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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

(Mark One)

 

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

 

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the transition period from ______________ to ______________

 

Commission File Number: 001-41462

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware   88-1192288

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

  

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

 

643 Ilalo St. #102

Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Telephone: (808) 892-6611

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

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class   Trading Symbol(s)   Name of each exchange on which registered
Units, each consisting of one share of Class A Common Stock and one Redeemable Warrant   PTWOU   The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
         
Class A Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share   PTWO   The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
         
Redeemable Warrants, each warrant exercisable for one share of Class A Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share   PTWOW   The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

 

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

 

Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☒ Smaller reporting company ☒
  Emerging growth company ☒

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

 

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☒ No ☐

 

As of June 30, 2022, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $0.

 

As of March 7, 2023, there were 12,191,875 shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 2,875,000 shares of the registrant’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, issued and outstanding.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

 

None.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

 

Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Period Ended December 31, 2022

 

    Page
PART I   4
ITEM 1. BUSINESS 4
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS 7
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS 7
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES 7
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS 7
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES 7
PART II   7
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES 7
ITEM 6. [RESERVED] 8
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS 8
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK 12
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA 12
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE 12
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES 13
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION 13
ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS 13
PART III   12
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 14
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION 21
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS 21
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE 22
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES 25
PART IV   26
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES 26
ITEM 16. FORM 10–K SUMMARY 27

 

2

 

 

CERTAIN TERMS

 

References to “the Company,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to Pono Capital Two, Inc., a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on March 11, 2022. References to our “Sponsor” refer to Mehana Capital LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. References to our “IPO” refer to the initial public offering of Pono Capital Two, Inc., which closed on August 9, 2022.

 

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act. The statements contained in this report that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management’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 “anticipates,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this report may include, for example, statements about our:

 

●ability to complete our initial business combination;
   
●success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;
   
●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;
   
●potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;
   
●pool of prospective target businesses;
   
●the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential investment opportunities;
   
●potential change in control if we acquire one or more target businesses for stock;
   
●the potential liquidity and trading of our securities;
   
●the lack of a market for our securities;
   
●use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; or
   
●financial performance following our IPO.

 

The forward-looking statements contained in this report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, 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 and/or if and when management knows or has a reasonable basis on which to conclude that previously disclosed projections are no longer reasonably attainable.

 

3

 

 

PART I

 

ITEM 1.BUSINESS

 

Introduction

 

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to herein as our initial business combination. Our Sponsor is Mehana Capital LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Sponsor”).

 

We believe that there are many target companies that could become attractive public companies and we will seek a target in the disruptive technology sector with a spotlight on companies in Asia with Japan in particular. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic region, we will seek to capitalize on the operational and investment experience of our management team and focus on disruptive technology companies that we believe have significant growth prospects and the potential to generate attractive returns for our stockholders. We expect to focus on identifying potential target companies with above-industry-average growth, and a defensible market position where our management team’s operational, strategic, or managerial expertise can assist in maximizing value.

 

The Registration Statement for our initial public offering was declared effective on August 4, 2022 (the “Initial Public Offering,” or “IPO”). On August 9, 2022, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 11,500,000 Units, including 1,500,000 Units issued pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in full, generating gross proceeds of $115,000,000. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per whole share.

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the sale of 634,375 units (the “Placement Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Placement Unit in a private placement to the Sponsor, including 63,000 Placement Units issued pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in full, generating gross proceeds of $6,343,750, which is described in Note 4.

 

Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on August 9, 2022, an amount of $117,875,000 ($10.25 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Placement Units was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”), and will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with maturities 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, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the distribution of the funds held in the Trust Account, as described below.

 

We will have until 9 months (or up to 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering at our election pursuant to nine one month extensions subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, including the deposit of $379,500 ($0.033 per unit) for such one month extension, into the Trust Account, or as extended by our stockholders in accordance with our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering to consummate a business combination (the “Combination Period”). If we are unable to complete a business combination within the Combination Period, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no 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 interest earned (net of taxes payable and less interest to pay dissolution expenses up to $100,000), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining stockholders and our board of directors, proceed to commence a voluntary liquidation and thereby a formal dissolution of the Company, subject in each case to its obligations to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of applicable law. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to the deferred underwriting commission held in the Trust Account in the event we do not complete a business combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Initial Public Offering price per Unit ($10.00).

 

4

 

 

On January 31, 2023, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among us, Pono Two Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and our wholly-owned subsidiary (“Merger Sub”), SBC Medical Group Holdings Incorporated, a Delaware corporation (“SBC”), Mehana Capital, LLC, in its capacity as Purchaser Representative, and Yoshiyuki Aikawa, in his capacity as Seller Representative.

 

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, at the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub will merge with and into SBC, with SBC continuing as the surviving corporation. The transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement are referred to herein as the “Business Combination.”

 

As a condition to closing of the Business Combination, SBC will complete certain restructuring transactions pursuant to which SBC Medical Group Co., Ltd., a Japanese corporation (“SBC-Japan”) and certain related entities which carry on the business of SBC-Japan and such other related entities, will become subsidiaries of SBC.

 

As consideration for the Business Combination, the holders of SBC securities as of the closing of the Business Combination, collectively will be entitled to receive from us, in the aggregate, a number of our securities with an aggregate value equal to (a) $1,200,000,000, minus (b) the amount, if any, by which $3,000,000 exceeds SBC’s Net Working Capital, plus (c) the amount, if any, by which SBC’s Net Working Capital exceeds $3,000,000, minus (d) the aggregate amount of any outstanding indebtedness (minus cash held by SBC) of SBC at Closing, minus (e) specified transaction expenses of SBC associated with the Business Combination.

 

Please see the Current Report on Form 8-K we filed with the SEC on February 2, 2023 for additional information.

 

Our Company

 

We are a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on March 11, 2022 formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (a “business combination”). We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement units, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing or other sources.

 

We believe that there are many target companies that could become attractive public companies and we will seek a target in the disruptive technology sector with a spotlight on companies in Asia with Japan in particular. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic region, we will seek to capitalize on the operational and investment experience of our management team and focus on disruptive technology companies that we believe have significant growth prospects and the potential to generate attractive returns for our stockholders. We expect to focus on identifying potential target companies with above-industry-average growth, and a defensible market position where our management team’s operational, strategic, or managerial expertise can assist in maximizing value.

 

We believe the traditional IPO and direct listing processes are not designed for these types of companies to execute on their ambitious strategies. We believe using a SPAC structure is a disruptive alternative to, and creates more efficiencies than, the traditional IPO approach. We also believe that because the industries in which we have particular expertise, and in which we will seek to identify a potential business combination target, are often overlooked by traditional venture capital, public equity and private equity investors, many high-quality companies in these industries are not well suited to a traditional IPO, direct listing or private equity buyout transaction. Therefore, we believe our focus on these particular industries will provide unique access to the highest quality companies and management teams and a substantial number of proprietary business combination opportunities. Our mission is to create a better solution to the conventional IPO for these high growth, disruptive technology and technology-enabled companies, which addresses their needs for capital and liquidity, while overcoming the key points of friction in the traditional IPO path in particular for businesses in Japan.

 

5

 

 

We believe our expertise will make us an attractive partner for companies seeking a clear and efficient path to listing their shares with a significant degree of funding certainty including high-quality companies in Japan where certain of the Company’s officers and directors are familiar with Japanese business and M&A culture, which will have an impact on the dynamics of a business combination. There are a large number of companies that desire to have publicly-traded shares to provide liquidity to investors and employees, create a currency for mergers and acquisitions and access to equity capital markets. We may seek to combine with businesses owned by our founder and minority investors, although we may consummate a transaction with businesses controlled by private equity investors or family-owned businesses, which means there is a wide universe of potential partners. We believe our understanding of private deal execution and public capital markets, and valuation dynamics in both markets, make us uniquely positioned to identify and execute a business combination with a growth orientation.

