep experience;

 

   

Will benefit from being public: We intend to seek companies that can inherently benefit from a public listing. These inherent benefits include greater capital available for optimizing and accelerating pipeline and/or platform development, enhanced access to debt and equity capital markets, and more tangible incentives for employee share compensation;

 

   

Strategic alliance opportunities: We plan to leverage our deep relationships with large pharmaceutical companies and knowledge of their strategies to define a development path for our target company’s programs that maximizes its potential for value creating strategic alliances. Moreover, our management team and Directors have extensive experience in developing emerging public life sciences companies and in executing M&A transactions.

 

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These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this 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. 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.

We intend to acquire a company with an enterprise value significantly above the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the placement units. Depending on the size of the transaction or the number of public shares we become obligated to redeem, we may potentially utilize several additional financing sources, including but not limited to the issuance of additional securities to the sellers of a target business, debt issued by banks or other lenders or the owners of the target, a PIPE to raise additional funds, or a combination of the foregoing. 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 to meet our obligations or our working capital needs, we may need to obtain additional financing.

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 deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing 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 either (i) in such a way so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses, 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 target management team or shareholders, 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 of 1940, as amended, or the “Investment Company Act.” Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the 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 share capital of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued

 

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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 is 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 shareholder approval, as applicable.

Our Business Combination Process

In evaluating prospective business combinations, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review process that will encompass, among other things, a review of historical and projected financial and operating data, meetings with management and their advisors (if applicable), on-site inspection of facilities and assets, discussion with customers and suppliers, legal reviews and other reviews as we deem appropriate. We will also seek to utilize the expertise of our management team in analyzing life sciences companies and evaluating operating projections, financial projections and determining the appropriate return expectations given the risk profile of the target business.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

Certain of our officers and directors presently have fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations to present the opportunity to such entity, he may need to honor his fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will not materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that we renounce, to the maximum extent permitted by law, our interest or expectancy in, or being offered an opportunity to participate in any business combination opportunity: (i) which may be a corporate opportunity for both us and our sponsor or its affiliates and any companies in which our sponsor or its affiliates have invested about which any of the officers or directors acquire knowledge; or (ii) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to another entity, and we will waive any claim or cause of action we may have in respect thereof. In addition, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will contain provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to our company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity.

In addition, our officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved.

Our Management Team and Board of Directors

Members of our management team and board of directors are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they, in the exercise of their respective

 

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business judgement, deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any member of our management team will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process. We do not have an employment agreement with any member of our management team. In addition, while primary responsibility for managing our company will be assumed by the management team, we believe that our board of directors will be more highly engaged than those of other special purpose acquisition companies, and we have structured our equity compensation for our management team and board of directors in order to appropriately incentivize our team to work together collaboratively in order to achieve our objectives.

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

Status as a Public Company

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As a public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. Following an initial business combination, we believe the target business would have greater access to capital and additional means of creating management incentives that are better aligned with shareholders’ interests than it would as a private company. A target business can further benefit by augmenting its profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers.

Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, marketing and road show efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with an initial business combination with us.

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

While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our

 

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lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.

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

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

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of 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 Class A ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

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

Financial Position

With funds available for an initial business combination initially in the amount of $212,300,000, after payment of $7,700,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $243,485,000 after payment of $9,515,000 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), in each case before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.

Effecting Our Initial Business Combination

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the placement units, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in

 

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connection with our initial business combination (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. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.

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

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

Sources of Target Businesses

We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and investment professionals. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us by calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as our sponsor and their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors and our sponsor and their affiliates. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee, advisory fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. We may pay our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation in connection with identifying, investigating and completing our initial business combination, which may be paid from the proceeds held in the trust account upon consummation of an initial business combination. We have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space,

 

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utilities and secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an initial business combination candidate.

Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an initial business combination candidate.

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

As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Management — Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of an initial business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of 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 deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. The fair market value of our initial business combination will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation, a valuation based on trading multiples of comparable public businesses or a valuation based on the financial metrics of M&A transactions of comparable businesses. 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. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be taken into

 

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account for purposes of NASDAQ’s 80% fair market value test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.

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

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

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

Lack of Business Diversification

For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. In addition, we intend to focus our search for an initial business combination in a single industry. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

 

   

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

 

   

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

Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team

Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’ management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.

We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

 

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Following an initial business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.

Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination

We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons.

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

Permitted Purchases of our Securities

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase 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 shareholders, 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 shares or public warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination.

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 shareholder 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 warrantholders 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

 

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possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares 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 sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of ordinary shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchases are subject to such reporting requirements.

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

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account 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, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and (along with Cantor) placement shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.

Manner of Conducting Redemptions

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting of the shareholders of the company called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder 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 shareholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Under NASDAQ rules, asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association would require shareholder approval. If we structure an initial business combination with a target company in a manner that requires

 

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shareholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a shareholder vote to approve the proposed initial business combination. We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless shareholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek shareholder 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 such rules.

If shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association:

 

   

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

 

   

file proxy materials with the SEC.

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

If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive the approval of an ordinary resolution or such higher percentage as may be required by Cayman Islands law, and pursuant to our amended and restated articles of association. A quorum for such meeting will be present if the holders of one third of the issued and outstanding shares of the company entitled to vote at such meeting are represented in person or by proxy. Our initial shareholders will count toward this quorum and pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and placement shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking an ordinary resolution, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares and placement shares, we would need only 8,150,001, or 37.0%, of the 22,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), or none (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum (being one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote at the meeting) are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 22,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have such initial business combination approved, assuming no other resolution or approval is required pursuant to Cayman Islands or other applicable law (see “Description of Securities—Certain Differences in Corporate Law”). 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 shareholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association:

 

   

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

 

   

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

Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

 

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

Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed initial business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed initial business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed 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 Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

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

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the 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, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” Such restriction shall also be applicable to our affiliates. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed initial business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with 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 shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.

Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with Redemption Rights

We may require our public shareholders 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 up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination, or to deliver their

 

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shares to the transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The proxy materials that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have up to two days prior to the vote on the initial business combination to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

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

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

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date of the general meeting of the shareholders of the company. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.

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

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

Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination

Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such 24 month period, we will: (1) cease all operations except

 

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for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 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 (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable and expenses relating to the administration of the trust account), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24 month time period. Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that, if a resolution of the Company’s shareholders is passed pursuant to the Companies Act to commence the voluntary liquidation of the company, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.

Our initial shareholders have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares and (along with Cantor) placement shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial shareholders acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 24 month time period.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and expenses relating to the administration of the trust account), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions.

We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the $750,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes and expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.

If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.

 

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Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver only if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm and the underwriters of the offering will not execute an agreement with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, 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. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent auditors) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our other officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.00 per share.

We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors),

 

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prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $750,000 from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,250,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,250,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

If we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable insolvency law, and may be included in our insolvency estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any insolvency claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a winding up petition or a winding up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or insolvency laws as a voidable preference. As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or 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.

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

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

 

    

Redemptions in Connection
with our Initial Business
Combination

  

Other Permitted Purchases
of Public Shares by us or
our Affiliates

  

Redemptions if we fail
to Complete an Initial
Business Combination

Calculation of redemption price

   Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be    If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination,    If we are unable to complete our initial business combination

 

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Redemptions in Connection
with our Initial Business
Combination

  

Other Permitted Purchases
of Public Shares by us or
our Affiliates

  

Redemptions if we fail
to Complete an Initial
Business Combination

   made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a shareholder vote. In either case, our public shareholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 as described elsewhere in this prospectus and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed initial business combination.    our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market prior to or following completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit to the prices that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may pay in these transactions.    within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share) including 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.

 

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Redemptions in Connection
with our Initial Business
Combination

  

Other Permitted Purchases
of Public Shares by us or
our Affiliates

  

Redemptions if we fail
to Complete an Initial
Business Combination

Impact to remaining shareholders

   The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining shareholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable.    If the permitted purchases described above are made there would be no impact to our remaining shareholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us.    The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial shareholders, who will be our only remaining shareholders after such redemptions.

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

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

 

    

Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Escrow of offering proceeds    $220,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the placement units will be deposited into a trust account in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and UBS Financial Services and Morgan Stanley Wealth Management acting as investment managers.    Approximately $187,110,000 of the offering proceeds would be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account.
Investment of net proceeds    $220,000,000 of the net offering proceeds and the sale of the placement units held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.    Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States.

Receipt of interest on escrowed funds

   Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to shareholders is reduced by (i) any taxes paid or payable, and (ii) in the event of    Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation.    were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination.

Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business

   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 deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination.    The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.
Trading of securities issued    We expect the units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Cantor informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, an additional Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the over-allotment option.    No trading of the units or the underlying Class A ordinary shares and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account.

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Exercise of the warrants    The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering.    The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account.
Election to remain an investor    We will provide our public shareholders 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 our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a shareholder vote. 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. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a shareholder vote, we will, pursuant to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. 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    A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if it elects to remain a shareholder of the company or require the return of its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the shareholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued.

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   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. If, however, we hold a shareholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if it is approved by an ordinary resolution or such higher percentage as may be required by Cayman Islands law, and pursuant to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of outstanding shares of the company representing one third of the voting power of all issued and outstanding shares of the company entitled to vote at such meeting.   
Business combination deadline    If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number    If a business combination has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors.

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.   

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

   If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that a public shareholder (including our affiliates), together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares (more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering). Our public shareholders’ inability to redeem Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and they could suffer a material loss on their investment in us if they sell any Excess Shares in open market transactions.    Many blank check companies provide no restrictions on the ability of shareholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such shareholders in connection with an initial business combination.

Tendering share certificates in connection with redemption rights

   We may require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to    In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, holders could vote against a proposed initial business combination and

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   either tender their certificates to our transfer agent up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC System, at the holder’s option. The proxy materials that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have up to two days prior to the vote on the initial business combination to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights.    check a box on the proxy card indicating such holders were seeking to exercise their redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholders to arrange for them to deliver their certificate to verify ownership.
Release of funds    Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our tax obligations and up to $100,000 of interest that may be used for our dissolution expenses, the proceeds held in the trust account will not be released until 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 shareholder vote to amend our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (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 articles prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity and (iii) the    The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   redemption of 100% of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time frame (subject to the requirements of applicable law). On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be released to us, less amounts released to a separate account controlled by the trustee for disbursal to redeeming shareholders. We will use these funds to pay amounts due to any public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public shareholders upon completion of our initial business combination,” to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination.   

Competition

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

Facilities

Our executive offices are located at 260 Madison Avenue, Suite 800, New York, New York 10016, and our telephone number is (212) 287-4092. Our executive offices are provided to us by our sponsor. Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

 

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Employees

We currently have two officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary, in the exercise of their respective business judgement, to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the initial business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. We do not have an employment agreement with any member of our management team.

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

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

We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to shareholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential targets we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination. Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.

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 Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

Legal Proceedings

There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.

