S-1/A 1 forms-1a.htm

 

As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2023

 

Registration No. 333-259879

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

Amendment No. 12

to

Form S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

TMT Acquisition Corp

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Cayman Islands   6770   N/A

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

 

420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 2446

New York, NY 10170

Telephone: (347) 627-0058

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

 

Dajiang Guo

420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 2446

New York, NY 10170

Telephone: (347) 627-0058

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

 

Copies to:

 

Mark E. Crone, Esq.

Liang Shih, Esq.

The Crone Law Group P.C.

420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 2446

New York, NY 10170

Telephone: (646) 861-7891

 

Nathan Powell

Ogier

11th Floor, Central Tower

28 Queen’s Road Central

Hong Kong

Telephone: (852) 3656 6000

 

Mitchell S. Nussbaum, Esq.

David J. Levine, Esq.

Loeb & Loeb LLP

345 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10154

Telephone: (212) 407-4000

 

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, 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.

 

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

 

 

 

 
 

 

The information in this 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 FEBRUARY 27, 2023

 

$60,000,000

TMT Acquisition Corp

6,000,000 Units

 

TMT Acquisition Corp is a newly incorporated blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not 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 focus our search initially on target businesses operating in Asia, and we may consummate a business combination with an entity located in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). However, we will not consummate our initial business combination with an entity or business with China operations consolidated through a variable interest entity (“VIE”) structure.

 

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one of our ordinary shares and one right, as described in more detail in this prospectus. Each right entitles the holder thereof to receive two-tenths (2/10) of one ordinary share upon consummation of our initial business combination, so you must hold rights in multiples of 5 in order to receive shares for all of your rights upon closing of a business combination. We have also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 900,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.

 

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their 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 described below as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then issued and outstanding ordinary shares that were sold as part of the units in this offering, which we refer to collectively as our public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time, as described in more detail in this prospectus), we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $61,200 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described herein.

 

Our sponsor, 2TM Holding LP, has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 370,000 units (or 406,000 units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $10.00 per unit for an aggregate purchase price of $3,700,000 (or $4,060,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). Each private placement units will be identical to the units sold in this offering, except as described in this prospectus. The private placement units will be sold in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering, including the over-allotment option, as applicable. We refer to these units throughout this prospectus as private placement units.

 

Prior to this offering, our sponsor held 1,725,000 founder shares (up to 225,000 of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised).

 

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our units, ordinary shares, or rights. We have applied to list our units on the Nasdaq Global Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “TMTCU” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. The ordinary shares and rights comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Maxim Group LLC, or Maxim, the representative of the underwriters of this offering, informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our filing a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering and issuing a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the ordinary shares and rights will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “TMTC” and “TMTCR,” respectively.

 

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

 

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 risks. We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company. Our units offered in this prospectus include shares of a Cayman Islands blank check company instead of the shares of the operating entities with whom we may combine. As a blank check company with no material operations of our own, we seek to complete a business combination with one or more businesses or entities and will initially focus in Asia. We may consummate a business combination with an entity located in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). However, we will not consummate our initial business combination with an entity or business with China operations consolidated through a VIE structure.

 

A majority of our executive officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to China. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States on our company, executive officers and directors, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our company, executive officers and directors.

 

Our sponsor, 2TM Holding LP, a Delaware limited partnership, is based in the United States. Our sponsor is controlled by its general partner, 2TM Management LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. 2TM Management LLC’s managing members are Linan Gong, a non-U.S. person, and Dahe “Taylor” Zhang, a U.S. lawful permanent resident, i.e., green card holder, and U.S. resident. Our sponsor’s daily ordinary course operations, including its bank accounts, financial books and records, tax matters and investment activities, are handled primarily by Dahe Zhang. We may not be able to complete an initial business combination with a U.S. target company since such initial business combination may be subject to U.S. foreign investment regulations and review by a U.S. government entity, such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and ultimately prohibited. As a result, the pool of potential targets with which we could complete an initial business combination may be limited and the time necessary for government review of the transaction or a decision to prohibit the transaction could prevent us from completing an initial business combination and require us to liquidate. See “Risk Factors—The fact that our sponsor is controlled by, and has substantial ties with, a non-U.S. person could impact our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

A majority of our executive officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to China (including Hong Kong). If we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, the combined company may face various legal and operational risks and uncertainties after the business combination. For the avoidance of doubt, we will not consummate our initial business combination with an entity or business with China operations consolidated through a VIE structure. As a result, this may limit the pool of acquisition candidates we may acquire in China, in particular, due to the relevant PRC laws and regulations against foreign ownership of and investment in certain assets and industries, known as restricted industries, which include but are not limited to, for example, value added telecommunications services (except for e-commerce, domestic multiparty communications, store-and-forward services, and call centers). Further, due to the fact that a majority of our executive officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to China, it may make us a less attractive partner to certain potential target businesses, including non-China- or non-Hong Kong-based target companies, and such perception may potentially limit or negatively impact our search for an initial business combination or may therefore make it more likely for us to consummate a business combination with a company based in or having the majority of its operations in the PRC and/or Hong Kong. Therefore, this may make it more difficult for us to complete an initial business combination with a target company within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time, as described in more detail in this prospectus).

 

Recently, the PRC government initiated a series of regulatory actions and statements to regulate business operations in China with little advance notice, including cracking down on illegal activities in the securities market, enhancing supervision over China-based companies listed overseas using a VIE structure, adopting new measures to extend the scope of cybersecurity reviews, and expanding the efforts in anti-monopoly enforcement. However, since these statements and regulatory actions are new or have not been officially implemented, it is uncertain how soon Chinese legislative or administrative regulation making bodies will respond and what existing or new laws or regulations or detailed implementations and interpretations will be modified or promulgated, if any, and the potential impact such modified or new laws and regulations will have on our capability to acquire or merge with a company with major operations in China, and post-combination entity’s ability to conduct its business, accept foreign investments or list on an U.S. exchange or other foreign exchange. Accordingly, modified or new laws and regulations could result in a material change in the target company’s post-combination operations, significant depreciation of the value of our ordinary shares, or a complete limitation of our ability to offer or continue to offer our securities to investors.

 

On February 17, 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (the “CSRC”) promulgated the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (the “Trial Administrative Measures”), which will take effect on March 31, 2023. The Trial Administrative Measures further stipulate the rules and requirements for overseas offering and listing conducted by PRC domestic companies. After the Trial Administrative Measures take effect, if we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, the target company and/or combined company may be required to go through the filing procedure to satisfy the filing requirements. We cannot assure you that we will be able to complete such process on time, which could adversely affect our potential business combination with a PRC operating business and the business, financial condition and results of operations of the combined company. See “Risk Factor - Upon the effectiveness of the Trial Administrative measures, if we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, we may be subject to the Trial Administrative Measures if the Company meets the following criteria: (i) 50% or more of the issuer’s operating revenue, total profit, total assets or net assets as documented in its audited consolidated financial statements for the most recent accounting year is accounted for by PRC domestic companies; and (ii) the main parts of the issuer’s business activities are conducted in mainland China, or its main places of business are located in mainland China, or the senior managers in charge of its business operation and management are mostly Chinese citizens or domiciled in mainland China; and if required, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete such process on time.”

 

The PRC government has significant authority to exert influence on the ability of a China-based company to conduct its business, make or accept foreign investments or list on a U.S. stock exchange. For example, if we enter into a business combination with a target business operating in China, the combined company may face risks associated with regulatory approvals of the proposed business combination between us and the target, offshore offerings, anti-monopoly regulatory actions, cybersecurity and data privacy, as well as the lack of PCAOB inspection on its auditors or the auditors of the target business. In addition, the combined company may be subject to legal and operational risks associated with having substantially all of operations in China, including risks related to the legal, political and economic policies of the Chinese government, the relations between China and the United States, or Chinese or United States regulations, which risks could result in a material change in the combined company’s operations and/or the value of the securities of the combined company.

 

Furthermore, the PRC government may also intervene with or influence the combined company’s operations at any time as the government deems appropriate to further regulatory, political and societal goals. The PRC government has recently published new policies that significantly affected certain industries such as the education and internet industries, and we cannot rule out the possibility that it will in the future release regulations or policies regarding any industry that could adversely affect our potential business combination with a PRC operating business and the business, financial condition and results of operations of the combined company. Any such action, once taken by the PRC government, could make it more difficult and costly for us to consummate a business combination with a target business operating in the PRC, result in material changes in the combined company’s post-combination operations and cause the value of the combined company’s securities to significantly decline, or in extreme cases, become worthless, or significantly limit or completely hinder the combined company’s ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors. For a detailed description of risks associated with being based in or acquiring a company that does business in China, see “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China.

 

In addition, although our offices are located in United States, a majority of our directors and officers are based in or have significant ties to China. As a result, we and/or our directors and officers who are based in or have significant ties to China may be subject to certain risks relating to regulatory oversight by the PRC government. In particular, changes in the policies, regulations, rules, and the enforcement of laws of the PRC government may be adopted quickly with little advance notice. The Chinese government may also intervene or influence our search for a target business or the completion of an initial business combination at any time through our directors and officers who are based in or have significant ties to China. This could significantly and negatively impact our search for a target business and/or the value of the securities we are offering for sale. See “Risk Factor — Since a majority of our directors and officers are based in or have significant ties to China, the Chinese government may have potential oversight and discretion over the conduct of our directors’ and officers’ search for a target company. The Chinese government may intervene or influence our operations at any time through our directors and officers who are based in or have significant ties in China, which could result in a material change in our search for a target business and/or the value of the securities we are offering. Changes in the policies, regulations, rules, and the enforcement of laws of the PRC government may be adopted quickly with little advance notice and could have a significant impact upon our ability to operate.

 

On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a Determination Report which found that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in: (i) China, and (ii) Hong Kong. On August 26, 2022, the PCAOB signed a Statement of Protocol with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Finance of the PRC (“SOP”), taking the first step toward opening access for the PCAOB to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong completely, consistent with U.S law. Pursuant to the SOP, the PCAOB shall have independent discretion to select any issuer audits for inspection or investigation and has the unfettered ability to transfer information to the SEC. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB determined that the PCAOB was able to secure complete access to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong and voted to vacate its previous determinations to the contrary. However, should PRC authorities obstruct or otherwise fail to facilitate the PCAOB’s access in the future, the PCAOB will consider the need to issue a new determination. Our auditor, UHY LLP, headquartered in New York, NY, is an independent registered public accounting firm with the PCAOB and has been inspected by the PCAOB on a regular basis. The PCAOB currently has access to inspect the working papers of our auditor. Our auditor is not headquartered in China or Hong Kong and was not identified in the determination report as a firm subject to the PCAOB’s determination.

 

As an offshore holding company, if we acquire a target company that operates its business in China, we may use the proceeds of our offshore fund-raising activities to provide loans or make capital contributions to the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company, in each case subject to applicable regulatory requirements. The PRC subsidiaries may pay dividends to us out of their retained earnings. However, we will be subject to restrictions on dividend payments as current PRC regulations permit PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends to their parent only out of their accumulated profits, if any, determined in accordance with Chinese accounting standards and regulations. In addition, companies in China are mostly required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profits each year, if any, to fund a statutory reserve until such reserve reaches 50% of its registered capital. Entities in China may also be required to further set aside a portion of their after-tax profits to fund the employee welfare fund, although the amount to be set aside, if any, is determined at the discretion of its board of directors. Although the statutory reserves can be used, among other ways, to increase the registered capital and eliminate future losses in excess of retained earnings of the respective companies, the reserve funds are not distributable as cash dividends except in the event of liquidation. We are a blank check company with no subsidiaries and no operations of our own except organizational activities, the preparation of this offering and, following the closing of this offering, searching for a suitable target to consummate an initial business combination. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not made any transfers, dividends or distributions to any person or entity. We do not intend to distribute earnings or settle amounts owed until after the closing of the business combination. We may retain all of our available funds and any future earnings following a business combination to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we may not pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

 

See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 26 of this prospectus 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.

 

Our units offered in this prospectus include shares of a Cayman Islands blank check company instead of the shares of the operating entities with whom we may combine.

 

  

Price to

Public

  

Underwriting

Discounts and

Commissions(1)

  

Proceeds,

before

expenses, to us

 
Per Unit  $10.00   $0.20   $9.80 
Total  $60,000,000   $1,200,000   $58,800,000 

 

(1) Does not include certain fees and expenses payable to the underwriters in connection with this offering. See also “Underwriting” for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters.

 

Our CEO and Chairman is also a senior managing director of Revere Securities LLC (“Revere”). As a result, Revere, as co-manager of this offering and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, is an affiliate of us. Therefore, Revere has a “conflict of interest” within the meaning of Rule 5121 of the Conduct Rules of FINRA. Accordingly, this offering will be made in compliance with the applicable provisions of FINRA Rule 5121, which requires that a “qualified independent underwriter,” as defined by the FINRA rules, participate in the preparation of the registration statement and exercise the usual standards of due diligence with respect to the registration statement that an underwriter would exercise on its own behalf. Maxim Group LLC (“Maxim”) is acting as the qualified independent underwriter and will not receive any additional fees for serving as qualified independent underwriter.

 

Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement units described in this prospectus, $61,200,000, or $70,380,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.20 per public unit, subject to increase of up to an additional $0.30 per share in the event that our sponsor elects to extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full nine months, as described in more detail in this prospectus), will be deposited into a trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. 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.

 

The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. Delivery of the units will be made on or about                       , 2023.

 

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

 

No offer or invitation to subscribe for units may be made to the public in the Cayman Islands.

 

Sole Book-Running Manager

 

Maxim Group LLC

 

Co-Manager

 

Revere Securities LLC

 

The date of this prospectus is                               , 2023

 

 
 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

SUMMARY 1
RISK FACTORS 26
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 67
ENFORCEABILITY OF CIVIL LIABILITIES 67
USE OF PROCEEDS 68
DIVIDEND POLICY 72
DILUTION 72
CAPITALIZATION 74
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS 75
PROPOSED BUSINESS 81
MANAGEMENT 109
PRINCIPAL SHAREHOLDERS

117

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS 120
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES 122
INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS 138
UNDERWRITING 146
LEGAL MATTERS 150
EXPERTS 150
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 150
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS F-1

 

 
 

 

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

 

Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus, references to:

 

  “amended and restated memorandum and articles of association” are to our memorandum and articles of association to be in effect upon completion of this offering;
     
  “Companies Act” are to the Companies Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time;
     
  “founder shares” are to our ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, held by our initial shareholders;
     
  “initial shareholders” are the holders of our founder shares sold prior to this offering;
     
  “letter agreement” refers to the letter agreement by and among our company, our sponsor and our officers and directors, the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part;
     
  “management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors;
     
  “ordinary shares” are to our ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share;
     
  “private placement rights” are to the rights included in the private placement units being purchased by our sponsor in the private placement;
     
  “private placement shares” are to the ordinary shares included in the private placement units being purchased by our sponsor in the private placement;
     
  “private placement units” are to the units being purchased by our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering;
     
  “public rights” are to the rights sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are subscribed for in this offering or in the open market);
     
  “public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares;
     
  “public shares” are to the ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, offered as part of the units in this offering (whether they are subscribed for in this offering or thereafter in the open market);
     
  “representative shares” are to 270,000 (or 310,500 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) ordinary shares that we have agreed to issue to Maxim Partners LLC and/or its designees, upon the consummation of this offering;

 

1

 

 

  “rights” are to our rights, which include the public rights as well as the private placement rights to the extent they are no longer held by the initial purchasers of the private placement rights or their permitted transferees;
     
  sponsor” is to 2TM Holding LP, a Delaware limited partnership, an affiliate of our Chairman and our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer;
     
  “we,” “us,” “company,” “TMT” or “our company” are to TMT Acquisition Corp, a Cayman Islands exempted company.

 

All references in this prospectus to shares of TMT Acquisition Corp being forfeited shall take effect as surrenders for no consideration of such shares as a matter of Cayman Islands law.

 

General

 

We are a Cayman Islands company incorporated on July 6, 2021 as an exempted company with limited liability. We chose to incorporate in the Cayman Islands due to (i) its tax-neutrality, which allows international transactions to be structured efficiently without an additional layer of tax and (ii) simplicity of establishment and flexibility of administration, including easy migration to another jurisdiction, the existence of statutory procedures for merger or consolidation, and no takeover code or bespoke public company filing requirements.

 

We were formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to as a “target business.” We do not have any specific business combination under consideration and we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf), directly or indirectly, contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to such a transaction. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic location but will initially focus in Asia. We may consummate a business combination with an entity located in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). However, we will not consummate our initial business combination with an entity or business with China operations consolidated through a VIE structure. As a result, this may limit the pool of acquisition candidates we may acquire in China, in particular, due to the relevant PRC laws and regulations against foreign ownership of and investment in certain assets and industries, known as restricted industries, which include but are not limited to, for example, value added telecommunications services (except for e-commerce, domestic multiparty communications, store-and-forward services, and call centers). Further, due to the fact that a majority of our executive officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to China, it may make us a less attractive partner to certain potential target businesses, including non-China- or non-Hong Kong-based target companies, and such perception may potentially limit or negatively impact our search for an initial business combination or may therefore make it more likely for us to consummate a business combination with a company based in or having the majority of its operations in the PRC and/or Hong Kong.

 

2

 

 

We may retain all of our available funds and any future earnings following a business combination to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we may not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

 

We believe our management team is well positioned to identify attractive risk-adjusted returns in the marketplace and that our professional contacts and transaction sources, ranging from industry executives, private owners, private equity funds, family offices, commercial and investment bankers, lawyers and other financial sector service providers and participants, in addition to the geographical reach of our affiliates, will enable us to pursue a broad range of opportunities. Our management believes that its collective ability to identify and implement value creation initiatives has been an essential driver of past performance and will remain central to its differentiated acquisition strategy.

 

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

 

We seek to create compelling shareholder value through the extensive experience and demonstrated success of our management team (in particular, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman) in investing in, operating and transforming businesses, with a particular combination of competitive advantages such as:

 

  Leadership of an Experienced Management Team and Board of Directors

 

Our management team is led by our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of our Board of Directors, Dr. Dajiang Guo, our Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Jichuan Yang, and our Independent Director nominees, Messrs. James Burns, Chris Constable, and Kenan Gong. A majority of our management team are United States citizens.

 

3

 

 

Dr. Dajiang Guo, Ph.D., our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, serves as a Managing Director at Revere Securities LLC. Dr. Guo served as a Partner at Tiger Securities, leading the development of the institutional securities business of investment banking, sales and trading from 2019 to 2021. From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Guo served as a Partner at China Bridge Capital, an independent China focused investment bank with expertise in M&A, fund management, real estate and distressed opportunities. From 2016 to 2017, he served as the Chief Strategy Officer at China Renaissance, where he was responsible for strategic planning, international expansion, and strategic investments. Dr. Guo served as the CEO of CITIC Securities International USA, COO at CITICS Investment Banking Division, and Head of CITICS Strategy and Planning, from 2011 to 2016. He has also held several executive positions at CICC HK/US from 2009 to 2011. Before venturing into cross border financial services, Dr. Guo worked more than ten years for Citigroup Global Markets from 2004 to 2009, RBS Greenwich Capital Markets from 2001 to 2004, and the Centre Re of Zurich Financial Services from 1996 to 2001, where he specialized in securitization and derivatives. Dr. Guo also taught at the College of Insurance and the University of Guelph as an assistant professor and has published numerous academic articles in peer-reviewed financial journals. Dr. Guo received his Ph.D. in Financial Economics from the University of Toronto. He is a CFA Charterholder. Dr. Guo is a United States citizen and resident.

 

Dr. Jichuan Yang, Ph.D., our Chief Financial Officer, serves as the Chairman Special Advisor at Sanya International Asset Exchange since 2021, as an Advisory Board Member at Qinghua PBCSF China Finance Policy Study since 2020, as an independent director at Shanghai GuoSheng Industrial Transformation Investment Fund since 2019, and as a board member at Cyan Bank Investments since 2017. From 2015 to 2020, Dr. Yang served as the CEO of HFAX, a division of Sunshine Insurance Group and, from 2013 to 2015, the Deputy General Manager and Chief Product Officer of LUFAX Holding Ltd (NYSE: LU) in the fintech and inclusive finance industry. From 2010 to 2013, Dr. Yang was the Head of Strategic Planning at Citic Securities. From 2005 to 2008, Dr. Yang was Co-Founder and Co-Managing Member of the Hong Kong office of Wachovia Securities. Dr. Yang received his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Brown University and his B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Tsinghua University. Dr. Yang is a United States citizen and currently resides in China for business purposes.