 

Our Management Team

 

Our management team is led by Darryl Nakamoto, our Chief Executive Officer and Director, Allison Van Orman, our Chief Financial Officer, and Dustin Shindo, our Chairman of the Board, who will be supported by Pono Capital Two, Inc.’s independent directors, sponsor, accountants and legal counsel, as further described below. We believe our management team is well positioned to identify and evaluate businesses within the technology industry that would benefit from being a public company and from access to our expertise. We believe we can achieve this mission by utilizing our team’s extensive experience in growing and operating technology companies as well as our broad network of contacts in the technology sector.

 

Competition

 

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

 

Employees

 

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

 

For additional discussion of the general development of our business, see our final prospectus on Form 424B4, filed with the SEC on August 8, 2022.

 

6

 

 

ITEM 1A.RISK FACTORS

 

As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to make disclosures under this Item.

 

ITEM 1B.UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

 

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

 

We currently maintain our executive offices at 643 Ilalo St., #102, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, and our telephone number is (808) 892-6611. Our Sponsor is making this space available to us as part of a monthly administrative fee of $10,000. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

 

ITEM 3.LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

 

We may be subject to legal proceedings, investigations and claims incidental to the conduct of our business from time to time. We are not currently a party to any material litigation or other legal proceedings brought against us. We are also not aware of any legal proceeding, investigation or claim, or other legal exposure that has a more than remote possibility of having a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

ITEM 4.MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

 

Not Applicable.

 

PART II

 

ITEM 5.MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

 

Our units began to trade on The Nasdaq Global Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “PTWOU” on or about August 5, 2022, and the shares of Class A common stock and warrants began separate trading on Nasdaq under the symbols “PTWO” and “PTWOW,” respectively, on or about September 26, 2022.

 

Holders of Record

 

As of March 7, 2023, there were 12,191,875 shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock issued and outstanding held by approximately five stockholders of record, and 2,875,000 shares of the registrant’s Class B common stock issued and outstanding held by approximately one stockholder of record. The number of record holders was determined from the records of our transfer agent and does not include beneficial owners of shares of common stock whose shares are held in the names of various security brokers, dealers, and registered clearing agencies.

 

Dividends

 

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of an 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 a business combination. The payment of any dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. It is the present intention of our board of directors to retain all earnings, if any, for use in our business operations and, accordingly, our board of directors does not anticipate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any share dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

 

7

 

 

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

 

None.

 

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

 

There were no unregistered securities to report which have not been previously included in a Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or a Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

 

None.

 

ITEM 6. [RESERVED]

 

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

References in this report (the “Annual Report”) to “we,” “us” or the “Company” refer to Pono Capital Two, Inc. References to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, and references to the “Sponsor” refer to Mehana Capital LLC. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Annual Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Please see “Forward-Looking Statements” elsewhere in this report for a description of these risks and uncertainties.

 

Overview

 

We are a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on March 11, 2022 formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) and the sale of the private placement units, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing or other sources.

 

Results of Operations

 

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities for the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for the Initial Public Offering, described below, and, after our Initial Public Offering, identifying a target company for a business combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering. We incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.

 

For the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, we had net income of $552,813, which resulted from interest and dividend income on investments held in the Trust Account for $1,345,016, partially offset by operating and formation costs of $382,051, franchise tax expense of $161,644, and income tax expense of $248,508.

 

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

For the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, net cash used in operating activities was $462,816, which was due to interest earned on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $1,345,016, offset by net income of $552,813 and a change in operating assets and liabilities of $329,387.

 

For the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, net cash used in investing activities was $117,875,000 which was primarily due to the investment of cash in the Trust Account.

 

For the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, net cash provided by financing activities was $118,823,380, which was due to the proceeds from the sale of Units (as defined below) (net of the underwriting discount) of $113,045,000, proceeds from the sale of Placement Units (as defined below) of $6,343,750, and proceeds from the issuance of Class B common stock to the Sponsor of $25,000, offset in part by payment of offering costs of $590,370.

 

The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on August 4, 2022. On August 9, 2022, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 11,500,000 units, (the “Units” and, with respect to the shares of Class A common stock included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”), including 1,500,000 Units issued pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in full, generating gross proceeds of $115,000,000.

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 634,375 units (the “Placement Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Placement Unit in a private placement to Mehana Capital LLC (the “Sponsor”), including 63,000 Placement Units issued pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in full, generating gross proceeds of $6,343,750.

 

Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on August 9, 2022, an amount of $117,875,000 ($10.25 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Placement Units was placed in a trust account.

 

We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and excluding deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay our taxes, if any. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our taxes. We expect the only taxes payable by us out of the funds in the trust account will be income and franchise taxes, if any. To the extent that our common stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.

 

We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination.

 

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The accompanying financial statements have been prepared in conformity with GAAP, which contemplates continuation of the Company as a going concern and the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of the Company’s financing and acquisition plans. Management plans to address this uncertainty with the successful closing of the business combination. The Company will have until May 9, 2023 (or up to February 9, 2024, as applicable) to consummate a business combination. If a business combination is not consummated by May 9, 2023, less than one year after the date the accompanying financial statements are issued, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the Company. Management has determined that the mandatory liquidation, should a business combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution, raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after May 9, 2023. The Company intends to complete the initial business combination before the mandatory liquidation date. However, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to consummate any business combination by May 9, 2023.

 

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

 

As of December 31, 2022, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

 

Contractual Obligations

 

Registration and Stockholder Rights Agreement

 

The holders of the Founder Shares and Placement Units (including securities contained therein) and Units (including securities contained therein) that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and extension loans, and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Placement Warrants and any shares of Class A common stock and warrants (and underlying Class A common stock) that may be issued upon conversion of the Units issued as part of the working capital loans and extension loans and Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of the Founder Shares, will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the Proposed Offering, requiring the Company to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion to the Class A common stock). The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to two demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company registers such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the initial business combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act.

 

Administrative Support Agreement

 

The Company’s Sponsor has agreed, commencing from the date of the Initial Public Offering through the earlier of the Company’s consummation of a business combination and its liquidation, to make available to the Company certain general and administrative services, including office space, utilities and administrative services, as the Company may require from time to time. The Company has agreed to pay to Mehana Capital LLC, the Sponsor, $10,000 per month for these services during the 9-month period to complete a business combination. For the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, $50,000 was paid to Mehana Capital LLC for these services.

 

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Underwriters Agreement

 

Simultaneously with the Initial Public Offering, the underwriters fully exercised the over-allotment option to purchase an additional 1,500,000 Units at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit for an aggregate purchase price of $15,000,000.

 

The underwriters were paid a cash underwriting discount of $0.17 per Unit, or $1,955,000 in the aggregate, upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, $0.35 per unit, or $4,025,000 in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a business combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.

 

Critical Accounting Policies

 

The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and income and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have identified the following critical accounting policies:

 

Derivative Financial Instruments

 

The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as liabilities, the derivative instrument is initially recorded at its fair value on the grant date and is then re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statements of operations. For derivative instruments that are classified as equity, the derivative instruments are initially measured at fair value (or allocated value), and subsequent changes in fair value are not recognized as long as the contracts continue to be classified in equity.

 

Warrants

 

The Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in ASC 480 and ASC 815. The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own common stock, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding.

 

For issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional paid-in capital at the time of issuance. For issued or modified warrants that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as liabilities at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter. Changes in the estimated fair value of the warrants are recognized as a non-cash gain or loss on the statements of operations.

 

The warrants are not precluded from equity classification, and are accounted for as such on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter.