 

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MANAGEMENT AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Officers, Directors and Director Nominees

Our officers, directors and director nominees are as follows:

 

Name

   Age     

Position

Alan C. Mendelson

     73      Chairman

Ross Haghighat

     57      Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer

J. Leighton Read, M.D.

     70      Co-Chief Executive Officer

Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D.

     72      Director nominee

Stephen Sherwin, M.D.

     72      Director nominee

Jonathan Rigby

     53      Director nominee

Glen Giovannetti

     58      Director nominee

Alan C. Mendelson, our Chairman, is a Retired Partner of Latham & Watkins LLP (“Latham”), where he spearheaded the growth of the partnership’s life sciences practice. Mr. Mendelson is widely recognized as a leading figure in the biotechnology ecosystem, having practiced law in the biotechnology industry since 1980. Mr. Mendelson started his career with Cooley LLP, where he was an associate and partner from 1973 through May 2000, when he joined Latham. At Latham, Mr. Mendelson served as the Global Co-Chair of the Life Sciences Industry Group. As of January 2021, The Legal 500, an industry publishing firm, ranked Mr. Mendelson among just four individuals receiving a star in its Hall of Fame for legal professionals serving the life sciences sector. In addition, Mr. Mendelson was recognized as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the United States by the National Law Journal in 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2006. Mr. Mendelson retired from Latham in December 2020.

Mr. Mendelson served as the incorporator of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) in April 1980 and played a leading role in all of the major transactions in which Amgen engaged during the first 10 years of its existence, including its sole round of venture capital financing, its IPO, a joint venture with Kirin Brewery, major research and development partnerships, a European convertible debt transaction and a co-promotion agreement for Europe with Roche. From April 1990 to April 1991, Mr. Mendelson served as secretary and acting general counsel of Amgen.

Mr. Mendelson brings extensive public company board and leadership experience in the life sciences sector. Mr. Mendelson currently serves as the corporate secretary and part-time general counsel of Blade Therapeutics, Inc. and corporate secretary of TriSalus Life Sciences, Inc., and on the Board of Directors at Coherus Biosciences (NASDAQ: CHRS) and several private companies, including BBI Medical Solutions LLC, Neuvogen, Inc., and Xomics Biopharma, Inc. He previously served on the Board of Directors at several public biotechnology companies, including Aviron Inc. (NASDAQ: AVIR), CV Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVTX), QLT, Inc. (NASDAQ: QLTI), and Valentis, Inc (NASDAQ: VLTS). Mr. Mendelson has also served as corporate secretary of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG), Corvus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CRVS), Eargo, Inc. (NASDAQ: EAR) and 4D Molecular Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FDMT). He also serves on the boards of trustees of the UC Berkeley Foundation and The Buck Institute for Research on Aging and on the board of directors of the National Kidney Foundation.

Mr. Mendelson received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

We believe that Mr. Mendelson is qualified to serve as our Chairman due to his extensive outside counsel and board experience in the life sciences industry.

Ross Haghighat, one of our co-Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer, is a United States based business executive, serial entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. Mr. Haghighat is the founding partner at Jasper Capital Partners, an investment firm investing in transformational technology-inspired growth companies focused on Australia and Asia, and Chairman of Triton Systems, Inc, a private early to mid-stage product

 

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development and venture firm creating product-driven enterprises focusing on next-generation innovative technologies including microsensors, medical devices, immunotherapy. Mr. Haghighat has been a founder, co-founder, and board member of more than a dozen private and public technology companies in the US, Europe, China and Australia. During Mr. Haghighat’s expansive career as an operator, he raised over $1 billion in funding and generated in excess of $4 billion in shareholder value through his roles transforming companies from early-stage technology firms to successful corporations, as well as integrated divisions of Fortune 500 companies. From 1994 to 2001, Mr. Haghighat co-founded and led Coretek Inc, a photonic-based firm that developed the first tunable optoelectronic laser platform for telecom and was acquired by Nortel Networks in 2001 for $1.4 billion.

Mr. Haghighat currently serves on the Board of Directors at Chinook Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KDNY), a leading immunotherapy company targeting autoimmune, inflammatory renal and oncology diseases, where Mr. Haghighat is Chairman of the Transaction Committee; CITIC Capital Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: CCAC), a blank check company focused on consummating a deal within the clean technology industry in China or Asia; Mr. Haghighat serves as Chair of the Audit Committee, Fluence Corporation (ASX: FLC), a leading EGS global water treatment technology company, where Mr. Haghighat serves as Vice Chairman; Angel Medical Systems, a commercial stage private medical device company with a pipeline of implantable cardiovascular devices with product distribution in US, Australia and Asia, where Mr. Haghighat serves as Lead Director and FRX Polymers, Inc., a global sustainable specialty chemicals company, where Mr. Haghighat serves as Chairman. These roles position Mr. Haghighat to help identify next generation trends, and equip him with the network and access to identify and select attractive targets that meet our acquisition criteria.

Mr. Haghighat received a Bachelor of Science in Advanced Materials Engineering from Rutgers University and Master of Science in Organometalic Chemistry from Rutgers University, as well as an MBA from Boston College — Wallace E Carroll School of Management.

We believe that Mr. Haghighat is qualified to serve as our co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer due to his extensive operational, financial management and board experience in the life sciences industry.