 

Mr. James Burns, our director nominee, has had a distinguished career in the energy sector, and brings a wealth of management, business development and financial knowledge to the Company. From 2017 through 2018, Mr. Burns was President of Petrolia Energy Corporation (OTCQB: BBLS), an international oil and gas company, where he structured the organization for growth and compliance to acquire and integrate new acquisitions. From 2014 to 2016, he served as President of Transfuels (dba BLU LNG), ENN’s N.A. investment arm, where he oversaw the improvement of the company’s net income. In 2014, Mr. Burns served as President of Fortress Energy Partners, a division of Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG), where he was responsible for creating and overseeing FIG’s first entrance into the energy sector, an LNG plant in Clearwater, Florida, and laying the groundwork for both domestic and international projects. From 2009 to 2014, he was General Manager of Clean Energy & Innovation/LNG for Transport for Shell Americas, the Americas division of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS) At Shell, he created and oversaw the company’s small-scale LNG business. From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Burns served as Business Development Manager for Shell Gas & Power, a global division of Royal Dutch Shell focused on natural gas and liquified natural gas. In that position, he led Shell’s Coal/Biomass to Liquids efforts in the Americas. From 2002 to 2006, he served as Global LNG Finance Advisor for Shell Gas & Power, where he provided financial and commercial advice on global LNG commercial agreements, including shipping deals. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Burns served as Business Development Manager and Portfolio Manager at Shell Pipeline, where he led numerous acquisition and divestment projects including joint venture buyouts, company acquisitions, and asset sales and purchases. From 1998 to 1999, he served as Business Development Advisor and Finance Manager at Equilon (a Texaco & Shell Joint Venture combining the two entities U.S. downstream assets). In that position, he performed business development duties such as contract negotiations and project management, and coordinated and supervised all accounting, finance and administrative personnel in the region. From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Burns served as Revenue Manager for Texaco Exploration and Production, N.A., a division of Texaco. From 1990 to 1996, he served as a Crude Oil Trading Accountant at ARCO Long Beach, Inc., a division of Atlantic Richfield.

 

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Mr. Burns is currently Chairman of the board of Petrolia Energy Corporation (OTCQB: BBLS), an independent member of the board of directors of Playmaker IQ, a technology company focused on e-learning and workforce productivity, and a member of the Energy Council of the Houston Angel Investors. He has previously served as a director of Transfuels, the North American investment arm of ENN Energy Holdings Limited (SEHK:2688). Mr. Burns holds an Executive MBA from the University of Houston and a B.S. in Business Administration from California State University. Mr. Burns was nominated to serve as a director due to his management, business development, and financial management expertise. Mr. Burns is a United States citizen and resident.

 

Mr. Chris Constable, our director nominee, is an experienced financial executive, with extensive experience in accounting and financial management. Since 2020, Mr. Constable has served as the Chief Executive Officer and a board member of Brownie’s Marine Group, Inc. (OTC: BWMG), a manufacturer of surface supplied air diving equipment. At Brownie’s, he is responsible for all areas of the company, including operations, sales, and finance. He also currently sits on the board of directors and is the chairman of the audit committee of Bon Natural Life, Ltd. (Nasdaq: BON), a manufacturer of natural additives for foods and fragrances, since 2021. From 2003 to 2020, Mr. Constable served as the CFO of Blue Star Foods Corp. (OTC: BSFC), an international seafood company that imports, packages and sells refrigerated pasteurized crab meat and other premium seafood products. From 1999 to 2003, Mr. Constable was a Consultant to Gateway Capital Corporation, where he provided new business and workout services to large lending institutions in the U.S. At Gateway Capital, he analyzed the financial and reporting capabilities of prospective lending customers for lines of credit, consulted with small to medium sized businesses to prepare them for sourcing working capital from major banks, and restructured and implemented the accounting and finance functions for businesses with revenues from $15 million to $200 million in industries from manufacturing to telecommunications. Mr. Constable holds a B.S. in Finance with a Minor in Accounting from the Merrick School of Business at the University of Baltimore. Mr. Constable was nominated to serve as a director due to his operations, accounting, and financial management expertise. Mr. Constable is a United States citizen and resident.

 

Dr. Kenan Gong, Ph.D., our director nominee, is a seasoned professional with over 10 years of working experience in R&D, management and investment in the material science industry. In addition, Dr. Gong has a significant academic background in the material sciences. Since March 2019, Dr. Gong has served as the Vice President and Managing Director of Strategic Investment at Levima Advanced Materials Co., Ltd (SZSE:003022), a member company of Legend Holdings (SEHK:3396) and a public company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China. Dr. Gong is also a member of the Board of Directors of Jiangxi Keyuan Bio-Material Co., Ltd and Suzhou Thinkre New Material Co., Ltd. From 2009 to 2011, Dr. Gong served as manager in charge of research and development and Director of the R&D Center at China XD Plastics Company Co., Ltd., a public company engaged in the research, development, manufacture and sale of modified plastics for automotive applications. In addition, he acted as a general manager of the national level enterprise technology center owned by China XD Plastics Company Co., Ltd. and Secretary from 2012 to 2013. Before joining China XD Plastics Company Co., Ltd., Dr. Gong was the manager of the postdoctoral laboratory at University College London from July 2007 to July 2009. He was a teaching assistant from May 2005 to December 2005 and a postdoctoral researcher from April 2006 to June 2007 at Queen Mary University of London. Dr. Gong received his Ph.D. and Master’s degree in Material Science from Queen Mary University of London. He holds a B.S. degree in Material Science from Harbin Institute of Technology. Dr. Gong was nominated to serve as a director due to his management and R&D expertise. Dr. Gong is a PRC citizen and resident.

 

  Established Deal Sourcing Network

 

We believe our management team’s strong track record will provide us with access to high quality companies. In addition, we believe we, through our management team, have contacts and sources from which to generate acquisition opportunities and possibly seek complementary follow-on business arrangements. These contacts and sources include those in government, private and public companies, private equity and venture capital funds, investment bankers, attorneys and accountants.

 

  Status as a Publicly Listed Acquisition Company

 

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to prospective target businesses. As a publicly listed company, we will offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering process. We believe that some target businesses will favor this alternative, which we believe is less expensive, while offering greater certainty of execution, than the traditional initial public offering process. During an initial public offering, there are typically underwriting fees and marketing expenses, which would be costlier than a business combination with us. Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is approved by our shareholders (if applicable) and the transaction is consummated, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriter’s ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions that could prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, 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. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented management staffs.

 

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With respect to the foregoing examples and descriptions, past performance by our management team is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. Potential investors should not rely upon the historical record of our management as indicative of future performance.

 

Some of our executive officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to China. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States on our company, executive officers and directors, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our company, executive officers and directors.

 

BUSINESS STRATEGIES

 

We will seek to capitalize on the strength of our management team. Our team consists of experienced financial services, accounting and legal professionals and senior operating executives of companies operating in multiple jurisdiction. Collectively, our officers and directors have decades of experience in mergers and acquisitions and operating companies. We believe we will benefit from their accomplishments, and specifically, their current activities, in identifying attractive acquisition opportunities. However, there is no assurance that we will complete a business combination. Our officers and directors have no prior experience consummating a business combination for a “blank check” company. We believe that we will add value to these businesses primarily by providing them with access to the U.S. capital markets.

 

There is no restriction in the geographic location of targets we can pursue, although we intend to initially prioritize Asia. We may consummate a business combination with an entity located in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). However, we will not consummate our initial business combination with an entity or business with China operations consolidated through a VIE structure. In particular, we intend to focus our search for an initial business combination on private companies in Asia that have compelling economics and clear paths to positive operating cash flow, significant assets, and successful management teams that are seeking access to the U.S. public capital markets.

 

As an emerging market, Asia has experienced remarkable growth. The Asian economy experienced sustained expansion in recent years. We believe that Asia is entering a new era of economic growth, which we expect will result in attractive initial business combination opportunities for us. We believe the growth will primarily be driven by private sector expansion, technological innovation, increasing consumption by the middle class, structural economic and policy reforms and demographic changes.

 

We believe the development of private equity and venture capital activities in Asia also provides us opportunities. According to the Asia-Pacific Private Equity Report 2020 issued by Bain & Company, Asia-Pacific now represents a quarter of the global PE market. According to the Asia-Pacific Private Equity Report 2020, exit value in 2019 saw a drop by 43% from 2018. With exits on hold, the value of companies held in PE portfolios, or unrealized value, reached a new high of $806 billion in June 2019, up 32% from a year earlier. Uncertain times and challenges faced by fund managers create opportunities for those who are well-prepared, which positions us as a natural exit alternative and creates opportunities for us to identify targets for our initial business combination.

 

ACQUISITION CRITERIA

 

Our management team intends to focus on creating shareholder value by leveraging its experience in the management, operation and financing of businesses to improve the efficiency of operations while implementing strategies to scale revenue organically and/or through acquisitions. We have identified the following general criteria and guidelines, which we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. While we intend to use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating prospective businesses, we may deviate from these criteria and guidelines should we see justification to do so.

 

  Strong management team that can create significant value for target business. We will seek to identify companies with strong and experienced management teams that will complement the operating and investment abilities of our management team. We believe we can provide a platform for the existing management team to leverage the experience of our management team. We also believe that the operating expertise of our management team is well suited to complement the target’s management team.

 

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  Revenue and Earnings Growth Potential. We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that have the potential for significant revenue and earnings growth through a combination of both existing and new product development, increased production capacity, expense reduction and synergistic follow-on acquisitions resulting in increased operating leverage.
     
  Potential for Strong Free Cash Flow Generation. We will seek to acquire one or more businesses that have the potential to generate strong, stable and increasing free cash flow, particularly businesses with predictable revenue streams and definable low working capital and capital expenditure requirements. We may also seek to prudently leverage this cash flow in order to enhance shareholder value.
     
  Benefit from Being a Public Company. We intend to only acquire a business or businesses that will benefit from being publicly traded and which can effectively utilize access to broader sources of capital and a public profile that are associated with being a publicly traded company.

 

This criteria does not intend 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 sponsor and management team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into an 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 or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we would file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC.

 

Permission Required from the Chinese Authorities for this Offering and a Business Combination

 

The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors (the “M&A Rules”), adopted by six PRC regulatory agencies in 2006 and amended in 2009, require an offshore special purpose vehicle formed for the purpose of an overseas listing of securities in a PRC company to obtain the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (the “CSRC”) prior to the listing and trading of such special purpose vehicle’s securities on an overseas stock exchange. However, substantial uncertainty remains regarding the scope and applicability of the M&A Rules to offshore special purpose vehicles.

 

Recently, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council jointly issued the Opinions on Strictly Cracking Down on Illegal Securities Activities According to Law (the “Opinions”), which call for strengthened regulation over illegal securities activities and supervision on overseas listings by China-based companies and propose to take effective measures, such as promoting the development of relevant regulatory systems to deal with the risks and incidents faced by China-based overseas-listed companies.

 

On February 17, 2023, the CSRC promulgated the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (the “Trial Administrative Measures”), which will take effect on March 31, 2023. The Trial Administrative Measures further stipulate the rules and requirements for overseas offering and listing conducted by PRC domestic companies. After the Trial Administrative Measures take effect, if we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, the target company and/or combined company may be required to go through the filing procedure to satisfy the filing requirements. We cannot assure you that we will be able to complete such process on time, which could adversely affect our potential business combination with a PRC operating business and the business, financial condition and results of operations of the combined company. See “Risk Factor - Upon the effectiveness of the Trial Administrative measures, if we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, we may be subject to the Trial Administrative Measures if the Company meets the following criteria: (i) 50% or more of the issuer’s operating revenue, total profit, total assets or net assets as documented in its audited consolidated financial statements for the most recent accounting year is accounted for by PRC domestic companies; and (ii) the main parts of the issuer’s business activities are conducted in mainland China, or its main places of business are located in mainland China, or the senior managers in charge of its business operation and management are mostly Chinese citizens or domiciled in mainland China; and if required, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete such process on time.”

 

While the application of the M&A Rules remains unclear and the interpretation and implementation of the Opinions and Trial Administrative Measures also remain unclear at this stage, based on our understanding of the current PRC laws and regulations in effect at the time of this prospectus, no prior permission is required under the M&A Rules, the Opinions, or the Trial Administrative Measures from any PRC governmental authorities (including the CSRC) for consummating this offering by our Company. However, there can be no assurance that the relevant PRC governmental authorities, including the CSRC, would reach the same conclusion as us, or that the CSRC or any other PRC governmental authorities would not promulgate new rules or new interpretation of current rules to require us to obtain CSRC or other PRC governmental approvals for this offering or for the business combination if we decide to consummate the business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — The PRC governmental authorities may take the view now or in the future that an approval from them is required for an overseas offering by a company affiliated with Chinese businesses or persons or a business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China.

 

We currently do not hold any equity interest in any PRC company or operate any business in China. Therefore, we do not believe we are required to obtain any permission from any PRC governmental authorities to operate our business as currently conducted or to conduct this offering and offer securities to foreign investors. As of the date of this prospectus, we and our directors and officers have not applied for or received any permission or approvals for this offering or for our search for an initial business combination target company post offering. We have been closely monitoring regulatory developments in China regarding any necessary approvals from the CSRC or other PRC governmental authorities required for overseas listings, including this offering and a potential business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not received any inquiry, notice, warning, sanctions or regulatory objection to this offering from the CSRC or any other governmental authorities. However, there remains significant uncertainty as to the enactment, interpretation and implementation of regulatory requirements related to overseas securities offerings and other capital markets activities. If it is determined in the future that the approval of the CSRC, The Cyberspace Administration of China (the “CAC”) or any other regulatory authority is required for this offering, we or our post-business combination company may face sanctions by the CSRC, the CAC or other PRC regulatory agencies. These regulatory agencies may impose fines and penalties on our operations in China, limit our ability to pay dividends outside of China, limit our operations in China, delay or restrict the repatriation of the proceeds from this offering into China or take other actions that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, as well as the trading price of our securities. The CSRC, the CAC or other PRC regulatory agencies also may take actions requiring us, or making it advisable for us, to halt this offering before settlement and delivery of our units. Consequently, if you engage in market trading or other activities in anticipation of and prior to settlement and delivery, you do so at the risk that settlement and delivery may not occur. In addition, if the CSRC, the CAC or other regulatory PRC agencies later promulgate new rules requiring that we obtain their approvals for this offering, we may be unable to obtain a waiver of such approval requirements, if and when procedures are established to obtain such a waiver. Any uncertainties and/or negative publicity regarding such an approval requirement could have a material adverse effect on the trading price of our securities.

 

In addition, although our offices are located in United States, a majority of our directors and officers are based in or have significant ties to China. As a result, we and/or our directors and officers who are based in or have significant ties to China may be subject to certain risks relating to regulatory oversight by the PRC government. In particular, changes in the policies, regulations, rules, and the enforcement of laws of the PRC government may be adopted quickly with little advance notice. The Chinese government may also intervene or influence our search for a target business or the completion of an initial business combination at any time through our directors and officers who are based in or have significant ties to China. This could significantly and negatively impact our search for a target business and/or the value of the securities we are offering for sale. See “Risk Factor — Since a majority of our directors and officers are based in or have significant ties to China, the Chinese government may have potential oversight and discretion over the conduct of our directors’ and officers’ search for a target company. The Chinese government may intervene or influence our operations at any time through our directors and officers who are based in or have significant ties in China, which could result in a material change in our search for a target business and/or the value of the securities we are offering. Changes in the policies, regulations, rules, and the enforcement of laws of the PRC government may be adopted quickly with little advance notice and could have a significant impact upon our ability to operate.

 

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Funds Flow to and from our Potential PRC Subsidiaries (Post Business Combination)

 

If we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, the combined company whose securities will be listed on a U.S. stock exchange may make capital contributions or extend loans to its PRC subsidiaries through intermediate holding companies subject to compliance with relevant PRC foreign exchange control regulations. The combined company may rely on dividends and other distributions from the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company to provide it with cash flow and to meet its other obligations. After the business combination, the combined company’s ability to pay dividends, if any, to the shareholders and to service any debt it may incur will depend upon dividends or other distributions paid by its PRC subsidiaries which are entitled to substantially all of the economic benefits. Under PRC laws and regulations, PRC companies are subject to certain restrictions with respect to paying dividends or otherwise transferring any of their net assets to offshore entities. In particular, under the current PRC laws and regulations in effect at the time of this prospectus, dividends may be paid only out of distributable profits. Distributable profits are the net profit as determined under Chinese accounting standards and regulations, less any recovery of accumulated losses and appropriations to statutory and other reserves required to be made. A PRC company is required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profits each year to fund certain statutory reserve funds (up to an aggregate amount equal to half of its registered capital). Entities in China may also be required to further set aside a portion of their after-tax profits to fund the employee welfare fund, although the amount to be set aside, if any, is determined at the discretion of its board of directors. Although the statutory reserves can be used, among other ways, to increase the registered capital and eliminate future losses in excess of retained earnings of the respective companies, the reserve funds are not distributable as cash dividends except in the event of liquidation. As a result, the combined company’s PRC subsidiaries may not have sufficient distributable profits to pay dividends to the combined company.

 

Furthermore, if certain procedural requirements are satisfied, the payment in foreign currencies on current account items, including profit distributions and trade and service related foreign exchange transactions, can be made without prior approval from State Administration of Foreign Exchange (the “SAFE”) or its local branches. However, where RMB is to be converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses, such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies, approval from or registration with competent government authorities or its authorized banks is required. The PRC government may take measures at its discretion from time to time to restrict access to foreign currencies for current account or capital account transactions. If the foreign exchange control regulations prevent the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company from obtaining sufficient foreign currencies to satisfy their foreign currency demands, the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company may not be able to pay dividends or repay loans in foreign currencies to their offshore intermediary holding companies and ultimately to the combined company. In addition, exchange controls that exist in the PRC may restrict or prevent us from using the proceeds of this offering to acquire a target company in the PRC and limit our ability to utilize our cash flow effectively following a business combination, may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless. Thus, 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 share in the open market. We cannot assure you that new regulations or policies will not be promulgated in the future, which may further restrict the remittance of RMB into or out of the PRC. We cannot assure you, in light of the restrictions in place, or any amendment to be made from time to time, that the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company will be able to satisfy their respective payment obligations that are denominated in foreign currencies, including the remittance of dividends outside of the PRC. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — Exchange controls that exist in the PRC may restrict or prevent us from using the proceeds of this offering to acquire a target company in the PRC and limit our ability to utilize our cash flow effectively following our initial business combination,” Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — Governmental control of currency conversion may limit the ability of our operating companies in China to utilize their revenues effectively and affect the value of your investment” and “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — If we enter into a business combination with a target business operating in China, PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent the combined company from using the proceeds from the business combination to make loans to or make additional capital contributions to its PRC subsidiaries, which could materially and adversely affect PRC operating companies’ liquidity and ability to fund the operations.

 

As an offshore holding company, if we acquire a target company that operates its business in China, we may use the proceeds of our offshore fund-raising activities to provide loans or make capital contributions to the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company, in each case subject to applicable regulatory requirements. The PRC subsidiaries may pay dividends to us out of their retained earnings. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not made any dividends or distributions to our shareholders. We do not intend to distribute earnings or settle amounts owed until after the closing of the business combination.

 

The following illustrative table shows the post-business combination funds flow of the Company to the extent that the Company will acquire a company based in the PRC through direct equity investment:

 

 

Note:

 

  (1) We may transfer funds to the target (PRC-based operations company) through an increase in the registered capital of or a shareholder loan to the target (PRC-based operations company). The target (PRC-based operations company) may in turn make distributions or pay dividends to us.

 

Recent PCAOB Developments

 

Future developments in U.S. laws may restrict our ability or willingness to complete certain business combinations with companies. For instance, the enacted Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “HFCAA”) would restrict our ability to consummate a business combination with a target business unless that business met certain standards of the PCAOB and would require delisting of a company from U.S. national securities exchanges if the PCAOB is unable to inspect its public accounting firm for three consecutive years. The HFCAA also requires public companies to disclose, among other things, whether they are owned or controlled by a foreign government. We may not be able to consummate a business combination with a favored target business due to these laws. Furthermore, on June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (“AHFCAA”), which, if signed into law, would amend the HFCAA and require the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three consecutive years.

 

The documentation we may be required to submit to the SEC proving certain beneficial ownership requirements and establishing that we are not owned or controlled by a foreign government in the event that we use a foreign public accounting firm not subject to inspection by the PCAOB or where the PCAOB is unable to completely inspect or investigate our accounting practices or financial statements because of a position taken by an authority in the foreign jurisdiction could be onerous and time consuming to prepare. The HFCAA mandates the SEC to identify issuers of SEC-registered securities whose audited financial reports are prepared by an accounting firm that the PCAOB is unable to inspect due to restrictions imposed by an authority in the foreign jurisdiction where the audits are performed. If such identified issuer’s auditor cannot be inspected by the PCAOB for three consecutive years, the trading of such issuer’s securities on any U.S. national securities exchanges, as well as any over-the-counter trading in the U.S., will be prohibited.

 

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On March 24, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final rules relating to the implementation of certain disclosure and documentation requirements of the HFCAA. An identified issuer will be required to comply with these rules if the SEC identifies it as having a “non-inspection” year under a process to be subsequently established by the SEC.

 

On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed a bill which, if passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and signed into law, would reduce the number of consecutive non-inspection years required for triggering the prohibitions under the HFCAA from three years to two. The SEC is assessing how to implement other requirements of the HFCAA, including the listing and trading prohibition requirements described above.