 

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Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption

 

All of the Class A common stock sold as part of the Units in the Initial Public Offering contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such Public Shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation, if there is a stockholder vote or tender offer in connection with the business combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In accordance with ASC 480, conditionally redeemable Class A common stock (including shares of Class A common stock that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. Ordinary liquidation events, which involve the redemption and liquidation of all of the entity’s equity instruments, are excluded from the provisions of ASC 480. Although the Company did not specify a maximum redemption threshold, its charter provides that currently, the Company will not redeem its Public Shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets (stockholders’ equity) to be less than $5,000,001. However, the threshold in its charter would not change the nature of the underlying shares as redeemable and thus Public Shares would be required to be disclosed outside of permanent equity. The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable common stock to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Such changes are reflected in additional paid-in capital, or in the absence of additional paid-in capital, in accumulated deficit.

 

Net Income Per Share

 

Net income per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted-average number of shares outstanding during the period. Therefore, the income per share calculation allocates income shared pro rata between Class A and Class B common stock. As a result, the calculated net income per share is the same for Class A and Class B common stock. The Company has not considered the effect of the Public Warrants and Placement Warrants, to purchase an aggregate of 12,134,375 shares in the calculation of income per share, since the exercise of the warrants is contingent upon the occurrence of future events.

 

Recent Accounting Standards

 

In August 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-06, Debt - Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-0) and Derivatives and Hedging - Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) (“ASU 2020-06”) to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-convened method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 effective March 11, 2022 (inception). The adoption of ASU 2020-06 did not have a material impact on the financial statements.

 

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.

 

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

 

Not required for smaller reporting companies.

 

ITEM 8.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

 

This information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is included herein by reference.

 

ITEM 9.CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

 

None.

 

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ITEM 9A.CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

 

Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

 

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

 

As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2022. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15 (e) and 15d-15 (e) under the Exchange Act) were effective.

 

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

 

During the most recently completed fiscal quarter, there has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

 

Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting

 

This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.

 

ITEM 9B.OTHER INFORMATION

 

None.

 

ITEM 9C.DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS

 

Not applicable.

 

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PART III

 

ITEM 10.DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

 

The following table sets forth information about our directors and executive officers.

 

Name Age Position
Darryl Nakamoto   49   Chief Executive Officer, Director
Allison Van Orman   50   Chief Financial Officer
Dustin Shindo   49   Chairman of the Board
Kotaro Chiba   48   Independent Director
Mike Sayama   69   Independent Director
Trisha Nomura   43   Independent Director, and Chairwoman of the Audit Committee

 

Darryl Nakamoto, Chief Executive Officer and Director

 

Mr. Nakamoto serves as our Chief Executive Officer and Director. He is an entrepreneur and executive with over 20 years of industry experience, including his former role as CFO of a publicly traded company. Since 2017, Mr. Nakamoto serves as President and Owner of Viv, LLC, a successful accounting and finance solutions provider. Since 2021, Mr. Nakamoto has also served as Controller of Hawaiian Springs, LLC. From May 2016 to July 2017, Mr. Nakamoto served as President and CFO of DKI808 LLC, dba Premier Restoration Hawaii, where he secured financing for the purchase of Maui Fire & Flood and expanded the full-service restoration business from Maui to Oahu. Between March 2014 and March 2016, Mr. Nakamoto served as President of Island Flooring. Mr. Nakamoto served as President of Kaiuli Energy from April 2012 to February 2014, a seawater air conditioning startup where he was responsible for strategic decisions and project developments. From 2014 to 2020, Mr. Nakamoto served as Treasurer, Vice Chair and Board Member of the Japanese Cultural Center of Honolulu.

 

From January 2005 to March 2012, Mr. Nakamoto was CFO, Treasurer and Secretary of Hoku Scientific, a then publicly traded clean energy firm based in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he managed all finance, accounting, and treasury functions. Between January 2003 and December 2004, Mr. Nakamoto was a Finance Analyst for Frito-Lay of Hawaii. From March 2001 to January 2003, he worked as a Consultant for Akamai Consulting Group/Syntera Solutions. He was a Regional Director for software development startup ActivityMax from 2000 to 2001. Mr. Nakamoto began his career as an Accountant at KPMG from 1996 to 2000. Mr. Nakamoto is a CPA, not in public practice. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and a Bachelor of Arts in Finance. Mr. Nakamoto is a former Treasurer and board member of the Make-A-Wish foundation of Hawaii. Mr. Nakamoto’s public company experience, paired with his entrepreneurial and management skills in a diverse array of industries makes him a valuable member of our management team and board of directors.

 

Allison Van Orman, Chief Financial Officer

 

Ms. Van Orman is an experienced Certified Public Accountant and entrepreneur. Since December 2000, Ms. Van Orman has served as Principal at Allison D T Van Orman, CPA LLC, where she helps clients navigate complex tax compliance and tax planning issues and consults small business owners to improve operations and identify areas of growth. Ms. Van Orman was sole proprietor of Grumpy Girl Clothing between October 2003 and December 2010, performing duties such as product design, product costing and distribution, graphic design and marketing, and public relations and communications for her business. From 1998 to 2000, Ms. Van Orman was an auditor/accountant at Chinaka, Siu, & Co., CPAs in Honolulu, where she performed accounting and tax duties for small business clients as well as preparing audit programs and supervising assistants on audits of non-profit organizations. Ms. Van Orman received her Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude in Accounting from Santa Clara University in 1995 and her MBA from the University of Hawaii in 1997. She is a licensed CPA in the State of Hawaii, and currently a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“AICPA”). Ms. Van Orman’s accounting experience makes her an invaluable asset to the management team.

 

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Dustin Shindo, Chairman of the Board

 

Mr. Shindo serves as our Chairman of the Board. He is the Manager of Mehana Capital, LLC, our Sponsor, and is an entrepreneur, executive, technologist, and a seasoned advisor with more than 25 years of industry experience. Mr. Shindo currently also serves as Chairman of the Board of Pono Capital Three, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTHR). Mr. Shindo previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Pono Capital Corp. until the closing of its business combination with AERWINS Technologies Inc. in February 2023. Recently, Mr. Shindo started Joynable Corporation, a software company. Mr. Shindo is also the Vice President and director of Perfect Game Hawaii, a non-profit entity supporting baseball. From 2017 to July 2022, Mr. Shindo served as the Chief Executive Officer of Junify Corporation, which operates in California and Japan. Junify offers zero trust network access software (software defined border) to help companies better secure their cloud resources. Mr. Shindo has also been retained for a number of consulting positions since July 2014 for companies working in the health care, travel, technology, construction, and non-profit industries. From December 2012 to December 2018, Mr. Shindo served as the Chief Executive Officer of Pono Health based in California, Washington, and Hawaii, where he provided consulting, data management, analytics, and software development services. Pono Health was the primary entity of Pono Corporation, founded in December 2012. Mr. Shindo managed healthcare data for individuals in Hawaii and for clinics in Washington, Oregon and Arizona. Mr. Shindo also developed analytics platform used to calculate gaps in care, cost savings, and other health metrics.

 

From March 2001 to March 2010, Mr. Shindo served as the Chief Executive Officer of Hoku Scientific based in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he led the company through an IPO on the NASDAQ Global Market and signed customer contracts totaling USD 2+ billion. From December 1995 to August 1997, Mr. Shindo served as the President of Mehana Brewing Company based in Hilo, Hawaii. In June 1995, Mr. Shindo received his Bachelor of Art’s degree in Accounting/Finance/Marketing at University of Washington based in Seattle, Washington. In May 1999, Mr. Shindo received his Master’s in Business Administration at Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia based in Charlottesville, Virginia. In August 2015, Mr. Shindo completed the SEP program at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Mr. Shindo’s entrepreneurial, executive, and advising experience, paired with his public company experience through Pono Capital Corp and Hoku Scientific, make him a valuable member of our board of directors.