J. Leighton Read, M.D., one of our co-Chief Executive Officers and a Director nominee, has over three decades of experience as a C-level and Board-level executive at leading health science firms. In addition to steering these firms toward commercial success at scale, Dr. Read has successfully engineered multiple exits to industry-leading strategic buyers, returning billions of dollars to shareholders in the process. From 2003 to 2005, Dr. Read served as founding Chief Executive Officer at Avidia, a biopharmaceutical company engaged in discovering and developing therapeutic proteins and continued on the board representing Alloy Ventures through its acquisition by Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) in September 2006. Prior to Avidia, Dr. Read served as the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aviron (NASDAQ: AVIR), the vaccine developer that created FluMist, leading the company through its initial public offering in November 1996 and continuing as Chairman and Director until its sale to MedImmune (NASDAQ: MEDI) in December 2001 for $1.5 billion. From 1988 to 1991, Dr. Read was Co-Founder and Managing Director of Affymax NV (NASDAQ: AFMXF), a research-stage biopharmaceutical company developing peptide-based drugs, which was later acquired by Glaxo in 1995 for $533 million.

Dr. Read also brings extensive board leadership experience, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of several biotechnology companies including Global Kinetics Corporation, a digital health company focused on the management of Parkinson’s disease, where Dr. Read is acting Executive Chairman, EBR Systems, a developer of wireless cardiac stimulation therapies, Allay Therapeutics, a developer of opioid-free solutions for treating postoperative pain, and Okogen, an ophthalmic specialty pharmaceutical company. Dr. Read previously served on the Board of Directors of Alexza (NASDAQ: ALXA), AnaptysBio (NASDAQ: ANAB), and CV Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVTX. He is also a founding director of BioVentures for Global Health and has served as a Trustee or Director for a number of other non-profit organizations, including the Santa Fe Institute, the Institute for Systems Biology, the UC Berkeley Foundation and BIO.

 

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Earlier in his career, Dr. Read completed internal medicine training at Duke University and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and held faculty appointments at the Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health, where his research on decision theory and cost-effectiveness analysis contributed to some of the earliest efforts to demonstrate the economic value of biomedical innovation.

Dr. Read has brought his extensive operating experience into roles as a leading investor in the life science space, and currently serves as a Venture Partner at Brandon Capital Partners, Australia and New Zealand’s largest life science investment fund that manages the Medical Research Commercialization Fund. Dr. Read previously served as Managing Director at Alloy Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm targeting investments in life sciences, information technology and cleantech companies, where Dr. Read continues to serve as a Venture Partner. These roles position Dr. Read to gain early access to key industry trends and deal flow that will accelerate the process of evaluating and selecting an appropriate target for our shareholders.

Dr. Read holds a Bachelor of Science from Rice University and an M.D. from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

We believe that Dr. Read is qualified to serve on our board of directors and as our co-Chief Executive Officer due to his extensive executive and board experience in the life sciences industry.

Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D., one of our Director nominees, has a long and distinguished career as a leading entrepreneur, investor and academic leader in the biotechnology sector, and has been at the forefront of the development of the biotechnology industry over the last three decades. Dr. Lange founded CV Therapeutics (“CVT”), a biotechnology company focused on cardiovascular diseases, in 1992 and served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Lange led the initial public offering of CVT in 1996 after $50 million in venture investments and oversaw the commercial success of CVT, spearheading the growth of Ranexa® and Lexiscan®, two drugs with combined sales in excess of $1.5 billion dollars. Dr. Lange led the sale of CV Therapeutics to Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) in 2009 for $1.4 billion dollars, and stayed on as a Senior Advisor reporting to the Chief Executive Officer of Gilead Sciences until 2019.

After successfully selling CVT, Dr. Lange founded and sold two additional biotech companies. In 2017, GE Healthcare acquired Rapidscan Pharma Solutions (“RPS”), a developer of a biopharmaceutical stress agent used in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.

In 2015, Audentes Therapeutics acquired gene therapy products developer Cardiogen Sciences; Dr. Lange stayed on as lead Director up to the sale of Audentes Therapeutics to Astellas Pharma (TYO:4503) in 2020 for $3.1 billion. Currently, Dr. Lange is a Partner at Asset Management Ventures (“AMV”), an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investments in the digital health, technology, and life sciences sectors, sitting at the forefront of key innovation trends and deal flow within the biotechnology space. Dr. Lange has led over 12 investments across all areas of biotechnology companies.

In addition to Dr. Lange’s operational and investing experience, Dr. Lange spent 22 years in academic medicine at Harvard and Washington University, where he served as Chief of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine at Jewish Hospital at Washington University School of Medicine from 1985-1992 and was one of the first academicians in molecular cardiology. Currently, Dr. Lange serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Rochester, a role he has held since 1998. As Chair of the Health Affairs committee that oversees all of the medical operations for five years, Dr. Lange has been part of the leadership team for strategic re-invigoration of the medical center with construction of two research buildings and recruitment of over 100 faculty members.

Dr. Lange has also led the most respected industry and trade associations in the biotechnology sector. From 1999 to 2009, Dr. Lange served on the Board of Directors of Biotechnology Innovation Organization (the trade organization of biotech companies) leading the largest committee of member companies for two years and was picked as one of two biotech

 

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executives to attend the ceremonies at the White House for the signing of the Bioterrorism bill in 2004. Dr. Lange has been on numerous other public and private Boards in both the non-profit and for-profit arena, including the Institute of Systems Biology (“ISB”), a nonprofit biomedical research organization co-founded by industry stalwart Dr. Leroy (“Lee”) Hood, and the UCSF Gladstone Institute, an independent, nonprofit life science research organization located in the epicenter of biomedical and technological innovation in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr. Lange will leverage his extensive operating and academic experience and industry networks to work alongside the management team in identifying high-potential therapeutic areas and treatment approaches, as well as sourcing, evaluating and negotiating with potential targets. Dr. Lange has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester, an M.D. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry, also from Harvard University.