 

On November 5, 2021, the SEC approved the PCAOB’s Rule 6100, Board Determinations Under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. Rule 6100 provides a framework for the PCAOB to use when determining, as contemplated under the HFCAA, whether it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction.

 

On December 2, 2021, the SEC issued amendments to finalize rules implementing the submission and disclosure requirements in the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. The rules apply to registrants that the SEC identifies as having filed an annual report with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm that is located in a foreign jurisdiction and that PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in foreign jurisdictions.

 

On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a Determination Report which found that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in: (i) China, and (ii) Hong Kong. On August 26, 2022, the PCAOB signed a Statement of Protocol with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Finance of the PRC (“SOP”), taking the first step toward opening access for the PCAOB to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong completely, consistent with U.S law. Pursuant to the SOP, the PCAOB shall have independent discretion to select any issuer audits for inspection or investigation and has the unfettered ability to transfer information to the SEC.

 

On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB determined that the PCAOB was able to secure complete access to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong and voted to vacate its previous determinations to the contrary. However, should PRC authorities obstruct or otherwise fail to facilitate the PCAOB’s access in the future, the PCAOB will consider the need to issue a new determination. Our auditor, UHY LLP, headquartered in New York, NY, is an independent registered public accounting firm with the PCAOB and has been inspected by the PCAOB on a regular basis. The PCAOB currently has access to inspect the working papers of our auditor. Our auditor is not headquartered in China or Hong Kong and was not identified in the determination report as a firm subject to the PCAOB’s determination.

 

The SEC is assessing how to implement other requirements of the HFCAA, including the listing and trading prohibition requirements described above. Future developments in respect of increased U.S. regulatory access to audit information are uncertain, as the legislative developments are subject to the legislative process and the regulatory developments are subject to the rule-making process and other administrative procedures. In the event that we complete a business combination with a non-U.S. company and any of the legislative actions or regulatory changes discussed above were to proceed in ways that are detrimental to a non-U.S. issuer, it could cause us to fail to be in compliance with U.S. securities laws and regulations, we could cease to be listed on a U.S. securities exchange, and U.S. trading of our shares could be prohibited. Any of these actions, or uncertainties in the market about the possibility of such actions, could adversely affect our prospects to successfully complete a business combination with a non-U.S. company, our access to the U.S. capital markets and the price of our shares.

 

Other developments in U.S. laws and regulatory environment, including but not limited to executive orders such as Executive Order (E.O.) 13959, “Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments That Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies,” may further restrict our ability to complete a business combination with certain China-based businesses. For more detailed information, see “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — Certain existing or future U.S. laws and regulations may restrict or eliminate our ability to complete a business combination with certain companies, particularly those target companies in China.

 

Initial Business Combination

 

Nasdaq rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our Board of Directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination.

 

We will have until 12 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 12 months, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to three times, each by an additional three months (for a total of up to 21 months to complete a business combination) without submitting such proposed extensions to our shareholders for approval or offering our public shareholders redemption rights in connection therewith. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on the date of this prospectus, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon ten days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account $600,000, or up to $690,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per share in either case) on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each three month extension (or up to an aggregate of $1,800,000 (or $2,070,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $0.30 per share if we extend for the full nine months). Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan. Any such loans will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If we do not complete a business combination, we will not repay such loans. Furthermore, the letter agreement with our initial shareholders contains a provision pursuant to which our sponsor has agreed to waive its right to be repaid for such loans out of the funds held in the trust account in the event that we do not complete a business combination. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. Up to $1,800,000 of the loans made by our sponsor, our officers and directors, or our or their affiliates to us prior to or in connection with our initial business combination (including loans made to extend our time period for consummating a business combination) may be convertible into units at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender.

 

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If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within such time period, we will, as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the outstanding public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of interest that may be used by us to pay our taxes payable and for 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 liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law and as further described herein, and then seek to dissolve and liquidate. We expect the pro rata redemption price to be approximately $10.20 per public share (regardless of whether or not the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option) (subject to increase of up to an additional $0.30 per share in the event that our sponsor elects to extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full nine months), without taking into account any interest earned on such funds. However, we cannot assure you that we will in fact be able to distribute such amounts as a result of claims of creditors which may take priority over the claims of our public shareholders.

 

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

 

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.

 

Corporate Information

 

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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 ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior December 31, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

 

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 expect to receive a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax 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 a Cayman Islands exempted company incorporated on July 6, 2021. Our executive offices are located at 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 2446, New York, NY 10170, and our telephone number is (347) 627-0058.

 

 

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THE OFFERING

 

In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section below entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 26 of this prospectus.

 

Securities offered   6,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:
     
    ● one ordinary share; and
     
   

● one right to receive two-tenths (2/10) of one ordinary share upon the consummation of our initial business combination.

     
Proposed Nasdaq symbols   Units: “TMTCU”
     
    Ordinary Shares: “TMTC”
     
   

Rights: “TMTCR”

     
Trading commencement and separation of ordinary shares and rights  

The units will begin trading promptly after the date of this prospectus. The ordinary shares and rights comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Maxim 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 ordinary shares and rights 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 ordinary shares and rights.

     

Separate trading of the ordinary shares and rights is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on

Form 8-K

  In no event will the ordinary shares and rights be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes 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.
     
Units:    
     
Number outstanding before this offering   0
     
Number outstanding after this offering and the private placement   6,370,0001

 

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Ordinary shares:    
     
Number issued and outstanding before this offering   1,725,0002

 

Number issued and outstanding after this offering and the private placement   8,140,0001,3
     
Rights:    
     
Number issued and outstanding before this offering   0
     
Number issued and outstanding after this offering and private placement   6,370,0001

 

1 Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the forfeiture by our sponsor of 225,000 ordinary shares.
   
2 Consists solely of founder shares and includes up to 225,000 ordinary shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. Except as otherwise specified, the rest of this prospectus has been drafted to give effect to the full forfeiture of these 225,000 ordinary shares.
   
3 Includes 6,000,000 public shares, 1,500,000 founder shares, 370,000 placement shares and 270,000 representative shares to be issued to Maxim and/or its designees.

 

Terms of rights  

Except in cases where we are not the surviving company in a business combination, each holder of a right will automatically receive two-tenths (2/10) of one ordinary share upon consummation of our initial business combination. We will not issue fractional shares in connection with an exchange of rights. Fractional shares will either be rounded down to the nearest whole share or otherwise addressed in accordance with the applicable provisions of Cayman law. As a result, you must hold rights in multiples of 5 in order to receive shares for all of your rights upon closing of a business combination. In the event we will not be the surviving company upon completion of our initial business combination, each holder of a right will be required to affirmatively convert his, her or its rights in order to receive the two-tenths (2/10) of one ordinary share underlying each right upon consummation of the business combination. If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time period and we redeem the public shares for the funds held in the trust account, holders of rights will not receive any of such funds for their rights and the rights will expire worthless.

 

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Founder shares  

In August 2021, we issued an aggregate of 1,437,500 founder shares to our sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.017 per share. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to us by the number of founder shares issued.

 

In January 2022, following changes to our share capital, we issued an additional 287,500 ordinary shares to our sponsor as fully paid bonus shares for no additional consideration, which issuance was recorded retroactively.

 

As of January 6, 2022, there were 1,725,000 ordinary shares issued to our sponsor, of which an aggregate of up to 225,000 ordinary shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part so that the number of founder shares will equal 19% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares after this offering (excluding private placement shares).

 

As such, our sponsor will own 19% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (excluding the private placement shares). Our sponsor will own approximately 23.0% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (including private placement shares).

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

 

    the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below;
       
    our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (i) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame). If we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our insiders have agreed, pursuant to such letter agreement, to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholder’s founder shares and private placement shares, we would need only 2,200,000, or 36.7%, of the 6,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) or 165,000, or 2.8%, of the 6,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming only a quorum is present at such meeting held to vote on our initial business combination) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised); and
       
    the founder shares are subject to registration rights.

 

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Transfer restrictions on founder shares   Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of its founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) twelve (12) months after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under “Principal Shareholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Units”). We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.
     
    Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the last sale price of our ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, rights issuances, subdivisions, 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, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up.
     
Private placement units   Our sponsor has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 370,000 units (or 406,000 units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $10.00 per unit for an aggregate purchase price of $3,700,000, or $4,060,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full. Each private placement unit will be identical to the units sold in this offering, except as described in this prospectus. The private placement units will be sold in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering, including the over-allotment option, as applicable. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to the founder shares, private placement shares, or private placement rights. The rights will expire worthless if we do not consummate a business combination within the allotted 12-month period (or up to 21 months from the completion of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time). Our sponsor has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to its private 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 to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months after the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the completion of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination within 12 months after the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the completion of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or if we liquidate prior to the expiration of the 12-month period (or up to 21 months from the completion of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time). However, our sponsor will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by it if we fail to consummate a business combination or liquidate within the 12-month period (or up to 21 months if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time).
     
Transfer restrictions on private placement units   The private 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.

 

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Proceeds to be held in trust account  

The rules of Nasdaq provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds we will receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement units described in this prospectus, $61,200,000 ($10.20 per public unit), or $70,380,000 ($10.20 per public unit) if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full (subject to increase of up to an additional $0.30 per unit in the event that our sponsor elects to extend the period of time to consummate a business combination for the full nine months, as described in more detail in this prospectus), will be deposited into a segregated trust account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and $660,000 will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering.

     
    The funds in the trust account will be invested only in specified U.S. government treasury bills or in specified money market funds.

 

   

Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the proceeds from this offering and the private placement will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to (A) 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 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public shareholders.

     
Ability to extend time to complete business combination  

We will have until 12 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 12 months, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to three times, each by an additional three months (for a total of up to 21 months to complete a business combination) without submitting such proposed extensions to our shareholders for approval or offering our public shareholders redemption rights in connection therewith. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on the date of this prospectus, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon ten days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account $600,000, or up to $690,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per share in either case) on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each three month extension (or up to an aggregate of $1,800,000 (or $2,070,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $0.30 per share if we extend for the full nine months). Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan. Any such loans will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If we do not complete a business combination, we will not repay such loans. Furthermore, the letter agreement with our initial shareholders contains a provision pursuant to which our sponsor has agreed to waive its right to be repaid for such loans out of the funds held in the trust account in the event that we do not complete a business combination. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination.

 

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Anticipated expenses and funding sources   Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use, except the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes. Based upon current interest rates, we expect the trust account to generate approximately $2,448,000 of interest in 12 months (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option and an interest rate of 4.0% per year) following the investment of such funds in specified U.S. government treasury bills or in specified money market funds. Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from:

 

    the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $660,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $640,000 (not including underwriter’s commissions) 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 any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of a business combination. Up to $1,800,000 of the loans made by our sponsor, our officers and directors, or our or their affiliates to us prior to or in connection with our initial business combination may be convertible into units at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender.

 

Conditions to completing our initial business combination   There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. Nasdaq rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination.
     
    If our Board of Directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm. We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 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 our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial business combination transaction. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test, provided that in the event that our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.

 

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Permitted purchases of public shares 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, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Please see “Proposed Business — Permitted purchases of our securities” for a description of how such persons will determine which shareholders to seek to acquire shares from. There is no limit on the number of shares such persons may purchase, or any restriction on the price that they may pay. Any such price per share may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. However, such persons have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. In the event our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates determine to make any such purchases at the time of a shareholder vote relating to our initial business combination, such purchases could have the effect of influencing the vote necessary to approve such transaction. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to: (i) refrain from purchasing shares during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (ii) to clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.
     
    We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates will not make any purchases if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.

 

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Redemption rights for public 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein.
     
   

The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.20 per public share (subject to increase of up to an additional $0.30 per unit in the event that our sponsor elects to extend the period of time to consummate a business combination, as described in more detail in this prospectus). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our public rights or private placement rights. 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 their founder shares and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering 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 public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Under Nasdaq rules, asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. We intend to 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 requirement 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 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.

 

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    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 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, if enough shareholders tender their shares so that we are unable to satisfy any applicable closing condition set forth in the definitive agreement related to our initial business combination, or we are unable to maintain net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon the consummation of initial business combination, we will not consummate such business combination.
     
    If, however, 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:

 

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

 

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

If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares voted are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. We expect that at the time of any shareholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our sponsor and its permitted transferees will own at least 19% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote thereon (excluding the private placement shares) or approximately 23.0% (including the private placement shares). If we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our insiders have agreed, pursuant to such letter agreement, to vote their founder shares, private placement shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination (as a result, in addition to our initial shareholder’s founder shares and private placement shares, we would need only 2,200,000, or 36.7%, of the 6,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) or 165,000, or 2.8%, of the 6,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming only a quorum is present at such meeting held to vote on our initial business combination) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised)). Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

 

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    We have determined not to consummate any business combination unless we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation in order to avoid being subject to Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. However, if we seek to consummate an initial business combination with a target business that imposes any type of working capital closing condition or requires us to have a minimum amount of funds available from the trust account upon consummation of such initial business combination, our net tangible asset threshold may limit our ability to consummate such initial business combination (as we may be required to have a lesser number of shares redeemed) and may force us to seek third party financing which may not be available on terms acceptable to us or at all. As a result, we may not be able to consummate such initial business combination and we may not be able to locate another suitable target within the applicable time period, if at all.

 

Tendering share certificates in connection with a tender offer or 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 (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve our initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements.
     
Limitation on redemption rights of shareholders holding more than 15% 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. 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 sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our sponsor or its affiliates at a 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 a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including 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. Our sponsor, officers and directors have, pursuant to a letter agreement entered into with us, waived their right to have any founder shares or public shares held by them redeemed in connection with our initial business combination. Unless any of our other affiliates acquires founder shares through a permitted transfer from an initial shareholder, and thereby becomes subject to the letter agreement, no such affiliate is subject to this waiver. However, to the extent any such affiliate acquires public shares in this offering or thereafter through open market purchases, it would be a public shareholder and subject to the 15% limitation in connection with any such redemption right.

 

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Redemption Rights in connection with proposed amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association  

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide 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 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 in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association), may be amended if approved by special resolution by at least two-thirds of our shareholders who being entitled to do so, attend and vote at such general meeting in person or by proxy, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 90% of our ordinary shares. Should our insiders vote all of their shares in favor of any such amendment, such amendment would not be approved regardless of how public shares are voted. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or in our initial business combination. Our sponsor, which will beneficially own 19% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming it does not purchase units in this offering and excluding the private placement shares) or approximately 23.0% (including the private placement shares), 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 it chooses. 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 that would (i) 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 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (ii) with respect to the other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their 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 their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.

 

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Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination   On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be released to us, other than funds the trustee will use 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 all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
     
Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination  

Our sponsor, officers, and directors have agreed that we will have only 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 12-month period (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), we will: (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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $61,200 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 liquidation 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 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 public rights or private placement rights. The rights will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 12-month time period (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time).

 

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Our sponsor, officers and directors 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 if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time). However, if our sponsor acquires public shares after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 12-month time frame (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time).

     
    Our 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 that would (i) 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 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (ii) with respect to the other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their 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.
     
Limited payments to insiders   There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:

 

    repayment of an aggregate of up to $500,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;
       
    payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of a total of $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services;
       
    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 and non-interest bearing loans which may be made by our sponsor to extend the time period for consummating our 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 $1,800,000 of the loans made by our sponsor, our officers and directors, or our or their affiliates to us prior to or in connection with our initial business combination 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.

 

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    These payments may be funded using the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units not held in the trust account or, upon completion of the initial business combination, from any amounts remaining from the proceeds of the trust account released to us in connection therewith.
     
    Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates.
     
Audit committee   Prior to the effectiveness of this registration statement, 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 entitled “Management — Committees of the Board of Directors — Audit Committee.”
     
Conflicts of interest  

Our CEO and Chairman is also a senior managing director of Revere Securities LLC (“Revere”). As a result, Revere, as co-manager of this offering and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, is an affiliate of us. Therefore, Revere has a “conflict of interest” within the meaning of Rule 5121 of the Conduct Rules of FINRA. Accordingly, this offering will be made in compliance with the applicable provisions of FINRA Rule 5121, which requires that a “qualified independent underwriter,” as defined by the FINRA rules, participate in the preparation of the registration statement and exercise the usual standards of due diligence with respect to the registration statement that an underwriter would exercise on its own behalf. Maxim is acting as the qualified independent underwriter and will not receive any additional fees for serving as qualified independent underwriter. We agreed to indemnify Maxim against certain liabilities incurred in connection with acting as a qualified independent underwriter, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In addition, no underwriter with a conflict of interest will confirm sales to any account over which it exercises discretionary authority without the specific prior written approval of the account holder.

 

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and, in the future, any of our directors and our officers may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present acquisition opportunities to such entity. Accordingly, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of an acquisition opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will need to honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such acquisition opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any officer or director unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue. We do not believe, however, that any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers would materially undermine our ability to complete our business combination.

     
Indemnity   Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.20 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, 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 their indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations.

 

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Risks

 

We are a newly incorporated 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 “Proposed Business — Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.” You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors.”

 

Summary of Risk Factors

 

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section title “Risk Factors,” that represent challenges that we face in connection with the successful implementation of our strategy. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may adversely affect our ability to effect a business combination, and may have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. Such risks include, but are not limited to:

 

  newly formed company without an operating history;
     
 

the fact that our sponsor is controlled by, and has substantial ties with, a non-U.S. person could impact our ability to complete our initial business combination (see detailed discussion of this risk in the “Risk Factors – Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks” section on page 26);

 

 

a majority of our officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to China, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination (see detailed discussion of this risk in the “Risk Factors – Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks” section on page 26);

 

 

since a majority of our directors and officers are based in or have significant ties to China, the Chinese government may have potential oversight and discretion over the conduct of our directors’ and officers’ search for a target company. The Chinese government may intervene or influence our operations at any time through the directors and officers who are based in or have significant ties in China, which could result in a material change in our search for a target business and/or the value of the securities we are offering. Changes in the policies, regulations, rules, and the enforcement of laws of the PRC government may be adopted quickly with little advance notice and could have a significant impact upon our ability to operate (see detailed discussion of this risk in the “Risk Factors – Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks” section on pages 26 and 27);

 

 

we are subject to risks and uncertainties regarding the enforcement of laws and that rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to investors and our company.” on page 54;

     
 

the PRC government has also recently indicated an intent to exert more oversight and control over securities offerings and other capital markets activities that are conducted overseas and foreign investment in China-based companies. Any such action, once taken by the PRC government, could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to consummate a business combination with a China-based target business, the combined company’s ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or in extreme cases, become worthless. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China —The PRC government exerts substantial influence over the manner in which we conduct our business activities if we pursue a business combination with a China-based business. The PRC government may intervene or influence our operations at any time, or may exert more control over offerings conducted overseas, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our securities, and could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or become worthless.” on page 55 and “—China’s economic, political and social conditions, as well as sudden or unexpected changes in any government policies, laws and regulations, could have a material adverse effect on our business or business combination, and the PRC government may intervene or influence the combined company’s operations at any time.” on page 56;

     
 

we are subject to risks and uncertainties regarding the evolving PRC laws and regulations regarding cybersecurity, information security, privacy and data protection and other related laws and requirements in consummating an initial business combination. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — Complying with evolving PRC laws and regulations regarding cybersecurity, information security, privacy and data protection and other related laws and requirements may increase the cost of our initial business combination with a China-based business and could even result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination with a China-based business.” on page 56;

 

 

the PRC laws applicable to target companies will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights in China. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC, the laws applicable to such business will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.” on page 57;

     
 

the PRC governmental authorities may take the view that an approval from them is required for an overseas offering by a company affiliated with Chinese businesses or persons or a business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — The PRC governmental authorities may take the view now or in the future that an approval from them is required for an overseas offering by a company affiliated with Chinese businesses or persons or a business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China.” on page 57;

     
  upon the effectiveness of the Trial Administrative Measures, if we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, we may be subject to the Trial Administrative Measures if the Company meets the following criteria: (i) 50% or more of the issuer’s operating revenue, total profit, total assets or net assets as documented in its audited consolidated financial statements for the most recent accounting year is accounted for by PRC domestic companies; and (ii) the main parts of the issuer’s business activities are conducted in mainland China, or its main places of business are located in mainland China, or the senior managers in charge of its business operation and management are mostly Chinese citizens or domiciled in mainland China; and if required, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete such process on time. See “Risk Factor - Upon the effectiveness of the Trial Administrative measures, if we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, we may be subject to the Trial Administrative Measures if the Company meets the following criteria: (i) 50% or more of the issuer’s operating revenue, total profit, total assets or net assets as documented in its audited consolidated financial statements for the most recent accounting year is accounted for by PRC domestic companies; and (ii) the main parts of the issuer’s business activities are conducted in mainland China, or its main places of business are located in mainland China, or the senior managers in charge of its business operation and management are mostly Chinese citizens or domiciled in mainland China; and if required, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete such process on time.” on page 57;
     
 

if we successfully consummate a business combination with a target business with primary operations in the PRC, we will be subject to restrictions on dividend payments following the consummation of our initial business combination. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — We may consummate a business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, after which the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company will be subject to restrictions on dividend payments.” on page 58;

     
   ●

exchange controls in the PRC may restrict or prevent us from using the proceeds of this offering to acquire a target company in the PRC and limit our ability to utilize our cash flow effectively following our initial business combination. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — Exchange controls that exist in the PRC may restrict or prevent us from using the proceeds of this offering to acquire a target company in the PRC and limit our ability to utilize our cash flow effectively following our initial business combination.” on page 58;

     
 

governmental control of currency conversion may limit the ability of our operating companies in China to utilize their revenues effectively. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — Governmental control of currency conversion may limit the ability of our operating companies in China to utilize their revenues effectively and affect the value of your investment.” on page 58;

 

 

governmental control in currency conversion may restrict our ability to make loans to or capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — If we enter into a business combination with a target business operating in China, PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent the combined company from using the proceeds from the business combination to make loans to or make additional capital contributions to its PRC subsidiaries, which could materially and adversely affect PRC operating companies’ liquidity and ability to fund the operations.” on page 59;

 

 

PRC regulations may make it more difficult for us to complete an acquisition of a target business. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — As a result of the M&A Rules implemented on September 8, 2006 relating to acquisitions of assets and equity interests of Chinese companies by foreign persons, it is expected that acquisitions will take longer and be subject to economic scrutiny by the PRC government authorities such that we may not be able to complete a transaction.” on page 59;

 

 

We may not be able to negotiate a transaction that is acceptable to our shareholders or sufficiently protect their interests in a transaction. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — Because the M&A Rules permit the government agencies to have scrutiny over the economics of an acquisition transaction and require consideration in a transaction to be paid within stated time limits, we may not be able to negotiate a transaction that is acceptable to our shareholders or sufficiently protect their interests in a transaction.” on page 59;

 

 

PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC resident beneficial owners or any future PRC subsidiaries to liability or penalties, limit our ability to inject capital into any PRC subsidiaries, limit any PRC subsidiary’s ability to increase its registered capital or distribute profits to us, or may otherwise adversely affect us. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — PRC regulations relating to offshore investment activities by PRC residents may limit our ability to inject capital in our Chinese subsidiaries and Chinese subsidiaries’ ability to change their registered capital or distribute profits to the combined company or otherwise expose it or its PRC resident beneficial owners to liability and penalties under PRC laws.” on page 59;

 

 

U.S. laws in the future may restrict or eliminate our ability to complete a business combination with certain companies, particularly those target companies in China. See “Risk Factors — Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China — Certain existing or future U.S. laws and regulations may restrict or eliminate our ability to complete a business combination with certain companies, particularly those target companies in China.” on page 60.