 

Our Independent Directors

 

Our efforts to seek a suitable business combination target will be complemented and augmented by the expertise and network of relationships of our directors, who each have extensive experience in business and financial matters. In addition to our seasoned executive team, we have assembled a strong group of directors. The board is expected to be comprised of five individuals. These individuals bring together a breadth of operating experience, industry connectivity and proprietary access to leading companies that enhance our value proposition. Our board will be a driving force in our efforts to identify a target and effect a business combination and may invest personal capital in the transaction. The Company’s independent directors’ bios are presented here.

 

Kotaro Chiba, Independent Director

 

Kotaro Chiba serves as an independent director. Mr. Chiba currently also serves as an Independent Director of Pono Capital Three, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTHR) and recently served as an Independent Director of Pono Capital Corp. until the closing of its business combination with AERWINS Technologies Inc. in February 2023. Mr. Chiba is also the founder and General Partner of Chiba Dojo Fund, a venture capital based fund in Tokyo focusing its investing on Internet and IOT related start-ups since September 2019. Before launching the Chiba Dojo Fund, Mr. Chiba founded and continues to serve as the General Partner of the Drone Fund since in June 2017. The Drone Fund is a venture capital-based fund in Tokyo focusing its investment on drones and air mobility start-ups. The Drone Fund aims to create a drone and air-mobility enabled society. One of the Drone Fund’s portfolio companies went public on the Tokyo Mothers Market in December 2019—the first drone company to make an IPO in Japan. As an angel investor, Mr. Chiba has invested in more than 60 startups and 40 VC funds in Internet markets and other fields. Mr. Chiba also currently serves or has served as Director of various mobility and technology companies, including: Aeronext since April 2017, A.L.I. Technologies, Inc. since December 2017, Prodrone Co. Ltd. from October 2020 to October 2022, teTra aviation from May 2020 to August 2022, and VFR from October 2021 to November 2022.

 

Prior to that, Mr. Chiba was the co-founder, Executive Vice President and director from January 2009 to July 2016 with COLOPL Inc., which focused on mobile gaming services on smartphone applications as well as VR services and location data analysis consulting services, research service dedicated to smartphones. In 2012, he helped lead the company’s listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Mothers) and then in 2014 led the company to a US$4 billion IPO on the Tokyo Exchange market (first section). Prior to that, Mr. Chiba was the founder and director from January 2000 to March 2007 for K Laboratory Inc. (now KLab Inc.) that develops mobile games and online games. Before joining KLab Inc., Mr. Chiba was a mobile web media planner from April 1997 to December 1999 for Recruit Co. Ltd., which is Japan’s largest recruitment company and provides services such as job advertising, temporary staffing, sales promotion, and IT solution.

 

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Since April 2019, Mr. Chiba has been a guest Professor at Keio University, a research-oriented campus located in the city of Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan where he teaches students to become technology innovators. Mr. Chiba is Keio University, SFC Campus graduate, in March 1997, with a Bachelor of Arts in Environment and Information Studies. He is also the first domestic customer of Honda Jet in Japan and holds a private pilot license (FAA Japan). Mr. Chiba’s extensive experience and knowledge in developing start-ups and working in venture capital provides him with a unique perspective and makes him a valuable addition to our board of directors.

 

Mike Sayama, Ph.D., Independent Director

 

Dr. Mike Sayama serves as an independent director. Dr. Sayama currently also serves as an Independent Director of Pono Capital Three, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTHR) and as an Independent Director for AERWINS Technologies Inc. (f/k/a Pono Capital Corp.) (NASDAQ: AWIN). Dr. Sayama was formerly the Executive Director of Community First since it was established in July 2016 until January 2021. As the founding executive director, he was responsible for operations, developing a strategic plan for an accountable health community in East Hawaii, community relations, and fund raising. From January 2021 to June 2021 he served as the Director of Strategy to facilitate the transition to a new management team.

 

From October 2013 to December 2018, Dr. Sayama served as a Vice President at Pono Health and was Director of Learning Health Homes, a project where he was responsible for managing the East Hawaii Independent Physicians Association and implementing a data platform integrating health plan, hospital, and physician data. Dr. Sayama also facilitated the reorganization of EHI and development of its strategic direction. Community First, a 501(c) 3 non-profit, which serves as a neutral forum for healthcare stakeholders in East Hawaii, grew out of the Learning Health Homes Initiative.

 

From August 1997 to October 2013, Dr. Sayama served as a Vice President of the Hawaii Medical Service Association, first in Health Benefits Management and then in Customer Relations. In the first position, he streamlined preauthorization and appeal processes, including the elimination of preauthorization for inpatient admissions without increase in inpatient utilization. In his second position he established call centers in Hilo which stabilized the call center work force and improved the timeliness and accuracy of customer service.

 

From April 2001 to April 2005, Dr. Sayama was a Director on the City Bank Board, and from April 2005 to April 2009, was a Director on the Boards of Central Pacific Bank and Central Pacific Financial Corporation.

 

Regarding education: In May 1975, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Yale University, and in August 1979, his Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology from University of Michigan. In August 1982, Dr. Sayama received his Ph.D. degree in Clinical Psychology from University of Michigan. He is the author of several books on psychotherapy and Zen Buddhism.

 

His community service includes having been a Director on the Bay Clinic Board (the Federally Qualified Health Center in East Hawaii) and currently serving as the Abbot of Chozen-ji, International Zen Dojo. Mr. Sayama brings broad knowledge of the healthcare technology industry, as well as prior experience serving as a founding executive director, which makes him a valuable addition to our board of directors.

 

Trisha Nomura, Independent Director and Chairperson of the Board’s Audit Committee

 

Trisha Nomura serves as an independent director and Chairwoman of our audit committee. Ms. Nomura currently also serves as an Independent Director of Pono Capital Three, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTHR) and recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Pono Capital Corp. until the closing of its business combination with AERWINS Technologies Inc. in February 2023. Since July 2018, Ms. Nomura has owned a consulting firm, Ascend Consulting, LLC. Prior to opening her own firm, Ms. Nomura worked in both public accounting and private industry. Ms. Nomura was the Chief Operating Officer of HiHR from July 2015 to December 2016, and the Vice President of Strategic Services from May 2014 to July 2015. Ms. Nomura also served as the Chief People Officer of ProService Hawaii from January 2017 to June 2018. Ms. Nomura began volunteering with the HSCPA since 2010 through the YCPA Squad, has been the Treasurer of Kaneohe Little League since 2013, and is a member of the AICPA, where she was selected to attend the Leadership Academy, has served as an at-large Council member and is now proudly serving on the Association Board of Directors. Ms. Nomura is a CPA, not in public practice, and a CGMA. She is a graduate of Creighton University, where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in accounting, and of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she earned her Master of Accountancy degree. Ms. Nomura’s consulting, accounting and management skills and knowledge make her an important addition to our board of directors.

 

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Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

 

We have five directors. Our board of directors is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. In accordance with the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq.

 

The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Kotaro Chiba, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Darryl Nakamoto and Mike Sayama, will expire at our second annual meeting of the stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Trisha Nomura and Dustin Shindo, will expire at our third annual meeting of stockholders. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we complete our initial business combination. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we complete our initial business combination.

 

Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of our securities, our sponsor, upon completion of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as our sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration rights agreement.

 

Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to nominate persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our officers may consist of one or more chairman of the board of directors, chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.

 

Director Independence

 

Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present. Kotaro Chiba, Mike Sayama and Trisha Nomura are our independent directors.

 

Committees of the Board of Directors

 

Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a corporate governance and nominating committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of Nasdaq and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of Nasdaq require that the compensation committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.