We believe that Dr. Lange is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive entrepreneurial, investment and academic experience in the life sciences industry.

Stephen Sherwin, M.D., one of our Director nominees, is a medical oncologist who has spent over 35 years in the biotechnology industry, helping to create and manage companies that discover and develop new treatments for patients with cancer. During his career as a C-level executive, Dr. Sherwin co-founded and served as CEO and/or chairman of industry-leading biotechnology companies that generated over $2.0 billion in shareholder value. From 1990 to 2009, Dr. Sherwin served as the Chief Executive Officer of Cell Genesys, Inc., a cancer immunotherapy company, and was its Chairman from 1994 until the company’s merger in 2009 with BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). In addition, Dr. Sherwin co-founded and served as chairman of Abgenix, Inc., an antibody company that was acquired by Amgen Inc.in 2006 and co-founded and served as Chairman of Ceregene, Inc., a gene therapy company acquired by Sangamo Biosciences in 2013. Prior to Cell Genesys, Dr. Sherwin served as Vice President of Clinical Research at Genentech and was the first medical doctor hired by the company. In addition to his corporate experience, Dr. Sherwin previously served on the board of directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization from 2001 to 2014 and as its chairman from 2009 to 2011.

Dr. Sherwin currently divides his time between advisory work in the life science industry and patient care and teaching in his specialty of medical oncology. Dr. Sherwin is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a volunteer Attending Physician in Hematology-Oncology at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. In addition, Dr. Sherwin currently serves as a Venture Partner at Third Rock Ventures, a leading healthcare venture firm, and on the boards of directors of Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB), a multinational commercial-stage biotechnology company and Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: NBIX), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on neurological and endocrine diseases. Through his prior and current experiences and roles, Dr. Sherwin is uniquely able to lend his expertise on next-generation biotechnology trends to work with the team in sourcing an appropriate target with commercial and therapeutic potential, and to provide operational guidance that will be crucial in helping our target achieve successful commercialization and scale as a public company. Dr. Sherwin received his Bachelor of Arts in Biology at Yale University, and his M.D. at Harvard Medical School.

We believe that Dr. Sherwin is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive executive, venture and academic experience in the life sciences industry.

Jonathan Rigby, one of our Director Nominees, brings over 30 years of experience leading private and publicly traded biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in the US, UK, and Israel, and is uniquely positioned to successfully prepare a high-potential target for a successful next phase in the public markets. Mr. Rigby is currently President, Group Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at REVOLO Biotherapeutics (formerly Immune Regulation Ltd and Inc.), a US and UK based clinical stage biotech company developing novel, first-in-class, drug therapies for autoimmune and allergic diseases. From 2011 to 2018, Mr. Rigby served as President and Chief Executive Officer of SteadyMed (NASDAQ: STDY), a US and Israel based company, and led its successful IPO and subsequent public to public company sale to United Therapeutics

 

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(NASDAQ: UTHR); he continued to lead the successful integration of the company until November 2019. Mr. Rigby brings extensive experience leading several other private biotechnology companies to the public markets including Xeris Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: XERS), a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of drug delivery enabled pharmaceuticals, where he was a member of the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and member of the IPO pricing committee from 2016-2019. In 2006 Mr. Rigby conceived and co-founded Zogenix Inc. (NASDAQ: ZGNX), that is developing and commercializing transformative therapies for rare diseases, with a successful initial public offering in 2010. Earlier in his career, Mr. Rigby held various commercial roles at Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Mr. Rigby also currently serves on the Board of Directors at ImmunoMolecular Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing medicines for autoimmune diseases, and was previously Chairman of the Board at Collplant Biotechnologies (NASDAQ: CLGN), a regenerative medicine company. As a seasoned international Chief Executive Officer and Board member, Mr. Rigby will be instrumental in bringing his experience to guide an early-stage biopharmaceutical company through successful commercialization at scale. Mr. Rigby has a Bachelor of Science Degree, with Honors, in Biological Sciences from Sheffield University, UK, and an MBA from Portsmouth University, UK.

We believe that Mr. Rigby is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive operational and board experience in the life sciences industry.

Glen Giovannetti, one of our Director nominees, is a retired partner of Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”), where he was instrumental in spearheading the growth of the firm’s life sciences practice. Mr. Giovannetti is a widely recognized industry expert and thought leader, bringing over 36 years of deep life sciences domain knowledge, leadership success, risk and reporting expertise, and board governance credentials. At EY, Mr. Giovannetti served as the Global Biotechnology Leader (2007-2018) and Global Life Sciences Leader (2010-2016) and was intimately involved as lead partner on numerous IPOs and following-on offerings as well as consulting on alliance, merger, and spin-off transactions. Mr. Giovannetti supported client teams from the U.S., across Europe, China, India, Japan, and Brazil. Furthermore, Mr. Giovannetti’s team was responsible for producing EY’s industry leading Thought Leadership life sciences publications including the annual reports such as Progressions, Beyond Borders, and Pulse of the Industry. He is also a co-author of “Managing Biotechnology: From Science to Market in the Digital Age.” Mr. Giovannetti retired from EY in December 2020.

Mr. Giovannetti brings extensive company board and leadership experience in the life sciences sector. Mr. Giovannetti currently serves on the Board of Directors at XWPharma Ltd. (formerly XW Laboratories Inc.), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for patients with neurodegenerative diseases, and Teon Therapeutics, Inc., a developer of single-target small molecules intended to restore antitumor immunity and suppress cancer cell proliferation. Mr. Giovannetti previously served on the Board of Directors and as a Member of the Finance and Audit Committee at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (“BIO”). Furthermore, Mr. Giovannetti serves on the Board of Directors at Life Science Cares, a nonprofit organization that connects life science executives and companies with other nonprofits addressing issues of poverty in California, Boston, and Philadelphia.