 

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  lack of opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination;
     
  lack of protections afforded to investors of blank check companies;
     
  issuance of equity and/or debt securities to complete a business combination;
     
  lack of working capital;
     
  third-party claims reducing the per-share redemption price;
     
  negative interest rate for securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account;
     
  our shareholders being held liable for claims by third parties against us;
     
  failure to enforce our sponsor’s indemnification obligations;
     
  the ability of shareholders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company;
     
  the ability of shareholders to protect their interests and rights through the U.S. Federal courts due to some of our executive officers, directors, and director nominees being located in or having significant ties to China;
     
  dependence on key personnel;
     
  conflicts of interest of our sponsor, officers and directors and the representative;

 

  the delisting of our securities by Nasdaq;
     
  dependence on a single target business with a limited number of products or services;
     
  shares being redeemed and rights becoming worthless;
     
  our competitors with advantages over us in seeking business combinations;
     
  ability to obtain additional financing;
     
  our initial stockholders controlling a substantial interest in us;
     
  the adverse effect of rights and founder shares on the market price of our ordinary shares;
     
  registration rights’ adverse effect on the market price of our ordinary shares; and
     
  impact of COVID-19 and related risks.
     
  The excise tax included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 may decrease the value of our securities following our initial business combination, hinder our ability to consummate an initial business combination, and decrease the amount of funds available for distribution in connection with a liquidation.

 

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.

 

   December 31, 2022  
   Actual    As Adjusted  
Balance Sheet Data:           
Working capital (deficiency)   $ (428,181 )   $ 61,875,103  
Total assets     497,741      61,875,103  
Total liabilities     482,638      -  
Value of shares subject to redemption     -      61,200,000  
Stockholders’ equity     15,103      675,103  

 

RISK FACTORS

 

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider 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. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of specific factors, including the risks described below.

 

Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks

 

The fact that our sponsor is controlled by, and has substantial ties with, a non-U.S. person could impact our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

Our sponsor, 2TM Holding, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, is controlled by its general partner, 2TM Management LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. 2TM Management LLC’s managing members are Linan Gong, a non-U.S. person, and Dahe Zhang, a U.S. lawful permanent resident, i.e., green card holder, and U.S. resident. We may not be able to complete an initial business combination with a U.S. target company since such initial business combination may be subject to U.S. foreign investment regulations and review by a U.S. government entity, such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and ultimately prohibited. As a result, the pool of potential targets with which we could complete an initial business combination may be limited and the time necessary for government review of the transaction or a decision to prohibit the transaction could prevent us from completing an initial business combination and require us to liquidate. If we liquidate, the investors will lose any potential investment opportunity in a target company and the chance of realizing future gains on investment through any price appreciation in the combined company, and the rights would expire worthless. For the consequences of liquidation, please see the risk factors titled “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 $10.20 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption, and our rights will expire worthless.” and “If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 12 months of the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such 12 months (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) before redemption from our trust account.

 

A majority of our officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to China, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.

 

A majority of our executive officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to China. If we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, the combined company may face various legal and operational risks and uncertainties after the business combination. For the avoidance of doubt, we will not consummate our initial business combination with an entity or business with China operations consolidated through a VIE structure. As a result, this may limit the pool of acquisition candidates we may acquire in China, in particular, due to the relevant PRC laws and regulations against foreign ownership of and investment in certain assets and industries, known as restricted industries, which include but are not limited to, for example, value added telecommunications services (except for e-commerce, domestic multiparty communications, store-and-forward services, and call centers). Further, due to the fact that a majority of our executive officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to China, it may make us a less attractive partner to certain potential target businesses, including non-China- or non-Hong Kong-based target companies, and such perception may potentially limit or negatively impact our search for an initial business combination or may therefore make it more likely for us to consummate a business combination with a company based in or having the majority of its operations in the PRC and/or Hong Kong. Therefore, this may make it more difficult for us to complete an initial business combination with a target company within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time, as described in more detail in this prospectus).

 

Since a majority of our directors and officers are based in or have significant ties to China, the Chinese government may have potential oversight and discretion over the conduct of our directors’ and officers’ search for a target company. The Chinese government may intervene or influence our operations at any time through our directors and officers who are based in or have significant ties in China, which could result in a material change in our search for a target business and/or the value of the securities we are offering. Changes in the policies, regulations, rules, and the enforcement of laws of the PRC government may be adopted quickly with little advance notice and could have a significant impact upon our ability to operate.

 

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Although our offices are located in the United States, a majority of our directors and officers are based in or have significant ties to China. We and/or our directors and officers who are based in or have significant ties to China may be subject to certain risks relating to regulatory oversight by the PRC government. This may significantly limit our ability to search for candidates for our initial business combination. In particular, changes in the policies, regulations, rules, and the enforcement of laws of the PRC government may be adopted quickly with little advance notice. The Chinese government may also intervene or influence our search for a target business or the completion of an initial business combination at any time through our directors and officers who are based in or have significant ties to China. This could significantly and negatively impact our search for a target business and/or the value of the securities we are offering for sale.

 

We currently do not hold any equity interest in any PRC company or operate any business in China. Therefore, we do not believe we are required to obtain any permission from any PRC governmental authorities to operate our business as currently conducted or to conduct this offering and offer securities to foreign investors. As of the date of this prospectus, we and our directors and officers have not applied for or received any permission or approvals for this offering or for our search for an initial business combination target company post offering. We have been closely monitoring regulatory developments in China regarding any necessary approvals from the CSRC or other PRC governmental authorities required for overseas listings, including this offering and a potential business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not received any inquiry, notice, warning, sanctions or regulatory objection to this offering from the CSRC or any other governmental authorities. However, there remains significant uncertainty as to the enactment, interpretation and implementation of regulatory requirements related to overseas securities offerings and other capital markets activities. If it is determined in the future that the approval of the CSRC, The Cyberspace Administration of China (the “CAC”) or any other regulatory authority is required for this offering, we or our post-business combination company may face sanctions by the CSRC, the CAC or other PRC regulatory agencies. These regulatory agencies may impose fines and penalties on our operations in China, limit our ability to pay dividends outside of China, limit our operations in China, delay or restrict the repatriation of the proceeds from this offering into China or take other actions that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, as well as the trading price of our securities. The CSRC, the CAC or other PRC regulatory agencies also may take actions requiring us, or making it advisable for us, to halt this offering before settlement and delivery of our units. Consequently, if you engage in market trading or other activities in anticipation of and prior to settlement and delivery, you do so at the risk that settlement and delivery may not occur. In addition, if the CSRC, the CAC or other regulatory PRC agencies later promulgate new rules requiring that we obtain their approvals for this offering, we may be unable to obtain a waiver of such approval requirements, if and when procedures are established to obtain such a waiver. Any uncertainties and/or negative publicity regarding such an approval requirement could have a material adverse effect on the trading price of our securities.

 

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

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widespread health crisis that has adversely affected 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 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 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.

 

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.

 

We may not hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable Cayman Islands law or the rules of Nasdaq or if we decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons. Examples of transactions that would not ordinarily require shareholder approval include asset acquisitions and share purchases, while transactions such as direct mergers with our company or transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares would require shareholder approval. For instance, Nasdaq rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a shareholder meeting but would still require us to obtain shareholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares, we would seek shareholder approval of such business combination. Except as required by law or Nasdaq rules, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we consummate. Please see the section entitled “Proposed Business — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — Shareholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination” for additional information.

 

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

 

Unlike other blank check companies in which the initial shareholders agree to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the public shareholders in connection with an initial business combination, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote any founder shares held by them, as well as any public shares purchased during or after this offering, in favor of our initial business combination. We expect that our sponsor and its permitted transferees will own 23.0% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (including the private placement shares) at the time of any such shareholder vote. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholder’s founder shares and private placement shares, we would need only 2,200,000, or 36.7%, of the 6,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) or 165,000, or 2.8%, of the 6,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming only a quorum is present at such meeting held to vote on our initial business combination and all shares to be issued to Maxim and/or its designees are issued and outstanding and voted in favor of the business combination) in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary shareholder approval will be received than would be the case if such persons agreed to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public shareholders.

 

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 business combination.

 

At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of one or more target businesses. Since our Board of Directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder approval. 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 a business combination with a target.

 

We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 both immediately prior to and upon consummation of our initial business combination or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we may be forced to seek third party financing which may not be available on terms acceptable to us or at all. As a result, we may not be able to consummate such initial business combination and we may not be able to locate another suitable target within the applicable time period, if at all. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.

 

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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 we 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. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us 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.

 

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 a business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.

 

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time). For example, if the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire.

 

Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.

 

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We may extend our time period to consummate our initial business combination for up to nine months and accordingly have a total of up to 21 months from the closing of this offering to consummate a business combination without submitting such proposed extensions to our stockholders for approval or offering our public stockholders redemption rights in connection therewith.

 

We will have until 12 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 12 months, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to three times, each by an additional three months (for a total of up to 21 months to complete a business combination) without submitting such proposed extensions to our shareholders for approval or offering our public shareholders redemption rights in connection therewith. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and subject to deposit of additional funds by our sponsor or its affiliates or designees into our trust account as set forth thereunder, we may effectuate such extensions without submitting such proposed extensions to our shareholders for approval or offering our public shareholders redemption rights in connection with the proposed extensions.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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 $10.20 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our rights will expire worthless.

 

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time). We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $61,200 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 liquidation 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 each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.20 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 $10.20 per share” and other risk factors herein.

 

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If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our 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 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. Please see “Proposed Business — Permitted purchases of our securities” for a description of how such persons will determine which shareholders to seek to acquire shares from. 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 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 price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This 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 ordinary shares and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. However, in the event our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates were to purchase shares from public shareholders, such purchases would by structured in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act including, in pertinent part, through adherence to the following:

 

  the Company’s registration statement/proxy statement filed for its business combination transaction would disclose the possibility that the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares from public shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases;
     
  if the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates were to purchase shares from public shareholders, they would do so at a price no higher than the price offered through the Company’s redemption process;
     
  the Company’s registration statement/proxy statement filed for its business combination transaction would include a representation that any of the Company’s securities purchased by the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates would not be voted in favor of approving the business combination transaction;
     
  the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates would not possess any redemption rights with respect to the Company’s securities or, if they do acquire and possess redemption rights, they would waive such rights; and
     
  the Company would disclose in its Form 8-K, before to the Company’s security holder meeting to approve the business combination transaction, the following material items:

 

  the amount of the Company’s securities purchased outside of the redemption offer by the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates, along with the purchase price;
     
  the purpose of the purchases by the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates;
     
  the impact, if any, of the purchases by the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved;
     
  the identities of Company security holders who sold to the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates (if not purchased on the open market) or the nature of Company security holders (e.g., 5% security holders) who sold to the Company’s sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates; and
     
  the number of Company securities for which the Company has received redemption requests pursuant to its redemption offer.

 

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, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem public shares. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See “Proposed Business — Business Strategy — Tendering share certificates in connection with a tender offer or 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 ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our 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 seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

 

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Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption, and our rights will expire worthless.

 

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement 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, if we are obligated to pay cash for the ordinary shares redeemed and, in the event we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we make purchases of our ordinary shares, potentially reducing the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share (or less in certain circumstances) on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.20 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 $10.20 per share” and other risk factors herein.

 

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 12 months (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time); however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share (or less in certain circumstances) on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.20 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 $10.20 per share” and other risk factors herein.

 

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If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private 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, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination.

 

Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, only approximately $660,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $640,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $640,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither 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. 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 $10.20 per share (or less in certain circumstances) on our redemption of our public shares, and our rights will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.20 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 $10.20 per share” and other risk factors herein.

 

We may issue our shares to investors in connection with our initial business combination at a price that is less than the prevailing market price of our shares at that time.

 

In connection with our initial business combination, we may issue shares to investors in private placement transactions (so-called PIPE transactions) at a price of $10.00 per share or which approximates the per-share amounts in our trust account at such time, which is generally approximately $10.00. The purpose of such issuances will be to enable us to provide sufficient liquidity to the post-business combination entity. The price of the shares we issue may therefore be less, and potentially significantly less, than the market price for our shares at such time.

 

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 post-combination debt financing.

 

Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the 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.

 

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If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 12 months of the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such 12 months (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) before redemption from our trust account.

 

If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), we will distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (less up to $61,200 of the net interest earned thereon to pay dissolution expenses), pro rata to our public shareholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up of our affairs, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account shall 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 windup, 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 the initial 12 months (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) 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 we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination.

 

Because we are not limited to a particular industry or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.

 

We may seek to complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector. However, we will not, under our amended and restated 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 identified or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we 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 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 the 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 seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.

 

We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. 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.

 

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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 $10.20 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless.

 

We may seek acquisition opportunities with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.

 

To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

 

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

 

Unless we complete our business combination with an affiliated entity, or our Board of Directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying for a target is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our Board of Directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination. However, if our Board of Directors is unable to determine the fair value of an entity with which we seek to complete an initial business combination based on such standards, we will be required to obtain an opinion as described above.

 

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 under the Companies Act, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located. The transaction may require a shareholder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders to pay such taxes. Shareholders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.

 

35

 

 

Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless.

 

We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.20 per share” and other risk factors.

 

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 engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers and directors. Our officers and directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “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 a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in “Proposed Business — Effecting Our Initial Business Combination — Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions for the type of company we are seeking to acquire or an independent accounting firm, regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

 

36

 

 

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

 

Although we have no commitments as of the date of this 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, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
     
  limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
     
  increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and
     
  limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

 

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

 

Of the net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement units, $61,200,000 (or $70,380,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be available to complete our business combination and pay related fees and expenses.

 

37

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

We may structure a business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public 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 business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and 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 stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.

 

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

 

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold. 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 ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination.

 

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. 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 a business combination, blank check companies have, in the past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the period of time in which it had to consummate a business combination. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments or extend the time in which we have to consummate a business combination through amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, each of which will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning a resolution passed by holders of at least two thirds of our shareholders, who being entitled to do so, attend and vote at such general meeting of our shareholders.

 

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

 

Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet identified any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors 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 $10.20 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, and our rights will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public shareholders may receive less than $10.20 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 $10.20 per share” and other risk factors below.

 

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

 

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

 

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Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business Outside of the U.S.

 

If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the U.S., we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our business operations and financial results.

 

If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the U.S., we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in the target business’ home jurisdiction, including any of the following:

 

  rules and regulations or currency redemption or corporate withholding taxes on individuals;
     
  laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;
     
  tariffs and trade barriers;
     
  regulations related to customs and import/export matters;
     
  longer payment cycles;
     
  tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the U.S.;
     
  currency fluctuations and exchange controls;
     
  rates of inflation;
     
  challenges in collecting accounts receivable;
     
  cultural and language differences;
     
  employment regulations;
     
  crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks and wars; and
     
  deterioration of political relations with the U.S. which could result in any number of difficulties, both normal course such as above or extraordinary such as sanctions being imposed. We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, our operations might suffer.

 

If we effect a business combination with a company located outside of the United States, the laws applicable to such company will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.

 

If we effect a business combination with a company located outside of the United States, the laws of the country in which such company operates will govern almost all of the material agreements relating to its operations. We cannot assure you that the target business will be able to enforce any of its material agreements or that remedies will be available in this new jurisdiction. 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. Additionally, if we acquire a company located outside of the United States, it is likely that substantially all of our assets would be located outside of the United States and some of our officers and directors might reside outside of the United States As a result, it may not be possible for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties of our directors and officers under Federal securities laws.

 

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Because of the costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations after we acquire it, our results of operations may be negatively impacted following a business combination.

 

Managing a business, operations, personnel or assets in another country is challenging and costly. Management of the target business that we may hire (whether based abroad or in the U.S.) may be inexperienced in cross-border business practices and unaware of significant differences in accounting rules, legal regimes and labor practices. Even with a seasoned and experienced management team, the costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations, personnel and assets can be significant (and much higher than in a purely domestic business) and may negatively impact our financial and operational performance.

 

Many of the economies in Asia are experiencing substantial inflationary pressures which may prompt the governments to take action to control the growth of the economy and inflation that could lead to a significant decrease in our profitability following our initial business combination.

 

While many of the economies in Asia have experienced rapid growth over the last two decades, they currently are experiencing inflationary pressures. As governments take steps to address the current inflationary pressures, there may be significant changes in the availability of bank credits, interest rates, limitations on loans, restrictions on currency conversions and foreign investment. There also may be imposition of price controls. If prices for the products of our ultimate target business rise at a rate that is insufficient to compensate for the rise in the costs of supplies, it may have an adverse effect on our profitability. If these or other similar restrictions are imposed by a government to influence the economy, it may lead to a slowing of economic growth. Because we are not limited to any specific industry, the ultimate industry that we operate in may be affected more severely by such a slowing of economic growth.

 

Many industries in Asia are subject to government regulations that limit or prohibit foreign investments in such industries, which may limit the potential number of acquisition candidates.

 

Governments in many Asian countries have imposed regulations that limit foreign investors’ equity ownership or prohibit foreign investments altogether in companies that operate in certain industries. As a result, the number of potential acquisition candidates available to us may be limited or our ability to grow and sustain the business, which we ultimately acquire will be limited.

 

If a country in Asia enacts regulations in industry segments that forbid or restrict foreign investment, our ability to consummate our initial business combination could be severely impaired.

 

Many of the rules and regulations that companies face concerning foreign ownership are not explicitly communicated. If new laws or regulations forbid or limit foreign investment in industries in which we want to complete our initial business combination, they could severely impair our candidate pool of potential target businesses. Additionally, if the relevant central and local authorities find us or the target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination to be in violation of any existing or future laws or regulations, they would have broad discretion in dealing with such a violation, including, without limitation:

 

  levying fines;
     
  revoking our business and other licenses;
     
  requiring that we restructure our ownership or operations; and
     
  requiring that we discontinue any portion or all of our business.

 

Any of the above could have an adverse effect on our company post-business combination and could materially reduce the value of your investment.

 

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Many countries, and especially those in emerging markets, have difficult and unpredictable legal systems and underdeveloped laws and regulations that are unclear and subject to corruption and inexperience, which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

 

Our ability to seek and enforce legal protections, including with respect to intellectual property and other property rights, or to defend ourselves with regard to legal actions taken against us in a given country, may be difficult or impossible, which could adversely impact our operations, assets or financial condition.