 

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Audit Committee

 

We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Kotaro Chiba, Mike Sayama, and Trisha Nomura will serve as members of our audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Chiba, Sayama and Nomura meet the independent director standard under Nasdaq listing standards and under Rule 10-A-3(b)(1) of the Exchange Act. Trisha Nomura will serve as the chairwoman of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate, and our board of directors has determined that Ms. Nomura qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules. We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:

 

●appointing, compensating and overseeing our independent registered public accounting firm;

 

●reviewing and approving the annual audit plan for the company;

 

●overseeing the integrity of our financial statements and our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements;

 

●discussing the annual audited financial statements and unaudited quarterly financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm;

 

●pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed;

 

●appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm;

 

●establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints (including anonymous complaints) we receive concerning accounting, internal accounting controls, auditing matters or potential violations of law;

 

●monitoring our environmental sustainability and governance practices;

 

●establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies;

 

●approving audit and non-audit services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm;

 

●discussing earnings press releases and financial information provided to analysts and rating agencies;

 

●discussing with management our policies and practices with respect to risk assessment and risk management;

 

●reviewing any material transaction between our Chief Financial Officer that has been approved in accordance with our Code of Ethics for our officers, and providing prior written approval of any material transaction between us and our President; and

 

●producing an annual report for inclusion in our proxy statement, in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.

 

The audit committee is a separately designated standing committee established in accordance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act.

 

Financial Experts on Audit Committee

 

Pursuant to Nasdaq rules, the audit committee will at all times be composed exclusively of “independent directors” who are able to read and understand fundamental financial statements, including a company’s balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement.

 

Each member of the audit committee is financially literate, and our board of directors has determined that Ms. Nomura qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules, which generally is any person who has past employment experience in finance or accounting, requisite professional certification in accounting, or other comparable experience or background that results in the individual’s financial sophistication.

 

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Compensation Committee

 

We have established a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Kotaro Chiba, Mike Sayama, and Trisha Nomura, and Mr. Sayama will serve as chairman of the compensation committee. Under Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each Messrs. Chiba, Sayama and Nomura is independent. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

 

●reviewing and approving corporate goals and objectives relevant to our President’s compensation, evaluating our President’s performance in light of those goals and objectives, and setting our President’s compensation level based on this evaluation;

 

●setting salaries and approving incentive compensation and equity awards, as well as compensation policies, for all other officers who file reports of their ownership, and changes in ownership, of the company’s common stock under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act (the “Section 16 Officers”), as designated by our board of directors;

 

●making recommendations to the board of directors with respect to incentive compensation programs and equity-based plans that are subject to board approval;

 

●approving any employment or severance agreements with our Section 16 Officers;

 

●granting any awards under equity compensation plans and annual bonus plans to our President and the Section 16 Officers;

 

●approving the compensation of our directors; and

 

●producing an annual report on executive compensation for inclusion in our proxy statement, in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than the payment to Mehana Capital LLC, the Sponsor, of $10,000 per month, for up to nine months, or 18 months if we have elected to extend the time to complete our initial business combination, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.

 

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

 

Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee

 

We have established a corporate governance and nominating committee of our board of directors. The members of our corporate governance and nominating committee are Kotaro Chiba, Mike Sayama, and Trisha Nomura and Mr. Chiba will serve as chairman of the corporate governance and nominating committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards, we are required to have a corporate governance and nominating committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of Messrs. Chiba, Sayama and Nomura is independent.

 

The primary function of the corporate governance and nominating committee include:

 

●identifying individuals qualified to become members of the board of directors and making recommendations to the board of directors regarding nominees for election;

 

●reviewing the independence of each director and making a recommendation to the board of directors with respect to each director’s independence;

 

●developing and recommending to the board of directors the corporate governance principles applicable to us and reviewing our corporate governance guidelines at least annually;

 

●making recommendations to the board of directors with respect to the membership of the audit, compensation and corporate governance and nominating committees;

 

●overseeing the evaluation of the performance of the board of directors and its committees on a continuing basis, including an annual self-evaluation of the performance of the corporate governance and nominating committee;

 

●considering the adequacy of our governance structures and policies, including as they relate to our environmental sustainability and governance practices;

 

●considering director nominees recommended by stockholders; and

 

●reviewing our overall corporate governance and reporting to the board of directors on its findings and any recommendations.

 

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Guidelines for Selecting Director Nominees

 

The guidelines for selecting nominees generally provide that persons to be nominated:

 

●should possess personal qualities and characteristics, accomplishments and reputation in the business community;

 

●should have current knowledge and contacts in the communities in which we do business and, in our industry, or other industries relevant to our business;

 

●should have the ability and willingness to commit adequate time to the board of directors and committee matters;

 

●should demonstrate ability and willingness to commit adequate time to the board of directors and committee matters;

 

●should possess the fit of the individual’s skills and personality with those of other directors and potential directors in building a board of directors that is effective, collegial and responsive to our needs; and

 

●should demonstrate diversity of viewpoints, background, experience, and other demographics, and all aspects of diversity in order to enable the board of directors to perform its duties and responsibilities effectively, including candidates with a diversity of age, gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

 

Each year in connection with the nomination of candidates for election to the board of directors, the corporate governance and nominating committee will evaluate the background of each candidate, including candidates that may be submitted by our stockholders.

 

Code of Ethics

 

We have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. You can review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

 

Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, requires our executive officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission initial reports of ownership and reports of changes in ownership of our shares of common stock and other equity securities. These executive officers, directors, and greater than 10% beneficial owners are required by SEC regulation to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms filed by such reporting persons.

 

Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports

 

Based solely on our review of such forms furnished to us and written representations from certain reporting persons, we believe that all filing requirements applicable to our executive officers, directors and greater than 10% beneficial owners were filed in a timely manner, except for (i) one Form 4 filed late by Dustin Shindo on March 8, 2023 and (ii) one Form 4 filed late by Mehana Capital LLC on March 8, 2023, each of which was filed late due to administrative error.

 

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ITEM 11.EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

 

Employment Agreements

 

We have not entered into any employment agreements with our executive officers and have not made any agreements to provide benefits upon termination of employment.

 

Executive Officers and Director Compensation

 

None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. In addition, our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or our or their respective affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and completing an initial business combination. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.

 

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

 

We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the completion of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our executive officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.

 

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

 

None of our executive officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.

 

ITEM 12.SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

 

The following table sets forth as of March 7, 2023 the number of shares of common stock beneficially owned by (i) each person who is known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than five percent of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (ii) each of our officers and directors; and (iii) all of our officers and directors as a group. As of March 7, 2023, we had 15,066,875 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, including 12,191,875 shares of Class A common stock, and 2,875,000 shares of Class B common stock.

 

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Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record of beneficial ownership of any shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, as the warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of March 7, 2023.

 

   Number of     
   Shares   Percentage of 
   Beneficially   Outstanding 
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1)  Owned   Shares 
Mehana Capital LLC (Our Sponsor)(2)   3,509,375    23.29%
Darryl Nakamoto   0    0%
Allison Van Orman   0    0%
Dustin Shindo(2)   3,509,375    23.29%
Kotaro Chiba   0    0%
Mike Sayama   0    0%
Trisha Nomura   0    0%
All officers and directors as a group   3,509,375    23.29%
(6 individuals)          

 

 

(1)Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of these entities and individuals is 643 Ilalo Street, #102, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.

 

(2)Includes 2,875,000 shares of Class B common stock which are convertible into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis at the time of our initial business combination. Mehana Capital LLC, the Sponsor, is the record holder of the securities reported herein. Dustin Shindo is the control person of the Sponsor, and possesses all voting power. By virtue of this relationship, Dustin Shindo may be deemed to share beneficial ownership of the securities held of record by our sponsor. Dustin Shindo disclaims any such beneficial ownership except to the extent of his respective pecuniary interest

 

ITEM 13.CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

 

Founder Shares

 

On May 17, 2022, the Sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 to cover certain expenses on our behalf in exchange for the issuance of 2,875,000 shares of Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”). The Founder Shares included an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor will own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. The underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in full, so those shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.