Mr. Giovannetti holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Linfield College and is a CPA in Massachusetts and California (inactive).

We believe that Mr. Giovannetti is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his background in financial reporting and governance, extensive experience working with life science industry clients at EY, and his board experience in the life sciences industry.

Our Strategic Advisor

Sapna Srivastava, Ph.D., our Strategic Advisor, is a seasoned finance and strategy executive in the biotechnology sector, and brings more than 20 years of experience as a Board member, CFO, and senior biotechnology research analyst. Dr. Srivastava spent over a decade at the leading investment banks on Wall

 

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Street, including at Goldman Sachs where she was the senior research analyst and team leader of the biotechnology group. Prior to that, Dr. Srivastava was the senior biotechnology analyst at Morgan Stanley and ThinkEquity Partners, LLC and began her career at J.P Morgan.

Since 2012, Dr. Srivastava has complemented her Wall Street experience with deep operational experience, having served as a Chief Financial Officer and independent board member and strategy advisor to several high growth potential, therapeutic focused, biotechnology companies, and co-founded a neuroscience focused biotechnology company. Dr. Srivastava is currently the Chief Financial Officer for eGenesis, a company focused on transforming the field of transplantation. Prior to that, she most recently served as the Chief Financial and Strategy Officer for Abide Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company developing serine hydrolase inhibitors with a focus on neurological diseases, from September 2017 to January 2019; the company was acquired by H. Lundbeck A/S (CPH:LUN) in May 2019. Prior to this, Dr. Srivastava served as the Chief Financial and Strategy Officer for Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NTLA), a leading gene editing company, from April 2015 to December 2016, where she played a key role in setting the strategic direction of the company, and in equity financings including leading the company through its initial public offering in May 2016.

Dr. Srivastava also currently serves on the Board of Directors of SQZ Biotechnology (NYSE: SQZ), a biotechnology company that develops cell therapies for patients with cancer, infectious diseases, and other serious conditions, Talaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TALS), a late-clinical stage biotechnology company that is developing a cell therapy that eliminates the burden of chronic immunosuppression for organ transplant recipients and treats patients with autoimmune disorders and other serious conditions, and Asclepix Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company using computational biology to identify and develop potent peptide regulators of vascular homeostasis that is disrupted in retinal and oncologic diseases. Dr. Srivastava is also a director nominee for Social Capital Suvretta Holdings Corp II, a blank check company focused on a business combination within the biotechnology industry. Dr. Srivastava received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from New York University and her B.Sc. from St. Xavier’s College in India.

Advisors

Alex Vieux is the chief executive officer of Herring International, a Belgian corporation. Over the last 35 years, he has worked with and engaged C-suite executives from five continents, scouting disruptive companies later embraced by the markets. Red Herring has ranked the most prominent startups in the global technology industry and featured them in its publication since 1993. Many of the Red Herring “Top 100” end up being acquired or going public. Mr. Vieux started his career at Arthur Andersen/Accenture. Then he co-founded two technology companies, C•ATS Software and Renaissance Software, both fintech startups that either went public or were sold in the 1990’s. He also founded ETRE, The European Technology Roundtable Exhibition a yearly forum assembling 800 technology world leaders. He was elected on the board of directors of Tandem Computers and Computer Associates (listed on NYSE) Checkpoint Software, Commerce One, and Qualys (listed on NASDAQ) as well as dozens of private companies. He served as an advisor to Chaserg Technology Acquisition Corp. (formerly NASDAQ: CTAC), a blank-check company which consummated its initial business combination in March 2020, serves as an advisor to Apex Technology Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: APXT), a blank-check company which entered into an agreement concerning an initial business combination in November 2020, serves as an advisor to E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: ETAC), a blank check company focused on a business combination within the technology industry, serves as an advisor to Carney Technology Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ: CTAQ), a blank check company focused on a business combination within the technology industry, and serves as an advisor to Epiphany Technology Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: EPHY), a blank check company focused on a business combination within the technology industry. A graduate of the Institute d’Etudes Politiques and the French business school HEC, Mr. Vieux also holds a law degree from the Universite de Paris and an M.B.A. from Stanford University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

Steven Fletcher advised numerous technology companies on mergers, acquisitions and other strategic transactions in his 24 year career as an investment banker. Mr. Fletcher worked in the Investment Banking

 

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Division at Goldman Sachs for more than eight years, where he held a number of leadership roles including head of Information Technology Services banking, head of Systems and Storage banking and head of the Private Placement Group. In 2003, he helped to start a new investment bank, GCA (formerly known as Savvian LLC), which has grown to over 400 professionals. Mr. Fletcher was a member of GCA’s U.S. management committee and head of the software group and co-head of the digital media group. Mr. Fletcher has worked on transactions with companies including some of the biggest names in the technology industry as well as hundreds of growth and middle-market technology companies. He served as an advisor to Chaserg Technology Acquisition Corp. (formerly NASDAQ: CTAC), a blank-check company which consummated its initial business combination in March 2020, serves as an advisor to Apex Technology Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: APXT), a blank-check company which entered into an agreement concerning an initial business combination in November 2020, serves as an advisor to E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: ETAC), a blank check company focused on a business combination within the technology industry, serves as an advisor to Carney Technology Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ: CTAQ), a blank check company focused on a business combination within the technology industry, serves as an advisor to Epiphany Technology Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: EPHY), a blank check company focused on a business combination within the technology industry, and serves on the Board of Directors of Lee Enterprises (NASDAQ: LEE), a US media company. He holds a B.A. in Economics from UCLA and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