 

Rules and regulations in many countries, including some of the emerging markets within the regions we will initially focus, are often ambiguous or open to differing interpretation by responsible individuals and agencies at the municipal, state, regional and federal levels. The attitudes and actions of such individuals and agencies are often difficult to predict and inconsistent.

 

Delay with respect to the enforcement of particular rules and regulations, including those relating to customs, tax, environmental and labor, could cause serious disruption to operations abroad and negatively impact our results.

 

After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal 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. The economies in developing markets we will initially focus on differ from the economies of most developed countries in many respects. Such economic growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.

 

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

 

In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following 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.

 

Because our business objective includes the possibility of acquiring one or more operating businesses with primary operations in emerging markets we will focus on, changes in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the currency of any relevant jurisdiction may affect our ability to achieve such objective. For instance, the exchange rates between the Turkish lira or the Indian rupee and the U.S. dollar has changed substantially in the last two decades and may fluctuate substantially in the future. If the U.S. dollar declines in value against the relevant currency, any business combination will be more expensive and therefore more difficult to complete. Furthermore, we may incur costs in connection with conversions between U.S. dollars and the relevant currency, which may make it more difficult to consummate a business combination.

 

Because foreign law could govern almost all of our material agreements, we may not be able to enforce our rights within such jurisdiction or elsewhere, which could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.

 

Foreign law could govern almost all of our material agreements. The target business may not be able to enforce any of its material agreements or remedies may be unavailable outside of such foreign jurisdiction’s legal system. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws and contracts in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the U.S. Judiciaries in such jurisdiction may also be relatively inexperienced in enforcing corporate and commercial law, leading to a higher than usual degree of uncertainty as to the outcome of any litigation. As a result, the inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business and business opportunities.

 

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Corporate governance standards in foreign countries may not be as strict or developed as in the U.S. and such weakness may hide issues and operational practices that are detrimental to a target business.

 

General corporate governance standards in some countries are weak in that they do not prevent business practices that cause unfavorable related party transactions, over-leveraging, improper accounting, family company interconnectivity and poor management. Local laws often do not go far to prevent improper business practices. Therefore, shareholders may not be treated impartially and equally as a result of poor management practices, asset shifting, conglomerate structures that result in preferential treatment to some parts of the overall company, and cronyism. The lack of transparency and ambiguity in the regulatory process also may result in inadequate credit evaluation and weakness that may precipitate or encourage financial crisis. In our evaluation of a business combination we will have to evaluate the corporate governance of a target and the business environment, and in accordance with U.S. laws for reporting companies take steps to implement practices that will cause compliance with all applicable rules and accounting practices. Notwithstanding these intended efforts, there may be endemic practices and local laws that could add risk to an investment we ultimately make and that result in an adverse effect on our operations and financial results.

 

Companies in foreign countries may be subject to accounting, auditing, regulatory and financial standards and requirements that differ, in some cases significantly, from those applicable to public companies in the United States, which may make it more difficult or complex to consummate a business combination. In particular, the assets and profits appearing on the financial statements of a foreign company may not reflect its financial position or results of operations in the way they would be reflected had such financial statements been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and there may be substantially less publicly available information about companies in certain jurisdictions than there is about comparable U.S. companies. Moreover, foreign companies may not be subject to the same degree of regulation as are U.S. companies with respect to such matters as insider trading rules, tender offer regulation, shareholder proxy requirements and the timely disclosure of information.

 

Legal principles relating to corporate affairs and the validity of corporate procedures, directors’ fiduciary duties and liabilities and shareholders’ rights for foreign corporations may differ from those that may apply in the U.S., which may make the consummation of a business combination with a foreign company more difficult. We therefore may have more difficulty in achieving our business objective.

 

Because a foreign judiciary may determine the scope and enforcement of almost all of our target business’ material agreements under the law of such foreign jurisdiction, we may be unable to enforce our rights inside and outside of such jurisdiction.

 

The law of a foreign jurisdiction may govern almost all of our target business’ material agreements, some of which may be with governmental agencies in such jurisdiction. We cannot assure you that the target business or businesses will be able to enforce any of their material agreements or that remedies will be available outside of such jurisdiction. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements may have a material adverse impact on our future operations.

 

A slowdown in economic growth in the markets that our business target operates in may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, the value of its equity shares and the trading price of our shares following our business combination.

 

Following the business combination, our results of operations and financial condition may be dependent on, and may be adversely affected by, conditions in financial markets in the global economy, and, particularly in the markets where the business operates. The specific economy could be adversely affected by various factors such as political or regulatory action, including adverse changes in liberalization policies, business corruption, social disturbances, terrorist attacks and other acts of violence or war, natural calamities, interest rates, inflation, commodity and energy prices and various other factors which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, value of our equity shares and the trading price of our shares following the business combination.

 

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Regional hostilities, terrorist attacks, communal disturbances, civil unrest and other acts of violence or war may result in a loss of investor confidence and a decline in the value of our equity shares and trading price of our shares following our business combination.

 

Terrorist attacks, civil unrest and other acts of violence or war may negatively affect the markets in which we may operate our business following our business combination and also adversely affect the worldwide financial markets. In addition, the countries we will focus on, have from time to time experienced instances of civil unrest and hostilities among or between neighboring countries. Any such hostilities and tensions may result in investor concern about stability in the region, which may adversely affect the value of our equity shares and the trading price of our shares following our business combination. Events of this nature in the future, as well as social and civil unrest, could influence the economy in which our business target operates, and could have an adverse effect on our business, including the value of equity shares and the trading price of our shares following our business combination.

 

The occurrence of natural disasters may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations following our business combination.

 

The occurrence of natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, fires and pandemic disease may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations following our business combination. The potential impact of a natural disaster on our results of operations and financial position is speculative, and would depend on numerous factors. The extent and severity of these natural disasters determines their effect on a given economy. Although the long-term effect of diseases such as COVID-19, the H5N1 “avian flu,” or H1N1, the swine flu, cannot currently be predicted, previous occurrences of avian flu and swine flu had an adverse effect on the economies of those countries in which they were most prevalent. An outbreak of a communicable disease in our market could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations following our business combination. We cannot assure you that natural disasters will not occur in the future or that our business, financial condition and results of operations will not be adversely affected.

 

Any downgrade of credit ratings of the country in which the company we acquire business may adversely affect our ability to raise debt financing following our business combination.

 

No assurance can be given that any rating organization will not downgrade the credit ratings of the sovereign foreign long-term debt of the country in which our business target operates, which reflect an assessment of the overall financial capacity of the government of such country to pay its obligations and its ability to meet its financial commitments as they become due. Any downgrade could cause interest rates and borrowing costs to rise, which may negatively impact both the perception of credit risk associated with our future variable rate debt and our ability to access the debt markets on favorable terms in the future. This could have an adverse effect on our financial condition following our business combination.

 

Returns on investment in foreign companies may be decreased by withholding and other taxes.

 

Our investments will incur tax risk unique to investment in developing economies. Income that might otherwise not be subject to withholding of local income tax under normal international conventions may be subject to withholding of income tax in a developing economy. Additionally, proof of payment of withholding taxes may be required as part of the remittance procedure. Any withholding taxes paid by us on income from our investments in such country may or may not be creditable on our income tax returns. We intend to seek to minimize any withholding tax or local tax otherwise imposed. However, there is no assurance that the foreign tax authorities will recognize application of such treaties to achieve a minimization of such tax. We may also elect to create foreign subsidiaries to effect the business combinations to attempt to limit the potential tax consequences of a business combination.

 

If relations between the United States and foreign governments deteriorate, it could cause potential target businesses or their goods and services to become less attractive.

 

The relationship between the United States and foreign governments could be subject to sudden fluctuation and periodic tension. For instance, the United States may announce its intention to impose quotas on certain imports. Such import quotas may adversely affect political relations between the two countries and result in retaliatory countermeasures by the foreign government in industries that may affect our ultimate target business. Changes in political conditions in foreign countries and changes in the state of U.S. relations with such countries are difficult to predict and could adversely affect our operations or cause potential target businesses or their goods and services to become less attractive. Because we are not limited to any specific industry, there is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible extent of any impact on our ultimate operations if relations are strained between the United States and a foreign country in which we acquire a target business or move our principal manufacturing or service operations.

 

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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, certain, if not all, members of our management team will likely 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 become of the management of the post-business combination company. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with our 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.

 

Risks Relating to our Sponsor and Management Team

 

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) $10.20 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.20 per share.

 

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

 

Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our management team and their affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team, including their affiliates’ past performance, 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 and their affiliates as indicative of our future performance. Additionally, in the course of their respective careers, members of our management team have been involved in businesses and deals that were unsuccessful. None of our officers or directors has had experience operating a blank check company in the past.

 

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

 

Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, Dr. Dajiang Guo, Dr. Jichuan Yang and our other officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.

 

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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 business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. 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 a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he or she 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 also serve as officers and 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 “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 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, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities such as operating companies or investment vehicles) that are engaged in making and managing investments in a similar business, although they may not participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other special purpose acquisition companies with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 12 months after the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time).

 

Our 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 other entities prior to its presentation to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.

 

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

 

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

 

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

 

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.

 

In August 2021, we issued an aggregate of 1,437,500 founder shares to our sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.017 per share. In January 2022, following changes to our share capital, we issued an additional 287,500 ordinary shares to our sponsor as fully paid bonus shares for no additional consideration, which was recorded retroactively. As of January 6, 2022, there were 1,725,000 ordinary shares issued to our sponsor, of which an aggregate of up to 225,000 ordinary shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part so that the number of founder shares will equal 19% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares after this offering (excluding private placement shares). As such, our sponsor will own 19% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming it does not purchase units in this offering and excluding the private placement shares) or approximately 23.0% (including the private placement shares). The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 370,000 (or 406,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement units for a purchase price of $3,700,000 in the aggregate or $4,060,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $10.00 per unit. Each private placement unit consists of one ordinary share and one right to receive two-tenths of one ordinary share, upon the completion of our initial business combination. Such rights will also be worthless if we do not complete a business combination.

 

The founder shares are identical to the ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, (ii) our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (A) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (B) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame) and (iii) the founder shares are subject to registration rights.

 

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.

 

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Since our sponsor, officers and directors will not be eligible to be reimbursed for their out-of-pocket expenses 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.

 

At the closing of our initial business combination, 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. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf. These financial interests of our sponsor, officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination and completing an initial business combination.

 

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.

 

In particular, investors should be aware that there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Cayman Islands or any other applicable jurisdiction would recognize and enforce judgements of U.S. courts obtained against us or our directors or officers predicted upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States or entertain original actions brought in the Cayman Islands or any other applicable jurisdiction’s courts against us or our directors or officers predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state.

 

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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, any or all of our management could resign from their positions as officers 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 process could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.

 

Risks Relating to Our Securities

 

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 on or promptly after the date of this prospectus and our ordinary shares and rights listed on or promptly after their date of separation. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. Although after giving effect to this offering, we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the Nasdaq listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in 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 Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, 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 of our securities (with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding securities with a market value of at least $2,500). 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 ordinary shares is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our 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 ordinary shares and rights will be listed on Nasdaq, our units, ordinary shares, and rights 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.

 

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The grant of registration rights to our sponsor and holders of our private placement units and representative shares 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 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 and holders of representative shares can demand that we register the private placement rights, the representative shares, the ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the private placement rights, the founder shares, the ordinary shares included in the private placement units, and holders of units that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register such ordinary shares, rights, or the ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of such rights. 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 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 ordinary shares that is expected when the ordinary shares owned by our sponsor, holders of our private placement units or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.

 

Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.017 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution upon the purchase of our ordinary shares.

 

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the ordinary shares and none to the rights included in the units) and the pro forma net tangible book value per ordinary share 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 rights included in the units, you and the other public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 97.6% (or $8.14 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $0.20 and the deemed offering price of $8.33 per unit.

 

We may amend the terms of the rights in a way that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of a majority of the then outstanding rights.

 

Our rights will be issued in registered form under a rights agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as rights agent, and us. The rights agreement provides that the terms of the rights may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision. The rights agreement requires the approval by the holders of a majority of the then outstanding rights in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders.

 

Our rights 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 rights, which could limit the ability of rights holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.

 

Our rights 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 rights 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 rights 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 rights shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our rights agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of the rights 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 rights, 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 right holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such rights holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such right holder. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

 

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This choice-of-forum provision may limit a right 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 rights 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.

 

U.S. federal income tax reform could adversely affect us and holders of our units.

 

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law H.R. 1, originally known as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” which significantly reformed the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The new legislation, among other things, changes the U.S. federal tax rates, imposes significant additional limitations on the deductibility of interest, allows the expensing of capital expenditures, and puts into effect the migration from a “worldwide” system of taxation to a territorial system. We continue to examine the impact this tax reform legislation may have on us. The impact of this tax reform, or of any future administrative guidance interpreting provisions thereof, on holders of our units is uncertain and could be adverse. This prospectus does not discuss any such tax legislation or the manner in which it might affect holders of our units. We urge prospective investors to consult with their legal and tax advisors with respect to any such legislation and the potential tax consequences of investing in our units.

 

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

 

We will be issuing rights convertible into 1,200,000 of our ordinary shares (or up to 1,380,000 of our ordinary shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), as part of the units offered by this prospectus. Simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing private placement rights convertible into an aggregate of 74,000 (or 81,200 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of our ordinary shares underlying private units in a private placement. Prior to this offering, our sponsor holds an aggregate of 1,500,000 founder shares. In addition, if our sponsor, our officers and directors, or our or their affiliates make any loans prior to or in connection with our initial business combination, up to $1,800,000 of such loans may be converted 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 ordinary shares to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional ordinary shares upon conversion of these rights or conversion of these working capital loans into our securities could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding ordinary shares and reduce the value of the ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our rights and founder shares may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the 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 rights 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 ordinary shares and rights underlying the units, include:

 

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  the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies;
  prior offerings of those companies;
  our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values;
  a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;
  our capital structure;
  an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying 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. 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.

 

Trading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act if the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect or fully investigate our auditor. In that case, Nasdaq would delist our securities. The delisting of our securities, or the threat of their being delisted, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment. Additionally, the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections may deprive our investors with the benefits of such inspections.

 

The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCAA, was enacted on December 18, 2020. The HFCAA states if the SEC determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspection by the PCAOB for three consecutive years beginning in 2021, the SEC shall prohibit our shares or other securities from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over the counter trading market in the U.S.

 

Our current auditor, the independent registered public accounting firm that issues the audit report included elsewhere in this prospectus, as an auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the United States and a firm registered with the PCAOB, is subject to laws in the United States pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. However, if it is later determined that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely our auditor because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction, Nasdaq would delist our securities, including our units, ordinary shares, and rights being offered in this offering, and the SEC shall prohibit them from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over the counter trading market in the U.S. If our securities are delisted and prohibited from being traded on a national securities exchange or in the over the counter trading market in the U.S. due to the PCAOB not being able to conduct inspections or full investigations of our auditor, it would substantially impair your ability to sell or purchase our securities when you wish to do so, and the risk and uncertainty associated with potential delisting and prohibition would have a negative impact on the price of our securities. Also, such delisting and prohibition could significantly affect the Company’s ability to raise capital on acceptable terms, or at all, which would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and prospects.

 

On March 24, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final rules relating to the implementation of certain disclosure and documentation requirements of the HFCAA. We will be required to comply with these rules if the SEC identifies us as having a “non-inspection” year under a process to be subsequently established by the SEC.

 

On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act which, if signed into law, would amend the HFCAA and require the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three consecutive years.

 

On November 5, 2021, the SEC approved the PCAOB’s Rule 6100, Board Determinations Under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. Rule 6100 provides a framework for the PCAOB to use when determining, as contemplated under the HFCAA, whether it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction.

 

On December 2, 2021, the SEC issued amendments to finalize rules implementing the submission and disclosure requirements in the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. The rules apply to registrants that the SEC identifies as having filed an annual report with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm that is located in a foreign jurisdiction and that PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in foreign jurisdictions. The SEC may propose additional rules or guidance that could impact us if our auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspection.

 

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On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a Determination Report which found that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in: (i) China, and (ii) Hong Kong. On August 26, 2022, the PCAOB signed a Statement of Protocol with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Finance of the PRC (“SOP”), taking the first step toward opening access for the PCAOB to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong completely, consistent with U.S law. Pursuant to the SOP, the PCAOB shall have independent discretion to select any issuer audits for inspection or investigation and has the unfettered ability to transfer information to the SEC. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB determined that the PCAOB was able to secure complete access to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong and voted to vacate its previous determinations to the contrary. However, should PRC authorities obstruct or otherwise fail to facilitate the PCAOB’s access in the future, the PCAOB will consider the need to issue a new determination. Our auditor, UHY LLP, headquartered in New York, NY, is an independent registered public accounting firm with the PCAOB and has been inspected by the PCAOB on a regular basis. The PCAOB currently has access to inspect the working papers of our auditor. Our auditor is not headquartered in China or Hong Kong and was not identified in the determination report as a firm subject to the PCAOB’s determination.

 

The SEC has announced that the SEC staff is preparing a consolidated proposal for the rules regarding the implementation of the HFCAA. It is unclear when the SEC will complete its rulemaking and when such rules will become effective. The SEC has also announced amendments to various annual report forms to accommodate the certification and disclosure requirements of the HFCAA. There could be additional regulatory or legislative requirements or guidance that could impact us if our auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspection. The implications of these possible regulations in addition to the requirements of the HFCAA are uncertain, and such uncertainty could cause the market price of our securities to be materially and adversely affected. If, for whatever reason, the PCAOB is unable to conduct inspections or full investigations of our auditor, the Company could be delisted or prohibited from being traded over the counter earlier than would be required by the HFCAA. If our securities are unable to be listed on another securities exchange by then, such delisting and prohibition would substantially impair your ability to sell or purchase our securities when you wish to do so, and the risk and uncertainty associated with potential delisting and prohibition would have a negative impact on the price of our securities. Also, such delisting and prohibition could significantly affect the Company’s ability to raise capital on acceptable terms, or at all, which would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and prospects.

 

Inspections of audit firms that the PCAOB has conducted have identified deficiencies in those firms’ audit procedures and quality control procedures, which may be addressed as part of the inspection process to improve future audit quality. If the PCAOB were unable to conduct inspections or full investigations of the Company’s auditor, investors in our securities would be deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. In addition, the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections or full investigations of auditors would may make it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm’s audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors that are subject to the PCAOB inspections, which could cause investors and potential investors in our stock to lose confidence in the audit procedures of our auditor and reported financial information and the quality of our financial statements.

 

Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in China

 

Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to investors and our company.

 

As a blank check company with no material operations of our own, we conduct our operations through an office space in the U.S. and a majority of our executive officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to the PRC. Therefore, we are subject to the risks of uncertainty in the interpretation and enforcement of PRC laws and regulations. The PRC legal system is based on written statutes. Unlike common law systems, it is a system in which legal cases have limited value as precedents. In the late 1970s, the PRC government began to promulgate a comprehensive system of laws and regulations governing economic matters in general. The overall effect of legislation over the past four decades has significantly increased the protections afforded to various forms of foreign or private-sector investment in China.

 

As relevant laws and regulations are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involve uncertainties.

 

From time to time, we may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce our legal rights. However, since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection we enjoy than in more developed legal systems. Furthermore, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules (some of which are not published in a timely manner or at all) that may have retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of these policies and rules until sometime after the violation. Such uncertainties, including uncertainty over the scope and effect of our contractual, property (including intellectual property) and procedural rights, and any failure to respond to changes in the regulatory environment in China could materially and adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations.

 

Recently, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council jointly issued the Opinions, which was made available to the public on July 6, 2021. The Opinions emphasized the need to strengthen the administration over illegal securities activities, and the need to strengthen the supervision over overseas listings by Chinese companies. Effective measures, such as promoting the construction of relevant regulatory systems will be taken to deal with the risks and incidents of China-concept overseas listed companies, and cybersecurity and data privacy protection requirements and similar matters.

 

Uncertainties regarding the enforcement of laws and the fact that rules and regulations in China can change quickly with little advance notice, along with the risk that the Chinese government may intervene or influence our operations at any time, or may exert more control over offerings conducted overseas and/or foreign investment in China-based issuers could result in a material change in completion of our initial business combination, our operations and/or the value of our securities.

 

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The PRC government exerts substantial influence over the manner in which we conduct our business activities if we pursue a business combination with a China-based business. The PRC government may intervene or influence our operations at any time, or may exert more control over offerings conducted overseas, which could result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our securities, and could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or become worthless.