 

The Sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Class B common stock (except to certain permitted transferees as disclosed herein) until, with respect to any of the Class B common stock, the earlier of (i) six months after the date of the consummation of a business combination, or (ii) the date on which the closing price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing after a business combination, with respect to the remaining any of the Class B common stock, upon six months after the date of the consummation of a business combination, or earlier, in each case, if, subsequent to a business combination, we consummate a subsequent liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their common stock for cash, securities or other property.

 

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Promissory Note - Related Party

 

On April 25, 2022, the Sponsor agreed to loan us an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Promissory Note”). This loan was non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) March 31, 2023 or (ii) the date on which we consummated the Initial Public Offering. Prior to the Initial Public Offering, we had borrowed $300,000 under the Promissory Note. The outstanding balance under the Promissory Note of $300,000 was repaid at the closing of the Initial Public Offering on August 9, 2022.

 

Administrative Support Agreement

 

The Sponsor has agreed, commencing from the date of the Initial Public Offering through the earlier of our consummation of a business combination and its liquidation, to make available to us certain general and administrative services, including office space, utilities and administrative services, as we may require from time to time. We have agreed to pay to the Sponsor, $10,000 per month for these services during the 9-month period to complete a business combination. For the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, $50,000 was paid to Mehana Capital LLC for these services.

 

Related Party Loans

 

In order to finance transaction costs in connection with the initial business combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete the initial business combination, we will repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the 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, including the repayment of loans from the Sponsor to pay for any amount deposited to pay for any extension of the time to complete the initial business combination, but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into Units, at a price of $10.00 per Unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of the initial business combination. The Units would be identical to the Placement Units. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. As of December 31, 2022, we did not have any outstanding related party loans.

 

General

 

If any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

 

Other than equity provided to our independent directors, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals 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. The Sponsor has agreed to pay for the formation costs, and waived to seek reimbursement from the Company for such costs. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their respective affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

 

After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation. We have entered into a registration rights agreement pursuant to which our sponsor is entitled to certain registration rights with respect to the placement warrants and the shares of our Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of the Founder Shares.

 

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Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions

 

Our audit committee of our board of directors has adopted a charter, providing for the review, approval and/or ratification of “related party transactions,” which are those transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K as promulgated by the SEC, by the audit committee. At its meetings, the audit committee shall be provided with the details of each new, existing or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, any contractual restrictions that the company has already committed to, the business purpose of the transaction and the benefits of the transaction to the company and to the relevant related party. Any member of the audit committee who has an interest in the related party transaction under review by the committee shall abstain from voting on the approval of the related party transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairman of the committee, participate in some or all of the committee’s discussions of the related party transaction. Upon completion of its review of the related party transaction, the committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the related party transaction. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee, present at a meeting at which a quorum is present, will be required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee will constitute a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party transaction. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or any of their affiliates.

 

These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer. To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our sponsor, officers or directors unless we, or a committee of independent directors, have obtained an opinion from either an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

 

Furthermore, no finder’s fees, reimbursements, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation will be paid by us to our Sponsor, officers or directors or any affiliate of our Sponsor, officers or directors prior to, for services rendered to us prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, the following payments will be made to our Sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, none of which will be made from the proceeds of the IPO held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:

 

●Payment to Mehana Capital LLC, our Sponsor, of $10,000 per month, for up to 9 months or up to 18 months if we elect to extend the time to complete our initial business combination, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support;

 

●Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and

 

●Repayment of non-interest-bearing loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which (other than as described above) have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units.

 

●Repayment of loans from our Sponsor to pay for any amount deposited to pay for any extension of the time to complete our initial business combination. All of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the placement units.

 

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

 

Director Independence

 

Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. For a description of the director independence, see “— Part III, Item 10 - Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance”.

 

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ITEM 14.PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES .

 

The firm of Marcum LLP, or Marcum, acts as our independent registered public accounting firm. The following is a summary of fees paid to Marcum for services rendered.

 

Audit Fees. For the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were $108,184 for the services Marcum performed in connection with our Initial Public Offering and the audit of our December 31, 2022 financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

Audit-Related Fees. For the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render assurance and related services that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of financial statements.

 

Tax Fees. For the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, Marcum did not render any tax return services, planning or tax advice.

 

All Other Fees. For the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, there were no fees billed for products and services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm other than those set forth above.

 

Pre-Approval Policy

 

Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our Initial Public Offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).

 

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part IV

 

ITEM 15.EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

 

(a)The following documents are filed as part of this Form 10-K:

 

(1)Financial Statements:

 

  Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm F-1
Balance Sheet F-2
Statement of Operations F-3
Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) F-4
Statement of Cash Flows F-5
Notes to Financial Statements F-6

 

(2)Financial Statement Schedules:

 

None.

 

(3)Exhibits

 

The following exhibits are filed with this report. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be obtained from the SEC’s website at sec.gov.

 

Exhibit No. Description
1.1   Underwriting Agreement, dated August 4, 2022, between the Company and EF Hutton, division of Benchmark Investments, LLC, as representative of the underwriters named therein, (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 1.1 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on August 9, 2022).
2.1†   Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated January 31, 2023, by and among Pono, Merger Sub, SBC, the Purchaser Representative, and the Seller Representative (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on February 2, 2023).
3.1   Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation dated August 4, 2022 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on August 9, 2022).
3.2   By Laws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 filed with the Form S-1 filed by the Registrant on June 14, 2022).
4.1   Specimen Unit Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 filed with the Form S-1/A filed by the Registrant on July 22, 2022).
4.2   Specimen Class A Common Stock Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 filed with the Form S-1/A filed by the Registrant on July 22, 2022).
4.3   Specimen Warrant Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on August 9, 2022).
4.4   Warrant Agreement, dated August 4, 2022, between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on August 9, 2022).
4.5*   Description of Securities
10.1   Amended and Restated Securities Subscription Agreement, dated May 17, 2022, between the Registrant and Mehana Capital LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 filed with the Form S-1 filed by the Registrant on June 14, 2022).
10.2   Amendment to the Amended and Restated Securities Subscription Agreement, dated July 21, 2022, between the Registrant and Mehana Capital LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 filed with the Form S-1/A filed by the Registrant on July 22, 2022).
10.3   Promissory Note, dated April 25, 2022, issued to Mehana Capital LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 filed with the Form S-1 filed by the Registrant on June 14, 2022).
10.4   Letter Agreement, dated August 4, 2022, among the Company, Mehana Capital LLC, each of the executive officers and directors of the Company, and EF Hutton, division of Benchmark Investments, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on August 9, 2022).

 

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10.5   Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated August 4, 2022, between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on August 9, 2022).
10.6   Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated August 9, 2022, by and between the Company and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on August 9, 2022).
10.7   Registration Rights Agreement, dated August 4, 2022, among the Company and certain securityholders (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on August 9, 2022).
10.8   Placement Unit Purchase Agreement, dated August 4, 2022, between the Company and Mehana Capital LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on August 9, 2022).
10.9   Form of Indemnity Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 filed with the Form S-1/A filed by the Registrant on July 22, 2022).  
10.10     Administrative Support Agreement, dated August 4, 2022, by and between the Company and Mehana Capital LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on August 9, 2022).
10.11   Form of Lock-up Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on February 2, 2023).
10.12   Form of Non-Competition Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on February 2, 2023).
10.13   Form of Registration Rights Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on February 2, 2023).
10.14   Purchaser Support Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on February 2, 2023).
10.15   Voting Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 filed with the Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on February 2, 2023).
14   Form of Code of Ethics (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 14 filed with the Form S-1/A filed by the Registrant on July 22, 2022).
31.1*   Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2*   Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.  
32.1*   Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.  
32.2*   Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.  
101.INS*   Inline XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.
101.SCH*   Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document.
101.CAL*   Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document.
101.DEF*   Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document.
101.LAB*   Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document.
101.PRE*   Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document.
104*   Cover Page Interactive Data File - the cover page interactive data file does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.