We currently expect our Strategic Advisor and advisors to (i) assist us in sourcing and negotiating with potential business combination targets, (ii) provide their business insights when we assess potential business combination targets and (iii) upon our request, provide their business insights as we work to create additional value in the businesses that we acquire. In this regard, they will fulfill some of the same functions as our board members. However, they have no written advisory agreement with us. Additionally, except as disclosed under “Principal Shareholders” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions,” our Strategic Advisor and advisors have no other employment or compensation arrangements with us. Moreover, our Strategic Advisor and advisors will not be under any fiduciary obligations to us nor will they perform board or committee functions, nor will they have any voting or decision making capacity on our behalf. They will also not be required to devote any specific amount of time to our efforts or be subject to the fiduciary requirements to which our board members are subject. Accordingly, if our Strategic Advisor or any of our advisors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the entities to which he or she has fiduciary or contractual obligations (including other blank check companies), he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We may modify or expand our roster of advisors as we source potential business combination targets or create value in businesses that we may acquire.

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

We will have six directors upon completion of this offering. Our board of directors will be divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of shareholders) serving a three-year term. Prior to our initial business combination, only the holders of our founder shares will be entitled to vote on the appointment and removal of our directors. In accordance with NASDAQ corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on NASDAQ. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Alan C. Mendelson and Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D. will expire at our first annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Jonathan Rigby and Glen Giovannetti, will expire at the second annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of J. Leighton Read, M.D. and Stephen Sherwin, M.D., will expire at the third annual meeting of shareholders.

Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.

 

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Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association as it deems appropriate. Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that our officers may consist of a Chairman of the Board, Co-Chief Executive Officers, Chief Financial Officer, President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Secretaries and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.

Director Independence

NASDAQ listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D., Stephen Sherwin, M.D., Jonathan Rigby and Glen Giovannetti are “independent directors” as defined in the NASDAQ listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

Officer and Director Compensation

Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

We may pay our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation in connection with identifying, investigating and completing our initial business combination, which may be paid from the proceeds held in the trust account upon consummation of an initial business combination. These individuals and entities will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, advisors or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such payments, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination.

After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed initial business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed initial business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.

We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after

 

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our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Our board of directors will have two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, NASDAQ rules and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, and NASDAQ rules require that the compensation committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.

Audit Committee

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. Jonathan Rigby, Glen Giovannetti and Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D. will serve as members of our audit committee, and Mr. Giovannetti will chair the audit committee. Under the NASDAQ listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent. Each of Jonathan Rigby, Glen Giovannetti and Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D. meet the independent director standard under NASDAQ listing standards and under Rule 10-A-3(b)(1) of the Exchange Act.

Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mr. Rigby qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.

We will adopt an audit committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the audit committee, including:

 

   

the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us;

 

   

pre-approving all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures;

 

   

setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm, including but not limited to, as required by applicable laws and regulations;

 

   

setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

 

   

obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (i) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures, (ii) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues and (iii) all relationships between the independent registered public accounting firm and us to assess the independent registered public accounting firm’s independence;

 

   

reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and

 

   

reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with

 

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regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities.

Compensation Committee

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors. Stephen Sherwin, M.D. and Jonathan Rigby will serve as members of our compensation committee. Under the NASDAQ listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent. Stephen Sherwin, M.D. and Jonathan Rigby are independent and Mr. Rigby will chair the compensation committee.

We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

 

   

reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Co-Chief Executive Officers’ compensation, if any is paid by us, evaluating our Co-Chief Executive Officers’ performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Co-Chief Executive Officers based on such evaluation;

 

   

reviewing and approving on an annual basis the compensation, if any is paid by us, of all of our other officers;

 

   

reviewing on an annual basis our executive compensation policies and plans;

 

   

implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;

 

   

assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;

 

   

approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees;

 

   

if required, producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and

 

   

reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than the payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $15,000 per month, for up to 24 months , for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and reimbursement of expenses, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing shareholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.

The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by NASDAQ and the SEC.

 

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Director Nominations

We do not have a standing nominating committee though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or NASDAQ rules. In accordance with Rule 5605 of the NASDAQ rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by the board of directors. The board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. The directors who will participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are                 ,                  and                 . In accordance with Rule 5605 of the NASDAQ rules, all such directors are independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.

The board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our shareholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of shareholders (or, if applicable, an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders). Our shareholders that wish to nominate a director for election to our board of directors should follow the procedures set forth in our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association.

We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our shareholders.

Code of Ethics

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We will file a copy of our Code of Ethics and our audit and compensation committee charters as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. You will be able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”

Conflicts of Interest

Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:

 

   

duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole;

 

   

duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose;

 

   

directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion;

 

   

duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and

 

   

duty to exercise independent judgment.

In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.

 

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As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.

Subject to pre-existing fiduciary or contractual duties as described in this section, our officers and directors have agreed to present any business opportunities presented to them in their capacity as a director or officer of our company to us. Certain of our officers and directors presently have fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he may need to honor his fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will not materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that we renounce, to the maximum extent permitted by law, our interest or expectancy in, or being offered an opportunity to participate in any business combination opportunity: (i) which may be a corporate opportunity for both us and our sponsor or its affiliates and any companies in which our sponsor or its affiliates have invested about which any of the officers or directors acquire knowledge; or (ii) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to another entity, and we will waive any claim or cause of action we may have in respect thereof. In addition, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will contain provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to our company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity.

In addition, our officers and directors may participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company prior to completion of our initial business combination. As a result, our officers or directors could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other blank check company with which they may become involved.

Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:

 

   

None of our officers or directors is required to commit his full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his time among various business activities.

 

   

In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

 

   

Our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and placement shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial shareholders (along with Cantor) have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and placement shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the placement units held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the placement securities will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable by our sponsor until the earlier of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00

 

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per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share 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, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the placement shares and placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or saleable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own ordinary shares and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.

 

   

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

 

   

Our sponsor, officers or directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a business combination and financing arrangements as we may obtain loans from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or any of our officers or directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units.

The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.

Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors may have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that we renounce, to the maximum extent permitted by law, our interest or expectancy, or being offered an opportunity to participate in any business combination opportunity: (i) which may be a corporate opportunity for both us and our sponsor or its affiliates and any companies in which our sponsor or its affiliates have invested about which any of the officers or directors acquire knowledge; or (ii) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to another entity, and we will waive any claim or cause of action we may have in respect thereof. In addition, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will contain provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to our company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity.

Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers, directors and director nominees currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:

 

Individual(1)

 

Entity

 

Entity’s Business

 

Affiliation

Alan C. Mendelson   Coherus BioSciences, Inc.   Biotechnology   Director
  BBI Medical Solutions LLC   Biotechnology   Director
  Neuvogen, Inc.   Biotechnology   Director
  Xomics BioPharma, Inc.   Biotechnology   Director
Ross Haghighat   Chinook Therapeutics   Biotechnology   Director, Chair of Transaction Committee
  CITIC Capital Acquisition Corp.   Blank Check Company   Director
  Fluence Corp   Technology   Director
  FRX Polymers Inc.   Specialty Chemicals   Chairman
  Triton Systems   Venture Capital   Director, Founding Partner
J. Leighton Read, M.D.   Allay Therapeutïcs   Biotechnology   Director

 

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Individual(1)

 

Entity

 

Entity’s Business

 

Affiliation

  EBR Systems   Biotechnology   Director
  Global Kinetics Pty Ltd   Healthcare   Director, Executive Chairman
  Okogen   Biotechnology   Director
  Brandon Capital Partners   Venture Capital   Venture Partner
  Alloy Ventures   Venture Capital   Venture Partner
Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D.   Asset Management Ventures   Venture Capital   Partner
  Stealth Therapeutics   Biotechnology   Director, Audit Committee Member
  Teon Therapeutics, Inc.   Biotechnology   Director
Stephen Sherwin, M.D.   Biogen   Biotechnology   Director, Audit Committee Member
  Neurocrine Biosciences   Biotechnology   Director, Audit Committee Chair
  Third Rock Ventures   Venture Capital   Venture Partner
Jonathan Rigby  

ImmunoMolecular Therapeutics, Inc.

 

Biotechnology

 

Director

  Revolo Biotherapeutics   Biotechnology   President, Group Chief Executive Officer and Director
Glen Giovannetti   Teon Therapeutics, Inc.  

Biotechnology

  Director
  XWPharma Ltd   Biotechnology   Director

 

(1)

Each person has a fiduciary duty with respect to the listed entities next to their respective names.

Accordingly, if any of the above executive officers, directors or director nominees becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the above entities to which he has current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he may need to honor his fiduciary or contractual obligations, then he may need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity.

We have not selected any potential business combination target and have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target. Potential target companies with whom we may engage in discussions after the closing of the offering may have had prior discussions with other blank check companies, bankers in the industry and/or other professional advisors including blank check companies with which our advisors are affiliated. Subsequent to the closing of this offering, we may pursue transactions with such potential targets (i) if such other blank check companies are no longer pursuing transactions with such potential targets, (ii) if we become aware that such potential targets are interested in a potential initial business combination with us and (iii) if we believe such transactions would be attractive to our shareholders.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with such a company, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them

 

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and any public shares purchased during or after the offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination.

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, willful neglect, fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us or our shareholders for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, unless they violated their duty of loyalty to us or our shareholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful share purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived an improper personal benefit from their actions as directors.

We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association. Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association also will permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Cayman Islands law would permit such indemnification. We will purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.

These provisions may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

We believe that these provisions, the directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.

 

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PRINCIPAL SHAREHOLDERS

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our ordinary shares included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:

 

   

each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding ordinary shares;

 

   

each of our executive officers, directors and director nominees that beneficially owns our ordinary shares; and

 

   

all our executive officers, directors and director nominees as a group.

Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all ordinary shares beneficially owned by them.

In March 2021, our sponsor purchased 6,325,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. The following table presents the number of shares and percentage of our ordinary shares beneficially owned as of the filing date, before and after this offering, by each person, or group of persons, known to us who beneficially owns more than 5% of our shares, each named executive officer, each of our directors and all directors and executive officers as a group. The post-offering numbers and percentages presented assume that the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option, that our sponsor forfeits 825,000 founder shares on a pro rata basis, and that there are 28,140,000 of our ordinary shares issued and outstanding after this offering.

 

     Before Offering     After Offering  

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1)

   Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned(2)
     Approximate
Percentage of
Outstanding
Ordinary shares
    Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned(2)
     Approximate
Percentage of
Outstanding
Ordinary shares
 

BioPlus Sponsor LLC(1)(2)

     6,325,000        100.0     5,920,000        21.0

Alan C. Mendelson(1)

     —          —         —          —    

Ross Haghighat(1)

     —          —         —          —    

J. Leighton Read, M.D.(1)

     —          —         —          —    

Louis G. Lange, M.D., Ph.D.(1)

     —          —         —          —    

Stephen Sherwin, M.D.(1)

     —