 

The PRC government has exercised and continues to exercise substantial control over virtually every sector of the PRC economy through regulation and state ownership. Our operations and the post-combination entity’s ability to operate in China may be harmed by changes in its laws and regulations, including those relating to securities, taxation, environmental regulations, land use rights, property and other matters. The central or local governments of these jurisdictions may impose new, stricter regulations or interpretations of existing regulations that would require additional expenditures and efforts on our part to ensure our compliance with such regulations or interpretations. Accordingly, government actions in the future, including any decision not to continue to support recent economic reforms and to return to a more centrally planned economy or regional or local variations in the implementation of economic policies, could have a significant effect on economic conditions in China or particular regions thereof, and could require us to divest ourselves of any interest we then hold in Chinese businesses or properties.

 

For example, the Chinese cybersecurity regulator announced on July 2, 2021, that it had begun an investigation of Didi Global Inc. (NYSE: DIDI) and two days later ordered that the company’s app be removed from smartphone app stores. On July 24, 2021, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council jointly released the Guidelines for Further Easing the Burden of Excessive Homework and Off-campus Tutoring for Students at the Stage of Compulsory Education, pursuant to which foreign investment in such firms via mergers and acquisitions, franchise development, and variable interest entities are banned from this sector.

 

As such, our operations and post-combination entity’s business segments may be subject to various government and regulatory interference in the provinces in which they operate at any time. The post-combination entity could be subject to regulation by various political and regulatory entities, including various local and municipal agencies and government sub-divisions. We and our post-combination entity may incur increased costs necessary to comply with existing and newly adopted laws and regulations or penalties for any failure to comply. If the PRC government initiates an investigation into us at any time alleging us violation of cybersecurity laws, anti-monopoly laws, and securities offering rules in China in connection with this offering or future business combination, we may have to spend additional resources and incur additional time delays to comply with the applicable rules, and our business operations will be affected materially and any such action could cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or be worthless.

 

As the date of this prospectus, there are no PRC laws and regulations (including the CSRC, the CAC, or any other government entity) in force explicitly requiring that we obtain permission from PRC authorities for this offering or to issue securities to foreign investors, and we have not received any inquiry, notice, warning, sanction or any regulatory objection to this offering from any relevant PRC authorities. However, it is uncertain when and whether the we and our post-combination entity will be required to obtain permission from the PRC government to list on U.S. stock exchanges in the future, and even when such permission is obtained, whether it will be denied or rescinded. Any new policies, regulations, rules, actions or laws by the PRC government may subject us or our post-combination entity to material changes in operations, which could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities to significantly decline or become worthless.

 

The M&A Rules and certain other PRC regulations establish complex procedures for certain acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue a business combination with a China-based business.

 

The M&A Rules adopted by six PRC regulatory agencies in 2006 and amended in 2009, and some other regulations and rules concerning mergers and acquisitions established additional procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex, including requirements in some instances that the Ministry of Commerce (the “MOFCOM”) be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise. Moreover, the Anti-Monopoly Law requires that the anti-monopoly enforcement agency of the State Council (currently the “Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation”) shall be notified in advance of any concentration of undertaking if certain thresholds are triggered. In addition, the security review rules issued by the MOFCOM that became effective in September 2011 specify that mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors that raise “national defense and security” concerns and mergers and acquisitions through which foreign investors may acquire de facto control over domestic enterprises that raise “national security” concerns are subject to strict review by the MOFCOM, and the rules prohibit any activities attempting to bypass a security review, including by structuring the transaction through a proxy or contractual control arrangement. On July 1, 2015, the National Security Law of China took effect, which provided that China would establish rules and mechanisms to conduct national security review of foreign investments in China that may impact national security. On March 15, 2019, the PRC National People’s Congress approved the Foreign Investment Law of China (the “Foreign Investment Law”), which came into effect on January 1, 2020, reiterates that China will establish a security review system for foreign investments. On December 19, 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission (the “NDRC”) and the MOFCOM jointly issued the Measures for the Security Review of Foreign Investments (the “New FISR Measures”), which was made according to the National Security Law and the Foreign Investment Law and became effective on January 18, 2021. The New FISR Measures further expand the scope of national security review on foreign investment compared to the existing rules, while leaving substantial room for interpretation and speculation.

 

In the future, we may pursue a business combination with a China-based business. Complying with the requirements of the above-mentioned regulations and other relevant rules to complete such transactions could be time-consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval from the MOFCOM, any other relevant PRC governmental authorities or their respective local counterparts may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share.

 

Substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the interpretation and implementation of the Foreign Investment Law and how it may impact our ability to pursue a business combination with a China-based business.

 

The Foreign Investment Law replaced the trio of prior laws regulating foreign investment in the PRC, namely, the Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Venture Enterprise Law, the Sino-Foreign Cooperative Joint Venture Enterprise Law and the Wholly Foreign-Invested Enterprise Law, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations, and became the legal foundation for foreign investment in the PRC from January 1, 2020. Meanwhile, the Implementation Regulation of the Foreign Investment Law and the Measures for Reporting of Information on Foreign Investment came into effect as of January 1, 2020, which clarified and elaborated the relevant provisions of the Foreign Investment Law.

 

The Foreign Investment Law sets out the basic regulatory framework for foreign investments and proposes to implement a system of pre-entry national treatment with a negative list for foreign investments, pursuant to which (i) foreign entities and individuals are prohibited from investing in the areas that are not open to foreign investments, (ii) foreign investments in the restricted industries must satisfy certain requirements under the law, and (iii) foreign investments in business sectors outside of the negative list will be treated equally with domestic investments. The Foreign Investment Law also sets forth necessary mechanisms to facilitate, protect and manage foreign investments and proposes to establish a foreign investment information reporting system, through which foreign investors or foreign-invested enterprises are required to submit initial report, report of changes, report of deregistration and annual report relating to their investments to the MOFCOM or its local branches. As the Foreign Investment Law is still relatively new, it is unclear how the regulations will be interpreted and implemented by the relevant government authorities.

 

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If, after our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets will be located in China and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations there, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in China as well as litigation and publicity surrounding China-based companies listed in the United States.

 

Substantially all of our assets may be located in China after our initial business combination. The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of China could affect our business. The economies in Asia differ from the economies of most developed countries in many respects. For the most part, such economies have grown at a rate in excess of the United States; however, (1) such economic growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and (2) 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.

 

We believe that litigation and negative publicity surrounding companies with operations in China that are listed in the United States have negatively impacted stock prices for these companies. Various equity-based research organizations have published reports on China-based companies after examining their corporate governance practices, related party transactions, sales practices and financial statements, and these reports have led to special investigations and listing suspensions on U.S. national exchanges. Any similar scrutiny of our assets and operation, in China, if any, regardless of its lack of merit, could result in a diversion of management resources and energy, potential costs to defend ourselves against rumors, decreases and volatility in the trading price of our securities, and increased directors’ and officers’ insurance premiums and could have an adverse effect upon our business, including our results of operations, financial condition, cash flows and prospects.

 

Agreements we may enter into with potential future subsidiaries and affiliated entities or acquisitions of offshore entities that conduct operations through affiliates in the PRC may be subject to a high level of scrutiny by the relevant tax authorities.

 

Under the laws of the PRC, agreements and transactions among related parties may be subject to audit or challenge by the relevant tax authorities. If any of the transactions we enter into with potential future subsidiaries and affiliated entities are found not to be on an arm’s-length basis, or to result in an unreasonable reduction in tax under local law, the relevant tax authorities may have the authority to disallow any tax savings, adjust the profits and losses of such potential future local entities and assess late payment interest and penalties. A finding by the relevant tax authorities that we are ineligible for any such tax savings, or that any of our possible future affiliated entities is not eligible for tax exemptions, would substantially increase our possible future taxes and thus reduce our net income and the value of a shareholder’s investment. In addition, in the event that in connection with an acquisition of an offshore entity that conducted its operations through affiliates in the PRC, the sellers of such entities failed to pay any taxes required under local law, the relevant tax authorities could require us to withhold and pay the tax, together with late-payment interest and penalties. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could have a negative impact on our operating results and financial condition.

 

China’s economic, political and social conditions, as well as sudden or unexpected changes in any government policies, laws and regulations, could have a material adverse effect on our business or business combination, and the PRC government may intervene or influence the combined company’s operations at any time.

 

If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC, a substantial portion of our operations may be conducted in China, and a significant portion of our net revenues may be derived from customers where the contracting entity is located in China. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects and any potential business combination and certain transactions we may undertake may be subject, to a significant extent, to economic, political and legal developments in China. For example, as a result of recent proposed changes in the cybersecurity regulations in China that would require certain Chinese technology firms to undergo a cybersecurity review before being allowed to list on foreign exchanges, this may have the effect of further narrowing the list of potential businesses in China’s consumer, technology and mobility sectors that we intend to focus on for our business combination or the ability of the combined company to list in the United States.

 

China’s economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. While the PRC economy has experienced significant growth in the past two to three decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. Demand for target services and products depends, in large part, on economic conditions in China. Any slowdown in China’s economic growth may cause our potential customers to delay or cancel their plans to purchase our services and products, which in turn could reduce our net revenues.

 

Although China’s economy has been transitioning from a planned economy to a more market oriented economy since the late 1970s, the PRC government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The PRC government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through allocating resources, controlling the incurrence and payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. Changes in any of these policies, laws and regulations could adversely affect the economy in China and could have a material adverse effect on our business.

 

The PRC government has significant oversight and discretion over the conduct of a PRC company’s business and may intervene with or influence its operations at any time as the government deems appropriate to further regulatory, political and societal goals. The PRC government has recently published new policies that significantly affected certain industries such as the education and internet industries, and we cannot rule out the possibility that it will in the future release regulations or policies regarding any industry that could adversely affect the business, financial condition and results of operations of the combined company. Furthermore, the PRC government has also recently indicated an intent to exert more oversight and control over securities offerings and other capital markets activities that are conducted overseas and foreign investment in China-based companies. Any such action, once taken by the PRC government, could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to consummate a business combination with a China-based target business, the combined company’s ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or in extreme cases, become worthless.

 

The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage foreign investment and sustainable economic growth and to guide the allocation of financial and other resources. However, we cannot assure you that the PRC government will not repeal or alter these measures or introduce new measures that will have a negative effect on us. China’s social and political conditions may change and become unstable. Any sudden changes to China’s political system or the occurrence of widespread social unrest could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

 

Complying with evolving PRC laws and regulations regarding cybersecurity, information security, privacy and data protection and other related laws and requirements may increase the cost of our initial business combination with a China-based business and could even result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination with a China-based business.

 

If we pursue a business combination with a China-based business, we may face additional burdens in connection with the PRC laws and regulations regarding cybersecurity, information security, privacy and data protection. Regulatory authorities in China have been considering a number of legislative proposals to heighten data protection and cybersecurity regulatory requirements. Since the promulgation of the PRC Cybersecurity Law, which became effective in June 2017, numerous regulations, guidelines and other measures have been and are expected to be adopted under the PRC Cybersecurity Law. In April 2020, the CAC and certain other PRC regulatory authorities promulgated the Measures for Cybersecurity Review, which requires that operators of critical information infrastructure must pass a cybersecurity review when purchasing network products and services which do or may affect national security. On December 28, 2021, the CAC published the Measures for Cybersecurity Review which will become effective on February 15, 2022, which required that any “network platform operator” controlling personal information of no less than one million users which seeks to list in a foreign stock exchange should also be subject to cybersecurity review. The PRC Data Security Law, which took effect on September 1, 2021, imposes data security and privacy obligations on entities and individuals that carry out data activities, provides for a national security review procedure for data activities that may affect national security and imposes export restrictions on certain data and information. On August 20, 2021, the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress promulgated the PRC Personal Information Protection Law (the “PIPL”), which is to take effect on November 1, 2021. The PIPL sets out the regulatory framework for handling and protection of personal information and transmission of personal information overseas. If our potential future target business in China involves collecting and retaining internal or customer data, such target might be subject to the relevant cybersecurity laws and regulations, including the PRC Cybersecurity Law and the PIPL, and the cybersecurity review before effecting a business combination.

 

In addition, the Opinions jointly issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council on July 6, 2021 call for strengthened regulation over illegal securities activities and supervision of overseas listings by China-based companies and propose to take effective measures, such as promoting the development of relevant regulatory systems to deal with the risks and incidents faced by China-based overseas-listed companies. As of the date of this prospectus, no official guidance and related implementation rules have been issued in relation to these recently issued opinions and the interpretation and implementation of the Opinions remain unclear at this stage. We cannot assure you that we will not be required to obtain the pre-approval of the CSRC and potentially other PRC governmental authorities to pursue any business combination with a China-based company.

 

As a result, we may not be able to complete or obtain the applicable review procedures and pre-approvals in a timely manner, or at all, and it may require more time, more effort and more resources to identify a suitable target in China and to consummate an initial business combination. This may ultimately result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.

 

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If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC, the laws applicable to such business will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.

 

If we effect our initial business combination with a business located in the PRC, the laws applicable to such business will govern almost all of the material agreements relating to its operations. We cannot assure you that we or the target business will be able to enforce any of its material agreements or that remedies will be available in this jurisdiction. 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. In addition, the judiciary in the PRC is relatively inexperienced compared to others in enforcing corporate and commercial law, leading to a higher than usual degree of uncertainty as to the outcome of any litigation. In addition, to the extent that our target business’s material agreements are with governmental agencies in the PRC, we may not be able to enforce or obtain a remedy from such agencies due to sovereign immunity, in which the government is deemed to be immune from civil lawsuit or criminal prosecution. 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.

 

The PRC governmental authorities may take the view now or in the future that an approval from them is required for an overseas offering by a company affiliated with Chinese businesses or persons or a business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China.

 

The M&A Rules include, among other things, provisions that purport to require that an offshore special purpose vehicle formed for the purpose of an overseas listing of securities in a PRC company obtain the approval of the CSRC prior to the listing and trading of such special purpose vehicle’s securities on an overseas stock exchange. On September 21, 2006, the CSRC published on its official website procedures specifying documents and materials required to be submitted to it by special purpose vehicles seeking CSRC’s approval of overseas listings. However, substantial uncertainty remains regarding the scope and applicability of the M&A Rules and the CSRC approval requirement to offshore special purpose vehicles.

 

Moreover, except for emphasizing the need to strengthen the administration over illegal securities activities, and the need to strengthen the supervision over overseas listings by Chinese companies, the Opinions, which was made available to the public on July 6, 2021, also provides that the State Council will revise provisions regarding the overseas issuance and listing of shares by companies limited by shares and will clarify the duties of domestic regulatory authorities.

 

On December 24, 2021, the State Council published the draft Administrative Provisions on the Overseas Issuance and Listing of Securities by Domestic Companies (Draft for Comments) (the “Administrative Provisions”), and the CSRC published the draft Measures for Record-filings of the Overseas Issuance and Listing of Securities by Domestic Companies (Draft for Comments) (the “Measures”), for public comment. Pursuant to Article 2 of the Administrative Provisions, domestic enterprises that (i) offer shares, depository receipts, convertible notes or other equity securities overseas, or (ii) list securities on an overseas stock exchange, must complete record-filing procedures and report the relevant information to the CSRC. The CSRC shall determine the record-filing method. Pursuant to the Article 2 of the Measures, domestic enterprises that directly or indirectly offer or list securities on an overseas stock exchange shall file with the CSRC within three business days after submitting their initial public offering and/or listing application documents. The requested filing documents include, but are not limited to: (1) a filing report and related undertakings; (2) regulatory opinions, filing or approval documents issued by the relevant authorities (if applicable); (3) security review opinions issued by the relevant authorities, if applicable; (4) a PRC legal opinion; and (5) a prospectus.

 

On December 27, 2021, the NDRC and the MOFCOM jointly promulgated the Special Administrative Measure (Negative List) for the Access of Foreign Investment (2021 Version), or the Negative List, which became effective on January 1, 2022. According to Article 6 of the Negative List, domestic enterprises engaging in businesses in which foreign investment is prohibited shall obtain approval from the relevant authorities before offering and listing their shares on an overseas stock exchange. In addition, certain foreign investors shall not be involved in the operation or management of the relevant enterprise, and shareholding percentage restrictions under relevant domestic securities investment management regulations shall apply to such foreign investors.

 

On February 17, 2023, the CSRC promulgated the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (the “Trial Administrative Measures”), which will take effect on March 31, 2023. Compared to the Measures, the Trial Administrative Measures further clarified and emphasized several aspects, including: (i) comprehensive determination of the “indirect overseas offering and listing by PRC domestic companies” in compliance with the principle of “substance over form” and particularly, an issuer will be required to go through the filing procedures under the Trial Administrative Measures if the following criteria are met at the same time: a) 50% or more of the issuer’s operating revenue, total profit, total assets or net assets as documented in its audited consolidated financial statements for the most recent accounting year is accounted for by PRC domestic companies, and b) the main parts of the issuer’s business activities are conducted in mainland China, or its main places of business are located in mainland China, or the senior managers in charge of its business operation and management are mostly Chinese citizens or domiciled in mainland China; (ii) exemptions from immediate filing requirements for issuers that a) have already been listed or registered but not yet listed in foreign securities markets, including U.S. markets, prior to the effective date of the Trial Administrative Measures, and b) are not required to re-perform the regulatory procedures with the relevant overseas regulatory authority or the overseas stock exchange, c) whose such overseas securities offering or listing shall be completed before September 30, 2023. However, such issuers shall carry out filing procedures as required if they conduct refinancing or are involved in other circumstances that require filing with the CSRC; (iii) a negative list of types of issuers banned from listing overseas, such as issuers under investigation for bribery and corruption; (iv) regulation of issuers in specific industries; (v) issuers’ compliance with national security measures and the personal data protection laws; and (vi) certain other matters such as: an issuer must file with the CSRC within three business days after it submits an application for initial public offering to competent overseas regulators; and subsequent reports shall be filed with the CSRC on material events, including change of control or voluntary or forced delisting of the issuer(s) who have completed overseas offerings and listings.

 

Based on our understanding of the current PRC laws and regulations in effect at the time of this prospectus, no prior permission is required under the M&A Rules, the Opinions, the Trial Administrative Measures, or the Negative List from any PRC governmental authorities (including the CSRC) for consummating this offering by our company, given that our company is a blank check company newly incorporated in Cayman Islands rather than China and currently the company conducts no business in China. However, there remains some uncertainty as to how the M&A Rules, the Opinions, or the Trial Administrative Measures will be interpreted or implemented in the context of an overseas offering or if we decide to consummate the business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China. If the CSRC or another PRC governmental authority subsequently determines that its approval is needed for this offering, or a business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, we may face approval delays, adverse actions or sanctions by the CSRC or other PRC governmental authorities. In any such event, these governmental authorities may delay this offering or a potential business combination, impose fines and penalties, limit our operations in China, or take other actions that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and prospects, as well as the trading price of our securities.

 

As of the date of this prospectus, we have not received any inquiry, notice, warning, sanctions or regulatory objection to this offering from the CSRC or any other PRC governmental authorities.

 

Our company is a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. We currently do not hold any equity interest in any PRC company or operate any business in China. Therefore, we are not required to obtain any permission from any PRC governmental authorities to operate our business as currently conducted. If we decide to consummate our business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, the combined company’s business operations in China through its subsidiaries are subject to relevant requirements to obtain applicable licenses from PRC governmental authorities under relevant PRC laws and regulations.

 

Upon the effectiveness of the Trial Administrative measures, if we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, we may be subject to the Trial Administrative Measures if the Company meets the following criteria: (i) 50% or more of the issuer’s operating revenue, total profit, total assets or net assets as documented in its audited consolidated financial statements for the most recent accounting year is accounted for by PRC domestic companies; and (ii) the main parts of the issuer’s business activities are conducted in mainland China, or its main places of business are located in mainland China, or the senior managers in charge of its business operation and management are mostly Chinese citizens or domiciled in mainland China; and if required, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete such process on time.

 

On July 6, 2021, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council jointly issued the Opinions on Strictly and Lawfully Cracking Down Illegal Securities Activities to crack down on illegal activities in the securities market and promote the high-quality development of the capital market, which, among other things, requires the relevant governmental authorities to strengthen cross-border oversight of law-enforcement and judicial cooperation, to enhance supervision over China-based companies listed overseas, and to establish and improve the system of extraterritorial application of the PRC securities laws.

 

On December 24, 2021, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (the “CSRC”) published the Provisions of the State Council on the Administration of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (Draft for Comment) (the “Administration Provisions”), and the Administrative Measures for the Filing of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (Draft for Comment) (the “Measures”) for public comments. The Administration Provisions and Measures for overseas listings lay out specific requirements for filing documents and include unified regulation management, strengthening regulatory coordination, and cross-border regulatory cooperation. Domestic companies seeking to list abroad must carry out relevant security screening procedures if their businesses involve such supervision. Companies endangering national security are among those off-limits for overseas listings.