 

 

*Filed herewith.

 

†Certain of the exhibits and schedules to this Exhibit have been omitted in accordance with Regulation S-K Item 601(b)(2). The Registrant agrees to furnish a copy of all omitted exhibits and schedules to the Securities and Exchange Commission upon its request.

 

ITEM 16.FORM 10-K SUMMARY.

 

None.

 

27

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

Dated: March 8, 2023 PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.
     
  By: /s/ Darryl Nakamoto
  Name: Darryl Nakamoto
  Title: Chief Executive Officer, Director

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Signature Title Date
         
/s/ Darryl Nakamoto   Chief Executive Officer, Director   March 8, 2023
Darryl Nakamoto   (Principal Executive Officer)    
         
/s/ Allison Van Orman   Chief Financial Officer   March 8, 2023
Allison Van Orman   (Principal Accounting and Financial Officer)    
         
/s/ Dustin Shindo   Chairman of the Board   March 8, 2023
Dustin Shindo        
         
/s/Kotaro Chiba   Director   March 8, 2023
Kotaro Chiba        
         
/s/ Mike Sayama   Director   March 8, 2023
Mike Sayama        
         
/s/ Trisha Nomura   Director   March 8, 2023
Trisha Nomura        

 

28

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

  Page
   
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID 688) F-1
   
Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2022 F-2
   
Statement of Operations for the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022 F-3
   
Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) for the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022 F-4
   
Statement of Cash Flows for the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022 F-5
   
Notes to Financial Statements F-6

 

29

 

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of

Pono Capital Two, Inc.

 

Opinion on the Financial Statements

 

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Pono Capital Two, Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity (deficit) and cash flows for the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

 

Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern

 

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1 to the financial statements, if the Company is unable to complete a business combination by May 9, 2023, then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

Basis for Opinion

 

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

 

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

 

Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

 

/s/ Marcum LLP

 

Marcum LLP

 

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2022.

 

Boston, MA

 

March 8, 2023

 

F-1

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

BALANCE SHEET

 

     
   December 31, 2022 
Assets:     
Current assets:     
Cash  $485,564 
Prepaid expenses   236,625 
Total current assets   722,189 
Marketable Securities held in Trust Account   119,220,016 
Total Assets  $119,942,205 
      
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Deficit:     
Current liabilities:     
Accounts payable  $79,440 
Accrued expenses   76,420 
Franchise tax payable   161,644 
Income tax payable   248,508 
Total current liabilities   566,012 
Deferred underwriting fee payable   4,025,000 
Total Liabilities   4,591,012 
      
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 6)   -  
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, 11,500,000 shares at redemption value of $10.32 per share  $118,709,864 
      
Stockholders’ Deficit:     
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued and outstanding   — 
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized; 691,875 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 11,500,000 shares subject to possible redemption)   69 
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; 2,875,000 issued and outstanding   288 
Additional paid-in capital   — 
Accumulated deficit   (3,359,028)
Total Stockholders’ Deficit   (3,358,671)
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Deficit  $119,942,205 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

F-2

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

 

     
  

For the period

from March 11,

2022 (inception)

through

December 31,

2022

 
Operating and formation costs  $382,051 
Franchise tax expense   161,644 
Loss from Operations   (543,695)
      
Other Income:     
Interest and dividend income on investments held in Trust Account   1,345,016 
Income before income taxes   801,321 
Income tax expense   (248,508)
Net Income  $552,813 
      
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class A common stock   5,951,288 
Basic and diluted net income per share, Class A common stock  $0.06 
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class B common stock   2,683,051 
Basic and diluted net income per share, Class B common stock  $0.06 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

F-3

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)

FOR THE PERIOD FROM MARCH 11, 2022 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2022

 

    Shares    Amount    Shares    Amount    Capital    Deficit    Deficit 
    Class A Common Stock    Class B Common Stock    Additional Paid-in    Accumulated    

Total

Stockholders’

 
    Shares    Amount    Shares    Amount    Capital    Deficit    Equity (Deficit) 
Balance at March 11, 2022 (inception)   —   $—    —   $—   $—   $—   $— 
Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor   —    —    2,875,000    288    24,712    —    25,000 
Issuance of Placement Units   634,375    63    —    —    6,343,687    —                6,343,750 
Issuance of Representative shares   57,500    6    —    —    67,269    —    67,275 
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants   —    —    —    —    2,978,500    —    2,978,500 
Value of offering costs allocated to the fair value of equity instruments   —    —    —    —    (205,388)   —    (205,388)
Accretion of Class A common stock subject to redemption to redemption amount   —    —    —    —    (9,208,780)   (3,911,841)   (13,120,621)
Net income   —    —    —    —    —    552,813    552,813 
Balance at December 31, 2022   691,875   $69    2,875,000   $288   $—   $(3,359,028)  $(3,358,671)

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

F-4

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE PERIOD FROM MARCH 11, 2022 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2022 

 

     
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:    
Net income  $552,813 
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities:     
Interest earned on Marketable securities held in Trust Account   (1,345,016)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:     
Prepaid expenses   (236,625)
Accounts payable   79,440 
Accrued expenses   76,420 
Franchise tax payable   161,644 
Income tax payable   248,508 
Net cash used in operating activities   (462,816)
      
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:     
Investment of cash in Trust Account   (117,875,000)
Net cash used in investing activities   (117,875,000)
      
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:     
Proceeds from sale of placement units   6,343,750 
Proceeds from issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor   25,000 
Proceeds from sale of Units, net of underwriting discount paid   113,045,000 
Advance from Sponsor for payment of formation costs   412 
Proceeds from promissory note - related party   300,000 
Repayment of Promissory note - related party   (300,000)
Repayment to Sponsor for payment of formation costs   (412)
Payment of offering costs   (590,370)
Net cash provided by financing activities   118,823,380 
      
Net Change in Cash   485,564 
Cash - Beginning of period   — 
Cash - End of period  $485,564 
      
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities:     
Accretion of Class A common stock subject to redemption to redemption amount  $13,120,621 
Fair value of Representative Shares  $67,275 
Deferred underwriting fee payable  $4,025,000 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

F-5

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION, BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND GOING CONCERN

 

Pono Capital Two, Inc. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on March 11, 2022. The Company was formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (a “business combination”). The Company is not limited to a particular industry or geographic region for purposes of consummating a business combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.

 

As of December 31, 2022, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022 relates to the Company’s formation and initial public offering (“Initial Public Offering”). The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a business combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.

 

The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on August 4, 2022. On August 9, 2022, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 11,500,000 units, (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A common stock included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”), including 1,500,000 Units issued pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in full, generating gross proceeds of $115,000,000, which is discussed in Note 3.

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 634,375 units (the “Placement Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Placement Unit in a private placement to Mehana Capital LLC (the “Sponsor”), including 63,000 Placement Units issued pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in full, generating gross proceeds of $6,343,750, which is described in Note 4.

 

Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on August 9, 2022, an amount of $117,875,000 ($10.25 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Placement Units was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”), and will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with maturities 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, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the distribution of the funds held in the Trust Account, as described below.

 

Transaction costs related to the issuances described above amounted to $6,637,645, consisting of $1,955,000 of cash underwriting fees, $4,025,000 of deferred underwriting fees and $67,275 of costs related to Representative Shares and $590,370 of other offering costs. In addition, at December 31, 2022, $485,564 of cash was held outside of the Trust Account and is available for working capital purposes.