 

According to Relevant Officials of the CSRC Answered Reporter Questions (“CSRC Answers”), after the Administration Provisions and Measures are implemented upon completion of public consultation and due legislative procedures, the CSRC will formulate and issue guidance for filing procedures to further specify the details of filing administration and ensure that market entities could refer to clear guidelines for filing, which means it will still take time to put the Administration Provisions and Measures into effect. On February 17, 2023, the CSRC promulgated the Trial Administrative Measures of Overseas Securities Offering and Listing by Domestic Companies (the “Trial Administrative Measures”), which will take effect on March 31, 2023. Compared to the Measures, the Trial Administrative Measures further clarified and emphasized several aspects, including: (i) comprehensive determination of the “indirect overseas offering and listing by PRC domestic companies” in compliance with the principle of “substance over form” and particularly, an issuer will be required to go through the filing procedures under the Trial Administrative Measures if the following criteria are met at the same time: a) 50% or more of the issuer’s operating revenue, total profit, total assets or net assets as documented in its audited consolidated financial statements for the most recent accounting year is accounted for by PRC domestic companies, and b) the main parts of the issuer’s business activities are conducted in mainland China, or its main places of business are located in mainland China, or the senior managers in charge of its business operation and management are mostly Chinese citizens or domiciled in mainland China; (ii) exemptions from immediate filing requirements for issuers that a) have already been listed or registered but not yet listed in foreign securities markets, including U.S. markets, prior to the effective date of the Trial Administrative Measures, and b) are not required to re-perform the regulatory procedures with the relevant overseas regulatory authority or the overseas stock exchange, c) whose such overseas securities offering or listing shall be completed before September 30, 2023. However, such issuers shall carry out filing procedures as required if they conduct refinancing or are involved in other circumstances that require filing with the CSRC; (iii) a negative list of types of issuers banned from listing overseas, such as issuers under investigation for bribery and corruption; (iv) regulation of issuers in specific industries; (v) issuers’ compliance with national security measures and the personal data protection laws; and (vi) certain other matters such as: an issuer must file with the CSRC within three business days after it submits an application for initial public offering to competent overseas regulators; and subsequent reports shall be filed with the CSRC on material events, including change of control or voluntary or forced delisting of the issuer(s) who have completed overseas offerings and listings. According to CSRC Answers and Trial Administrative Measures, upon effectiveness, if we decide to consummate our initial business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, we could be subject to the filing process. As the Trial Administrative Measures are newly issued, there remains uncertainty as to how it will be interpreted or implemented. Therefore, we cannot assure you that we will be able to receive clearance from the CSRC in a timely fashion, which could adversely affect our potential business combination with a PRC operating business and the business, financial condition and results of operations of the combined company.

 

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We may consummate a business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, after which the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company will be subject to restrictions on dividend payments.

 

We may consummate a business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China. After such business combination, the combined company may rely on dividends and other distributions from the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company to provide it with cash flow and to meet its other obligations. These dividends or other distributions to be paid by the PRC subsidiaries arise from the combined company’s entitlements to substantially all of the economic benefits of the PRC subsidiaries. Current regulations in China would permit the combined company’s PRC subsidiaries to pay dividends only out of their accumulated distributable profits, if any, determined in accordance with Chinese accounting standards and regulations. In addition, the combined company’s PRC subsidiaries in China will be required to set aside at least 10% of their after-tax profits each year to fund their respective statutory reserves (up to an aggregate amount equal to half of their respective registered capital). Such cash reserve may not be distributed as cash dividends. Each of the PRC subsidiaries as a foreign invested enterprise is also required to further set aside a portion of its after-tax profits to fund the employee welfare fund, although the amount to be set aside, if any, is determined at its discretion. In addition, if the combined company’s PRC subsidiaries incur debt on their own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict their ability to pay dividends or make payments to the combined company or its PRC subsidiaries, as applicable. Further, the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementation rules provide that a withholding tax rate of up to 10% will be applicable to dividends payable by Chinese companies to non-PRC-resident enterprises unless otherwise exempted or reduced according to treaties or arrangements between the PRC central government and governments of other countries or regions where the non-PRC resident enterprises are incorporated.

 

Exchange controls that exist in the PRC may restrict or prevent us from using the proceeds of this offering to acquire a target company in the PRC and limit our ability to utilize our cash flow effectively following our initial business combination.

 

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange of the PRC, or SAFE, promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming the Administration of Foreign Exchange Settlement of Capital of Foreign-invested Enterprises, or Circular 19, effective on June 1, 2015. Circular 19 regulates the use of the RMB capital converted from foreign currency-denominated registered capital of a foreign-invested company.

 

Circular 19 allows RMB capital converted from foreign currency-denominated registered capital of a foreign-invested enterprise to be used for equity investments in the PRC. However, Circular 19 states that RMB converted from foreign currency-denominated capital of a foreign-invested company may not be directly or indirectly used for purposes beyond its business scope. As a result, it is unclear whether SAFE will permit such capital to be used for equity investments in the PRC.

 

SAFE promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming and Standardizing the Foreign Exchange Settlement Management Policy of Capital Account, or Circular 16, effective on June 9, 2016. Circular 16 reiterates some of the rules in Circular 19. However, Circular 16 also changes the prohibition against using RMB capital converted from foreign currency-denominated registered capital of a foreign-invested company to issue RMB entrusted loans to a prohibition against using such capital to issue loans to non-associated enterprises. Violations of SAFE Circular 19 and Circular 16 could result in administrative penalties.

 

As such, Circular 19 and Circular 16 may significantly limit our ability to transfer the proceeds of this offering to a PRC target company and the use of such proceeds by the PRC target company. In addition, following our initial business combination with a PRC target company, we will be subject to the PRC’s rules and regulations on currency conversion. In the PRC, the SAFE regulates the conversion of the Renminbi into foreign currencies. Currently, Foreign Invested Enterprises (“FIEs”) are required to apply to the SAFE for “Foreign Exchange Registration Certificates for FIEs.” Following our initial business combination, we will likely be an FIE as a result of our ownership structure. With such registration certificates, which need to be renewed annually, FIEs are allowed to open foreign currency accounts including a “basic account” and “capital account.” Currency conversion within the scope of the “basic account,” such as remittance of foreign currencies for payment of dividends, can be effected without requiring the approval of the SAFE. However, conversion of currency in the “capital account,” including capital items such as direct investment, loans and securities, still require approval of the SAFE.

 

We cannot assure you the PRC regulatory authorities will not impose further restrictions on the convertibility of the Renminbi. Any future restrictions on currency exchanges may limit our ability to use the proceeds of this offering in an initial business combination with a PRC target company and the use our cash flow for the distribution of dividends to our shareholders or to fund operations we may have outside of the PRC.

 

The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless. Thus, 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 share in the open market.

 

Governmental control of currency conversion may limit the ability of our operating companies in China to utilize their revenues effectively and affect the value of your investment.

 

The PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of the Renminbi into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. We may consummate a business combination with a target business based in and primarily operating in China, after which the operating companies in China upon consummation of the business combination may receive substantially all of their revenues in Renminbi. Under the expected corporate structure, the combined company, a Cayman Islands holding company, may rely on dividend payments from its PRC subsidiaries to fund any cash and financing requirements it may have. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments in foreign currencies of current account items, including profit distributions, interest payments and trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions, can be made without prior approvals of the SAFE, by complying with certain procedural requirements. Specifically, under the existing exchange restrictions, without prior approvals of SAFE, cash generated from the operations of PRC operating companies in China may be used to pay dividends. However, approvals from or registration with appropriate government authorities are required where Renminbi is to be converted into foreign currencies and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies.

 

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As a result, the PRC subsidiaries of the combined company will need to obtain the SAFE approval to pay off their debt in a currency other than Renminbi owed to any entities outside China or to make other capital expenditure payments outside China in a currency other than Renminbi.

 

In light of the flood of capital outflows of China in 2016 due to the weakening Renminbi, the PRC government has imposed more restrictive foreign exchange policies and stepped up scrutiny over major outbound capital movements including overseas direct investment. More restrictions and substantial vetting process have been put in place by SAFE to regulate cross-border transactions that fall under the capital account transactions. The PRC government may in the future at its discretion further restrict access to foreign currencies for current account transactions. If the foreign exchange control regulations prevent the combined company from obtaining sufficient foreign currencies from its PRC subsidiaries to satisfy its capital demands, the combined company may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to its shareholders. Any future restrictions on currency exchanges may limit our ability to use the proceeds of this offering in an initial business combination with a PRC target company and the use of our cash flow for the distribution of dividends to our shareholders or to fund operations we may have outside of the PRC.

 

If we enter into a business combination with a target business operating in China, PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent the combined company from using the proceeds from the business combination to make loans to or make additional capital contributions to its PRC subsidiaries, which could materially and adversely affect PRC operating companies’ liquidity and ability to fund the operations.

 

If we acquire a target business based in and operating in China, the combined company may be an offshore holding company conducting its operations in China through its PRC subsidiaries. The combined company may make loans or additional capital contributions to its PRC subsidiaries, or the combined company may establish new PRC subsidiaries and make capital contributions to these new PRC subsidiaries. Most of these activities are subject to PRC regulations and approvals. For example, loans by the combined company to the PRC entity to finance its activities cannot exceed the difference between their respective total project investment amount and registered capital or 2.5 times of their net worth and capital contributions to our PRC entity will be subject to the requirement of making necessary filings in the Foreign Investment Comprehensive Management Information System and registration with other governmental authorities in China.

 

The SAFE promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming the Administration of Foreign Exchange Settlement of Capital of Foreign-invested Enterprises, or Circular 19, effective on June 1, 2015, in replacement of the Circular on the Relevant Operating Issues Concerning the Improvement of the Administration of the Payment and Settlement of Foreign Currency Capital of Foreign-Invested Enterprises, the Notice from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Relevant Issues Concerning Strengthening the Administration of Foreign Exchange Businesses, and the Circular on Further Clarification and Regulation of the Issues Concerning the Administration of Certain Capital Account Foreign Exchange Businesses. According to SAFE Circular 19, the flow and use of the RMB capital converted from foreign currency-denominated registered capital of a foreign-invested company is regulated such that RMB capital may not be used for the issuance of RMB entrusted loans, the repayment of inter-enterprise loans or the repayment of bank loans that have been transferred to a third party. Although SAFE Circular 19 allows RMB capital converted from foreign currency-denominated registered capital of a foreign-invested enterprise to be used for equity investments within the PRC, it also reiterates the principle that RMB converted from the foreign currency-denominated capital of a foreign-invested company may not be directly or indirectly used for purposes beyond its business scope. Thus, it is unclear whether the SAFE will permit such capital to be used for equity investments in the PRC in actual practice. The SAFE promulgated the Notice of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Reforming and Standardizing the Foreign Exchange Settlement Management Policy of Capital Account, or SAFE Circular 16, effective on June 9, 2016, which reiterates some of the rules set forth in SAFE Circular 19, but changes the prohibition against using RMB capital converted from foreign currency-denominated registered capital of a foreign-invested company to issue RMB entrusted loans to a prohibition against using such capital to grant loans to non-associated enterprises. Violations of SAFE Circular 19 and SAFE Circular 16 could result in administrative penalties. SAFE Circular 19 and SAFE Circular 16 may significantly limit our ability to transfer any foreign currency we hold, including the net proceeds from this offering, to our PRC entity, which may adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business in the PRC.

 

In light of the various requirements imposed by PRC regulations on loans to, and direct investment in, PRC entities by offshore holding companies, and the fact that the PRC government may at its discretion restrict access to foreign currencies for current account transactions in the future, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete the necessary government registrations or obtain the necessary government approvals on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future loans by us to our PRC entity or with respect to future capital contributions by us to our PRC entity. If we merge with a China-based operating company, and if we fail to complete such registrations or obtain such approvals, our ability to use the proceeds from this offering and to capitalize or otherwise fund our PRC operations may be negatively affected, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

 

As a result of the M&A Rules implemented on September 8, 2006 relating to acquisitions of assets and equity interests of Chinese companies by foreign persons, it is expected that acquisitions will take longer and be subject to economic scrutiny by the PRC government authorities such that we may not be able to complete a transaction.

 

On September 8, 2006, the MOFCOM, together with several other government agencies, promulgated a comprehensive set of regulations governing the approval process by which a Chinese company may participate in an acquisition of its assets or its equity interests and by which a Chinese company may obtain public trading of its securities on a securities exchange outside the PRC. Although there was a complex series of regulations in place prior to September 8, 2006 for approval of Chinese enterprises that were administered by a combination of provincial and centralized agencies, the new regulations have largely centralized and expanded the approval process to the MOFCOM, the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC), the SAFE or its branch offices, the State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission, and the CSRC. Depending on the structure of the transaction as determined once a definitive agreement is executed, these regulations will require the Chinese parties to make a series of applications and supplemental applications to the aforementioned agencies, some of which must be made within strict time limits and depending on approvals from one or the other of the aforementioned agencies. The application process has been supplemented to require the presentation of economic data concerning a transaction, including appraisals of the business to be acquired and evaluations of the acquirer which will permit the government to assess the economics of a transaction in addition to the compliance with legal requirements. If obtained, approvals will have expiration dates by which a transaction must be completed. Also, completed transactions must be reported to the MOFCOM and some of the other agencies within a short period after closing or be subject to an unwinding of the transaction. It is expected that compliance with the regulations will be more time-consuming than in the past, will be more costly for the Chinese parties and will permit the government much more extensive evaluation and control over the terms of the transaction. Subsequent to the promulgation of the Foreign Investment Law and the relevant implementation rules and regulations, some of the provisions have been replaced or repealed, but there is uncertainty in interpretation and implementation. Therefore, a business combination we propose may not be able to be completed because the terms of the transaction may not satisfy aspects of the approval process and may not be completed, even if approved, if they are not consummated within the time permitted by the approvals granted.

 

Because the M&A Rules permit the government agencies to have scrutiny over the economics of an acquisition transaction and require consideration in a transaction to be paid within stated time limits, we may not be able to negotiate a transaction that is acceptable to our shareholders or sufficiently protect their interests in a transaction.

 

The regulations have introduced aspects of economic and substantive analysis of the target business and the acquirer and the terms of the transaction by the MOFCOM and the other governing agencies through submissions of an appraisal report, an evaluation report and the acquisition agreement, all of which form part of the application for approval, depending on the structure of the transaction. The regulations also prohibit a transaction at an acquisition price obviously lower than the appraised value of the Chinese business or assets. The regulations require that in certain transaction structures, the consideration must be paid within strict time periods, generally not in excess of a year. In asset transactions there must be no harm of third parties and the public interest in the allocation of assets and liabilities being assumed or acquired. These aspects of the regulations will limit our ability to negotiate various terms of the acquisition, including aspects of the initial consideration, contingent consideration, holdback provisions, indemnification provisions and provisions relating to the assumption and allocation of assets and liabilities. Transaction structures involving trusts, nominees and similar entities are prohibited. Therefore, we may not be able to negotiate a transaction with terms that will satisfy our investors and protect our shareholders’ interests in an acquisition of a Chinese business or assets.

 

PRC regulations relating to offshore investment activities by PRC residents may limit our ability to inject capital in our Chinese subsidiaries and Chinese subsidiaries’ ability to change their registered capital or distribute profits to the combined company or otherwise expose it or its PRC resident beneficial owners to liability and penalties under PRC laws.

 

In July 2014, SAFE promulgated the Circular on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Control on Domestic Residents’ Offshore Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment Through Special Purpose Vehicles, or SAFE Circular 37. SAFE Circular 37 requires PRC residents (including PRC individuals and PRC corporate entities as well as foreign individuals that are deemed as PRC residents for foreign exchange administration purpose) to register with SAFE or its local branches in connection with their direct or indirect offshore investment activities. SAFE Circular 37 is applicable to our shareholders who are PRC residents and may be applicable to any offshore acquisitions that we make in the future.

 

Under SAFE Circular 37, PRC residents who make, or have prior to the implementation of SAFE Circular 37 made, direct or indirect investments in offshore special purpose vehicles, or SPVs, will be required to register such investments with SAFE or its local branches. In addition, any PRC resident who is a direct or indirect shareholder of an SPV, is required to update its filed registration with the local branch of SAFE with respect to that SPV, to reflect any material change, including, among other things, any major change of a PRC resident shareholder, name or term of operation of the SPVs, or any increase or reduction of the SPVs’ registered capital, share transfer or swap, merger or division. Moreover, any subsidiary of such SPV in China is required to urge the PRC resident shareholders to update their registration with the local branch of SAFE. If any PRC shareholder of such SPV fails to make the required registration or to update the previously filed registration, the subsidiary of such SPV in China may be prohibited from distributing its profits or the proceeds from any capital reduction, share transfer or liquidation to the SPV, and the SPV may also be prohibited from making additional capital contributions into its subsidiary in China. On February 13, 2015, SAFE promulgated a Notice on Further Simplifying and Improving Foreign Exchange Administration Policy on Direct Investment, or SAFE Notice 13, which became effective on June 1, 2015. Under SAFE Notice 13, applications for foreign exchange registration of inbound foreign direct investments and outbound overseas direct investments, including those required under SAFE Circular 37, will be filed with qualified banks instead of SAFE or its branches. The qualified banks will directly examine the applications and accept registrations under the supervision of SAFE.

 

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We cannot provide assurance that our shareholders that are PRC residents at all times comply with, or in the future make or obtain any applicable registrations or approvals required by, SAFE Circular 37 or other related rules. Failure or inability of the combined company’s PRC resident shareholders to comply with the registration procedures set forth in these regulations may subject the combined company to fines and legal sanctions, restrict its cross-border investment activities, limit the ability of its wholly foreign-owned subsidiary in China to distribute dividends and the proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation, and the combined company may also be prohibited from injecting additional capital into the subsidiary. Moreover, failure to comply with the various foreign exchange registration requirements described above could result in liability under PRC law for circumventing applicable foreign exchange restrictions. As a result, the combined company’s business operations and the combined company’s ability to distribute profits to you could be materially and adversely affected.

 

Furthermore, as these foreign exchange regulations are still relatively new and their interpretation and implementation has been constantly evolving, it is unclear how these regulations, and any future regulation concerning offshore or cross-border transactions, will be interpreted, amended and implemented by the relevant government authorities. For example, we may be subject to a more stringent review and approval process with respect to our foreign exchange activities, such as remittance of dividends and foreign-currency-denominated borrowings, which may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if we decide to acquire a PRC domestic company, we cannot assure you that we or the owners of such company, as the case may be, will be able to obtain the necessary approvals or complete the necessary filings and registrations required by the foreign exchange regulations. This may restrict our ability to implement our acquisition strategy and could adversely affect our business and prospects.

 

Certain existing or future U.S. laws and regulations may restrict or eliminate our ability to complete a business combination with certain companies, particularly those target companies in China.

 

Future developments in U.S. laws may restrict our ability or willingness to complete certain business combinations with companies. For instance, the recently enacted the HFCA Act would restrict our ability to consummate a business combination with a target business unless that business met certain standards of the PCAOB and would require delisting of a company from U.S. national securities exchanges if the PCAOB is unable to inspect its public accounting firm for three consecutive years. The HFCA Act also requires public companies to disclose, among other things, whether they are owned or controlled by a foreign government, specifically, those based in China. In addition, on June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, which, if signed into law, would amend the HFCA Act and require the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three consecutive years, thus reducing the time period before our securities may be prohibited from trading or delisted.

 

We may not be able to consummate a business combination with a favored target business due to these laws. Even if we were successful in consummating a business combination, we may be required to delist from Nasdaq, which would severely impact the price of our securities. Furthermore, the documentation we may be required to submit to the SEC proving certain beneficial ownership requirements and establishing that we are not owned or controlled by a foreign government in the event that we use a foreign public accounting firm not subject to inspection by the PCAOB or where the PCAOB is unable to completely inspect or investigate our accounting practices or financial statements because of a position taken by an authority in the foreign jurisdiction could be onerous and time consuming to prepare.

 

On March 24, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final rules relating to the implementation of certain disclosure and documentation requirements of the HFCA Act. An identified issuer will be required to comply with these rules if the SEC identifies it as having a “non-inspection” year under a process to be subsequently established by the SEC. On November 5, 2021, the SEC approved the PCAOB’s Rule 6100, Board Determinations Under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. Rule 6100 provides a framework for the PCAOB to use when determining, as contemplated under the HFCA Act, whether it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction. On December 2, 2021, the SEC issued amendments to finalize rules implementing the submission and disclosure requirements in the HFCA Act. The rules apply to registrants that the SEC identifies as having filed an annual report with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm that is located in a foreign jurisdiction and that PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in foreign jurisdictions.

 

On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a Determination Report which found that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in: (i) China, and (ii) Hong Kong. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB determined that the PCAOB was able to secure complete access to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong and voted to vacate its previous determinations to the contrary. However, should PRC authorities obstruct or otherwise fail to facilitate the PCAOB’s access in the future, the PCAOB will consider the need to issue a new determination. Our auditor is located in the United States and inspected by the PCAOB. However, if it is later determined that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely our auditor because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction (including, without limitation, PRC government), we will be required by the HCFA Act and, if enacted, the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, to delist from Nasdaq because the PCAOB is unable to conduct inspections on such auditor, and our securities are unable to be listed on another securities exchange by the time of such potential delisting, then such a delisting would substantially impair your ability to sell or purchase our securities when you wish to do so, and the risk and uncertainty associated with a potential delisting would have a negative impact on the price of our securities.

 

Additionally, other developments in U.S. laws and regulatory environment, including but not limited to executive orders such as Executive Order (E.O.) 13959, “Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments That Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies,” may further restrict our ability to complete a business combination with certain China-based businesses.

 

 

General Risks Related to Our Business

 

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.

 

We are a newly incorporated company established 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 a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

 

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

 

As of December 31, 2022, we had a working capital deficit of $428,181. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.

 

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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 rights, potentially at a loss.

 

Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to (A) 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 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or rights, potentially at a loss.

 

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

 

Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private 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 U.S. securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement 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 initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see “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 $10.20 per public share.

 

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.

 

Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we 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 $10.20 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors.

 

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Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.20 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, 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 their indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Our sponsor may not have sufficient funds available to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations, and therefore, no funds are currently set aside to cover any such obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.20 per public share (subject to increase of up to an additional $0.30 per share in the event that our sponsor elects to extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full nine months, as described in more detail in this prospectus). In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

 

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 the members of our Board of Directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our Board of Directors and us to claims of punitive damages.

 

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy 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.

 

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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.

 

We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested by the trustee only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Because the investment of the proceeds will be restricted to these instruments, we believe we will meet the requirements for the exemption provided in Rule 3a-1 promulgated under the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless.

 

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

 

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

 

The SEC has issued proposed rules relating to certain activities of special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”). Certain of the procedures that we, a potential business combination target, or others may determine to undertake in connection with such proposals may increase our costs and the time needed to complete our initial business combination and may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial business combination. The need for compliance with the SPAC Rule Proposals may cause us to liquidate the funds in the Trust Account or liquidate our company at an earlier time than we might otherwise choose.

 

On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules (the “SPAC Rule Proposals”) relating, among other items, to disclosures in business combination transactions between SPACS such as us and private operating companies; the condensed financial statement requirements applicable to transactions involving shell companies; the use of projections by SPACs in SEC filings in connection with proposed business combination transactions; the potential liability of certain participants in proposed business combination transactions; and the extent to which SPACs could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, including a proposed rule that would provide SPACs a safe harbor from treatment as an investment company if they satisfy certain conditions that limit a SPAC’s duration, asset composition, business purpose and activities. The SPAC Rule Proposals have not yet been adopted, and may be adopted in the proposed form or in a different form that could impose additional regulatory requirements on SPACs. Certain of the procedures that we, a potential business combination target, or others may determine to undertake in connection with the SPAC Rule Proposals, or pursuant to the SEC’s views expressed in the SPAC Rule Proposals, may increase the costs and time of negotiating and completing an initial business combination, and may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial business combination. The need for compliance with the SPAC Rule Proposals may cause us to liquidate the funds in the Trust Account or liquidate our company at an earlier time than we might otherwise choose.

 

The excise tax included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 may decrease the value of our securities following our initial business combination, hinder our ability to consummate an initial business combination, and decrease the amount of funds available for distribution in connection with a liquidation.

 

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which, among other things, imposes a 1% excise tax on the fair market value of stock repurchased by a domestic corporation beginning in 2023, with certain exceptions (the “Excise Tax”). Because there is a possibility that we may acquire a U.S. domestic corporation or engage in a transaction in which a domestic corporation becomes our parent or our affiliate and our securities will trade on Nasdaq following the date of this prospectus, we may become a “covered corporation” within the meaning of the Inflation Reduction Act following the consummation of our initial business combination, and while not free from doubt, it is possible that the Excise Tax will apply to any redemptions of our common stock after December 31, 2022, including redemptions in connection with an initial business combination and any amendment to our certificate of incorporation to extend the time to consummate an initial business combination, unless an exemption is available. Consequently, the value of your investment in our securities may decrease as a result of the Excise Tax. In addition, the Excise Tax may make a transaction with us less appealing to potential business combination targets, and thus, potentially hinder our ability to enter into and consummate an initial business combination. Further, the application of the Excise Tax in the event of a liquidation is uncertain, and the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to the Excise Tax, in which case the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

  

We face risks related to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and any other conflicts that may arise on a global or regional scale which may adversely affect the business and results of operations of the post-combination entity.

 

On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched an invasion of Ukraine that has had an immediate impact on the global economy resulting in higher energy prices and higher prices for certain raw materials and goods and services which in turn is contributing to higher inflation in the United States and other countries across the globe with significant disruption to financial markets and supply and distribution chains for certain raw materials and goods and services on an unprecedented scale. The impact of the sanctions has also included disruptions to financial markets, an inability to complete financial or banking transactions, restrictions on travel and an inability to service existing or new customers in a timely manner in the affected areas of Europe. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has continued to escalate without any resolution of the invasion foreseeable in the near future with the short and long-term impact on financial and business conditions in Europe remaining highly uncertain.

 

The U.S. and the European Union responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by imposing various economic sanctions on the Russian Federation to which the Russian Federation has responded in kind. The United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Australia and other countries across the globe have imposed their own sanctions on the Russian Federation. The United States, the European Union and such other countries acting together or separately could impose wider sanctions or take further actions against the Russian Federation if the conflict continues to escalate. Multinational corporations and other corporations and businesses with business and financial ties to the Russian Federation have either reduced or eliminated their ties to the Russian Federation in a manner that often exceeds what is required pursuant to sanctions by these countries.

 

Further, the Russian Federation’s cyberattacks and other action may impact businesses across the United States, the European Union and other nations across the globe including those without any direct business ties to the Russian Federation.

 

It is uncertain if the post-combination entity’s business, operation, or financial conditions could be materially impacted in the event of a downturn in the worldwide economy resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other conflicts with a global impact.

  

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 all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and 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 directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our trust 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 to a fine and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.

 

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We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination.

 

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 general meetings or general meetings to elect directors. Until we hold an annual meeting of shareholders, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to discuss company affairs with management.

 

The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our pre-initial business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), including an amendment to permit us to withdraw funds from the trust account such that the per share amount investors will receive upon any redemption or liquidation is substantially reduced or eliminated, may be amended with the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who, being entitled to do so, attend and vote in a general meeting, 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.

 

Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-initial business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of our shareholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s public shareholders. 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 units 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 in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or 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 if approved by holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who, being entitled to do so, attend and vote in a general meeting, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 90% of our ordinary shares. Should our insiders vote all their shares in favor of any such amendment, such amendment would not be approved regardless how public shares are voted. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Our insiders, which will collectively beneficially own 19% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of this offering (assuming it does not purchase any units in this offering and excluding the private placement shares) or approximately 23.0% (including the private placement shares), 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-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.

 

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

 

Certain agreements, including the underwriting agreement relating to this offering, the investment management trust agreement between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the letter agreement among us and our sponsor, officers, directors and director nominees, the registration rights agreement among us and our sponsor and the administrative services agreement between us and our sponsor, may be amended without shareholder approval. These agreements contain various provisions that our public shareholders might deem to be material. For example, the underwriting agreement related to this offering contains a covenant that the target company that we acquire must have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account at the time of signing the definitive agreement for the transaction with such target business (excluding the taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) so long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq. While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Any such amendment may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.

 

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

 

We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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 ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any December 31 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following June 30. 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.

 

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

 

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2023. 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 controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

 

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Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and some of our executive officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to China, 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. Our corporate affairs and the rights of shareholders are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. 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 not clearly established as what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the U.S. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a less developed body of securities laws as compared to the U.S., 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 our Cayman Islands legal counsel that it is uncertain whether the courts of the Cayman Islands will allow shareholders of our company to originate actions in the Cayman Islands based upon securities laws of the U.S. In addition, there is uncertainty with regard to Cayman Islands law related to whether a judgment obtained from the U.S. courts under civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws will be determined by the courts of the Cayman Islands as penal or punitive in nature. If such determination is made, the courts of the Cayman Islands will not recognize or enforce the judgment against a Cayman Islands company, such as our company. As the courts of the Cayman Islands have yet to rule on making such a determination in relation to judgments obtained from U.S. courts under civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws, it is uncertain whether such judgments would be enforceable in the Cayman Islands. 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 of the underlying dispute 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, was not obtained by 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 may well be held to be contrary to public policy). The courts of the Cayman Islands will apply the rules of Cayman Islands private international law to determine whether the foreign court is a court of competent jurisdiction.

 

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 U.S. company.

 

Because some of our executive officers, directors, and director nominees are located in or have significant ties to China, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. Federal courts may be limited.

 

Some of our executive officers and directors are located in or have significant ties to China. Dr. Jichuan Yang, our Chief Financial Officer, is a United States citizen but currently resides in China for business purposes. Dr. Kenan Gong, our Independent Director nominee, is a PRC citizen and resident. China has no arrangement for the reciprocal enforcement of judgments with the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon us or such persons, or to enforce against them or against us, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state thereof. Even with proper service of process, the enforcement of judgments obtained in U.S. courts or foreign courts based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws would be extremely difficult. Furthermore, there would be added costs and issues with bringing an original action in foreign courts to enforce liabilities based on the U.S. federal securities laws against us or our officers and directors, and they still may be fruitless.

 

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 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 two-year director terms and the ability of the Board of Directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

 

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

Some statements contained in this prospectus are forward-looking in nature. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “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 complete our initial business combination;
     
  our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;
     
  our 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;
     
  the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities;
     
  our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;
     
  the lack of a market for our securities;
     
  the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; 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 heading “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.

 

ENFORCEABILITY OF CIVIL LIABILITIES

 

We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the U.S. and provides less protection to investors. Additionally, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the Federal courts of the U.S.

 

We have been advised by our Cayman Islands legal counsel that there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Cayman Islands would (i) recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the U.S. predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the U.S. or any state; and (ii) entertain original actions brought in each respective jurisdiction against us or our directors and officers predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States. There is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the U.S., the courts of the Cayman Islands will in certain circumstances recognize such foreign money judgment and treat it as a cause of action in itself which may be sued upon as a debt at common law so that no retrial of the issues would be necessary provided that (1) the U.S. court issuing the judgment is of competent jurisdiction; (2) the U.S. Judgment is final and for a liquidated sum; (3) the judgment given by the U.S. Court was not in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty or similar fiscal or revenue obligation of the company; (4) in obtaining judgment there was no fraud on part of the person in whose favor judgment was given or on part of the court; (5) recognition or enforcement of the judgment would not be contrary to public policy in the Cayman Islands; and (6) the proceedings pursuant to which judgment was obtained were not contrary to natural justice. A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.

 

In addition, our Independent Director nominee, Dr. Kenan Gong, is a PRC citizen and resident. Our Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Jichuan Yang, a U.S. citizen, currently resides in China for business purposes. China has no arrangement for the reciprocal enforcement of judgments with the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon us or such persons, or to enforce against them or against us, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state thereof. Even with proper service of process, the enforcement of judgments obtained in U.S. courts or foreign courts based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws would be extremely difficult. Furthermore, there would be added costs and issues with bringing an original action in foreign courts to enforce liabilities based on the U.S. federal securities laws against us or our officers and directors, and they still may be fruitless.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

 

We are offering 6,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement units will be used as set forth in the following table.

 

    Without Over-Allotment Option     Over-Allotment Option Exercised  
Gross proceeds                
Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1)   $ 60,000,000     $ 69,000,000  
Gross proceeds from private placement units offered in the private placement     3,700,000       4,060,000  
Total gross proceeds   $ 63,700,000     $ 73,060,000  
                 
Offering expenses(2)                
Underwriting commissions (2.0% of gross proceeds from units offered to public)   $ 1,200,000     $ 1,380,000  
Legal fees and expenses     275,000       275,000  
Accounting fees and expenses     80,000       80,000  
SEC/FINRA Expenses     16,104       16,104  
Reimbursement to underwriters for expenses     115,000       115,000  
Nasdaq listing and filing fees     50,000       50,000  
Printing and engraving expenses     40,000       40,000  
Miscellaneous(3)     63,896       63,896  
Total offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions)   $ 640,000     $ 640,000  
Proceeds after offering expenses   $ 61,860,000     $ 71,040,000  
Held in trust account   $ 61,200,000     $ 70,380,000  
% of public offering size     102.0 %     102.0 %
Not held in trust account(2)   $ 660,000     $ 660,000  

 

The following table shows the use of the approximately $660,000 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    

37.88

%
Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations   100,000    

15.15

%
Nasdaq continued listing fees   55,000    

8.33

%
Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses, director and officer’s liability insurance, general corporate purposes, liquidation obligations and reserves   

255,000

    38.64%
Total  $660,000    100.0%

 

(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 $500,000 as described in this prospectus. As of December 31, 2022, the Company drew $444,018 against the promissory note and the entire balance was outstanding as of December 31, 2022. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $660,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) and amounts not to be held in the trust account. In the event that offering expenses are less than as set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account.

 

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(3) Includes organizational and administrative expenses and may include amounts related to above-listed expenses in the event actual amounts exceed estimates.
   
(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 a business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify an acquisition target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses. The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account. Based on current interest rates, we would expect approximately $2,448,000 to be available to us from interest earned on the funds held in the trust account over 12 months following the investment of such funds in specified U.S. Government Treasury bills, however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. This estimate assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option and an interest rate of 4.0% per annum based upon current yields of securities in which the trust account may be invested. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,800,000 of the loans made by our sponsor, our officers and directors, or our or their affiliates to us prior to or in connection with our initial business combination 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 private placement units issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans by our sponsor, affiliate of our sponsor, or certain of 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, our officer and directors, or an affiliate of theirs 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.
   
(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 private placement units, $61,200,000 (or $70,380,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will, upon the consummation of this offering, 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. Based on current interest rates, we estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $2,448,000 for 12 months, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option and an interest rate of 4.0% per year, following the investment of such funds in specified U.S. government treasury bills or in specified money market funds. We will not be permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the trust account except for the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes, if any, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement units will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to (A) 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 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), subject to applicable law.

 

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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 acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us.

 

We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, administrative and support services commencing on the effectiveness of this offering. 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 $500,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The Company drew $444,018 against the promissory note and the entire balance was outstanding as of December 31, 2022. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of March 31, 2023 or the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $660,000 of offering proceeds not held in the trust account.

 

Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we may extend the period of time to consummate a business combination up to three times, each by an additional three months (for a total of up to 21 months to complete a business combination) without submitting such proposed extensions to our shareholders for approval or offering our public shareholders redemption rights in connection therewith. In order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon ten days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account $600,000, or up to $690,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per share in either case) on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline, for each three month extension (or up to an aggregate of $1,800,000 (or $2,070,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $0.30 per share if we extend for the full nine months). Any such payments would be made in the form of a loan. Any such loans will be non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of our initial business combination. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. If we do not complete a business combination, we will not repay such loans.

 

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts.

 

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Up to $1,800,000 of the loans made by our sponsor, our officers and directors, or our or their affiliates to us prior to or in connection with our initial business combination 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.

 

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 also purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Please see “Proposed Business — Permitted purchases of our securities” for a description of how such persons will determine which shareholders to seek to acquire shares from. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. However, such persons have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

 

We have determined not to consummate any business combination unless we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation in order to avoid being subject to Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. 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 and we are not able to locate an alternative source of funding, we will not be able to consummate such initial business combination and we may not be able to locate another suitable target within the applicable time period, if at all.

 

A public shareholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 12 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months from the closing of this offering if we extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by the full amount of time), subject to applicable law. 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 their founder shares and any public shares they may hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. 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. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our Board of Directors at such time and we will only pay such dividend out of our profits or share premium (subject to solvency requirements) as permitted under Cayman Islands Law. In addition, our Board of Directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any share capitalizations in the foreseeable future, except if we increase the size of the offering, in which case we will effect a capitalization or share surrender or redemption or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our sponsor prior to this offering at 19% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of this offering (excluding the private placement shares) or approximately 23.0% (including the private placement shares). 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.

 

DILUTION

 

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

 

At December 31, 2022, our net tangible book was a deficit of $428,181, or approximately ($0.29) per ordinary share assuming the underwriters do not exercise any portion of the over-allotment option and the forfeiture of 225,000 founder shares. For purposes of the dilution calculation, in order to present the maximum estimated dilution as a result of this offering, we have assumed (i) the issuance of 0.20 of a share for each right outstanding, as such issuance will occur upon a business combination without the payment of additional consideration and (ii) the number of shares included in the units offered hereby will be deemed to be 7,200,000 (consisting of 6,000,000 shares included in the units we are offering by this prospectus and 1,200,000 shares for the outstanding rights), and the price per share in this offering will be deemed to be $8.33. After giving effect to the sale of 6,000,000 ordinary shares included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 6,900,000 ordinary shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the private placement units and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value would have been $675,103 or $0.20 per share (or $675,103 or $0.17 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 6,000,000 ordinary shares that may be redeemed for cash, or 6,900,000 ordinary shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $0.49 per share (or $0.42 per share if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) to our sponsor as of the date of this prospectus. Total dilution to public shareholders from this offering will be $8.13 per share (or $8.16 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full).

 

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

 

   Without
over-allotment
   With
over-allotment
 
Public offering price   $ 8.33    $ 8.33  
Net tangible book value before this offering               (0.29 )               (0.25 )
Increase attributable to public shareholders     0.49      0.42  
Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement units     0.20      0.17  
Dilution to public shareholders   $ 8.13    $ 8.16  
Percentage of dilution to public shareholders     97.6 %     97.9 %

 

The following table sets forth information with respect to our sponsor, the representative shares, the private shareholders and the public shareholders:

 

    Shares purchased     Total consideration     Average
price
per share
 
    Number     Percentage     Amount     Percentage        
Initial Shareholders(1)     1,500,000       15.9 %   $ 25,000       0.0 %   $ 0.02  
Representative Shares     270,000       2.9 %     -       0.0 %   $ -  
Private Shareholders(2)     444,000       4.7 %     3,700,000       5.8 %   $ 8.33  
Public Shareholders(3)     7,200,000       76.5 %     60,000,000       94.2 %   $ 8.33  
      9,414,000       100.0 %   $ 63,725,000       100.0 %        

 

(1) Assumes no exercise of the over-allotment option and forfeiture by our sponsor of 225,000 founder shares.

(2) Includes the issuance of an additional 74,000 shares underlying rights contained in the private units (assumes no exercise of the over-allotment option).

(3) Includes the issuance of an additional 1,200,000 shares underlying rights contained in the public units (assumes no exercise of the over-allotment option).

 

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

 

   Without
over-allotment
   With
over-allotment
 
Numerator:           
Net tangible book value before this offering   $ (428,181 )   $ (428,181 )
Plus: Offering costs accrued or paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value     443,284      443,284  
Net proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement units(1)     61,860,000      71,040,000  
Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption     (61,200,000 )     (70,380,000 )
   $ 675,103    $ 675,103  
           
Denominator:           
Ordinary shares outstanding prior to this offering     1,725,000      1,725,000  
Ordinary shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised     (225,000 )     
Representative shares     270,000      310,500  
Ordinary shares included in the private units     370,000      406,000  
Ordinary shares underlying the rights included in the private units     74,000      81,200  
Ordinary shares included in the units offered     6,000,000      6,900,000  
Ordinary shares underlying the rights included units offering     1,200,000      1,380,000  
Less: Ordinary shares subject to redemption     (6,000,000 )     (6,900,000 )
     3,414,000      3,902,700  

 

 

(1) Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of $640,000 and underwriting commissions of $1,200,000 or $1,380,000 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option. See “Use of Proceeds.”

 

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CAPITALIZATION

 

The following table sets forth our capitalization at December 31, 2022, and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the sale of our units in this offering and the private placement units and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:

 

   December 31, 2022  
   Actual    As adjusted(1)  
Note payable—related party(2)   $ 444,018    $  
           
Ordinary shares, -0- and 6,000,000 shares subject to possible redemption, actual and as adjusted, respectively         61,200,000  
Ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, 150,000,000 shares authorized, 1,725,000 and 2,140,000(3) shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively     173      214  
Additional paid-in capital     24,827      684,786  
Accumulated deficit     (9,897 )     (9,897 )
           
Total shareholders’ equity     15,103      675,103  
           
Total capitalization   $ 459,121    $ 61,875,103  

 

 

(1) Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 225,000 ordinary shares held by our sponsor.
   
(2) Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $500,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The Company drew $444,018 against the promissory note and the entire balance was outstanding as of December 31, 2022.
   

(3)

Assumes the over-allotment option has not been exercised and an aggregate of 225,000 insider shares have been forfeited by our sponsors as a result thereof. Includes 370,000 shares and 270,000 shares underlying the private units and representative shares purchased respectively.

 

74

 

 

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, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. 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 private placement units, the proceeds of the sale of our securities in connection with our initial business combination, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.

 

The issuance of additional ordinary shares in a business combination:

 

  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;
     
  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 units, ordinary shares, and/or rights.

 

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

 

  default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;
     
  acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
     
  our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand;
     
  our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding;
     
  our inability to pay dividends on our 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, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
     
  limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
     
  increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and
     
  limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less de