 

On September 23, 2022, the Company announced that the holders of the Units may elect to separately trade the Public Shares and the Public Warrants (as defined in Note 3) commencing on September 26, 2022. Those Public Shares not separated will continue to trade on The Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “PTWOU,” and the Class A Common Stock and warrants that are separated will trade on The Nasdaq Global Market under the symbols “PTWO” and “PTWOW,” respectively.

 

F-6

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Placement Units, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a business combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a business combination successfully. The Company must complete a business combination with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into an initial business combination. The Company will only complete a business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”).

 

The Company will provide its holders of Public Shares (the “Public Stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially $10.25 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a business combination with respect to the Company’s warrants. The Public Shares subject to redemption will be recorded at redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”).

 

The Company will proceed with a business combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon consummation of such business combination and a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the business combination. If the Company seeks stockholder approval of a business combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation”) provides that a Public Stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to 15% or more of the Public Shares without the Company’s prior written consent.

 

If a stockholder vote is not required and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will offer such redemption pursuant to the tender offer rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and file tender offer documents containing substantially the same information as would be included in a proxy statement with the SEC prior to completing a business combination.

 

The Sponsor has agreed (a) to vote its Class B common stock, the common stock included in the Placement Units and the Public Shares purchased in the Initial Public Offering in favor of a business combination, (b) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation with respect to the Company’s pre-business combination activities prior to the consummation of a business combination unless the Company provides dissenting Public Stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment; (c) not to redeem any shares (including the Class B common stock) and Placement Units (including underlying securities) into the right to receive cash from the Trust Account in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a business combination (or to sell any shares in a tender offer in connection with a business combination if the Company does not seek stockholder approval in connection therewith) or a vote to amend the provisions of the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights of pre-business combination activity and (d) that the Class B common stock and Placement Units (including underlying securities) shall not participate in any liquidating distributions upon winding up if a business combination is not consummated. However, the Sponsor will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Public Shares purchased in the Initial Public Offering if the Company fails to complete its business combination.

 

F-7

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

The Company will have until 9 months (or up to 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering at the election of the Company pursuant to nine one month extensions subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, including the deposit of $379,500 ($0.033 per unit) for such one month extension, into the Trust Account, or as extended by the Company’s stockholders in accordance with the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering to consummate a business combination (the “Combination Period”). If the Company is unable to complete a business combination within the Combination Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no 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 interest earned (net of taxes payable and less interest to pay dissolution expenses up to $100,000), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, proceed to commence a voluntary liquidation and thereby a formal dissolution of the Company, subject in each case to its obligations to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of applicable law. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to the deferred underwriting commission held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a business combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Initial Public Offering price per Unit ($10.00).

 

The Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company, if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the Trust Account to below $10.25 per share, 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 the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except for the Company’s independent registered accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.

 

Going Concern and Liquidity

 

The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of the Company’s financing and acquisition plans. Management plans to address this uncertainty with the successful closing of the business combination. The Company will have until May 9, 2023 (or up to February 9, 2024, as applicable) to consummate a business combination. If a business combination is not consummated by May 9, 2023, less than one year after the date these financial statements are issued, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the Company. Management has determined that the mandatory liquidation, should a business combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution, raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after May 9, 2023. The Company intends to complete the initial business combination before the mandatory liquidation date. However, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to consummate any business combination by May 9, 2023.

 

F-8

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Risks and Uncertainties

 

Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations, and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

Additionally, as a result of the military action commenced in February 2022 by the Russian Federation and Belarus in the country of Ukraine and related economic sanctions, the Company’s ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which the Company ultimately consummates a business combination, may be materially and adversely affected. Further, the Company’s ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by these events, including as a result of increased market volatility, or decreased market liquidity in third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to the Company or at all. The impact of this action and related sanctions on the world economy and the specific impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations and/or ability to consummate a business combination are not yet determinable. These financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IR Act”) was signed into federal law. The IR Act provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases of stock by publicly traded U.S. domestic corporations and certain U.S. domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign corporations occurring on or after January 1, 2023 (the “Excise Tax”). The Excise Tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its shareholders from which shares are repurchased. The amount of the Excise Tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. However, for purposes of calculating the Excise Tax, repurchasing corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances against the fair market value of stock repurchases during the same taxable year. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the Excise Tax. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out and prevent the abuse or avoidance of the Excise Tax.

 

Any redemption or other repurchase that occurs after December 31, 2022, in connection with a business combination, votes relating to certain amendments to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or otherwise, may be subject to the Excise Tax. Whether and to what extent the Company would be subject to the Excise Tax in connection with a business combination, votes relating to certain amendments to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or otherwise would depend on a number of factors, including (i) the fair market value of the redemptions and repurchases in connection with the business combination, extension or otherwise, (ii) the structure of a business combination, (iii) the nature and amount of any “PIPE” or other equity issuances in connection with a business combination (or otherwise issued not in connection with a business combination but issued within the same taxable year of a business combination) and (iv) the content of regulations and other guidance from the Treasury. The mechanics of any required payment of the Excise Tax have not been determined. The foregoing could cause a reduction in the cash available on hand to complete a business combination and in the Company’s ability to effect an extension of the time in which the Company must complete a business combination or complete a business combination.

 

F-9

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

 

Basis of Presentation

 

The accompanying financial statements of the Company are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.

 

Emerging Growth Company

 

The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it 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 independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

 

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 election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has 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, the Company, 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 the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

 

Use of Estimates

 

The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period.

 

Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ from those estimates.

 

Cash

 

The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company did not have any cash equivalents as of December 31, 2022.

 

F-10

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Investments Held in Trust Account

 

As of December 31, 2022, the assets held in the Trust Account were held in money market funds, which were invested in U.S. Treasury securities. All of the Company’s investments held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities. Such trading securities are presented on the balance sheet at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of investments held in Trust Account are included in interest and dividend income on investments held in Trust Account in the accompanying statement of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in the Trust Account are determined using available market information. The Company had $119,220,016 in investments held in the Trust Account as of December 31, 2022.

 

Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption

 

All of the Class A common stock sold as part of the Units in the Initial Public Offering contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such Public Shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation, if there is a stockholder vote or tender offer in connection with the business combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation. In accordance with ASC 480, conditionally redeemable Class A common stock (including shares of Class A common stock that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. Ordinary liquidation events, which involve the redemption and liquidation of all of the entity’s equity instruments, are excluded from the provisions of ASC 480. Although the Company did not specify a maximum redemption threshold, its charter provides that currently, the Company will not redeem its Public Shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets (stockholders’ equity) to be less than $5,000,001. However, the threshold in its charter would not change the nature of the underlying shares as redeemable and thus Public Shares would be required to be disclosed outside of permanent equity. The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable common stock to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Such changes are reflected in additional paid-in capital, or in the absence of additional paid-in capital, in accumulated deficit.

 

As of December 31, 2022, the Class A common stock reflected in the balance sheet is reconciled in the following table:

 

      
Gross proceeds  $115,000,000 
Less:     
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants   (2,978,500)
Issuance costs allocated to Class A common stock   (6,432,257)
Plus:     
Accretion of Class A common stock subject to redemption to redemption amount   13,120,621 
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption as of December 31, 2022  $118,709,864 

 

F-11

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Income Taxes

 

The Company complies with the accounting and reporting requirements of Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 740 - Income Taxes (“ASC 740”) which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are computed for differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities that will result in future taxable or deductible amounts, based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company’s management determined the United States is the Company’s only major tax jurisdiction. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits, if any, as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2022 and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.

 

Net Income Per Share

 

Net income per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted-average number of shares outstanding during the period. Therefore, the income per share calculation allocates income shared pro rata between Class A and Class B common stock. As a result, the calculated net income per share is the same for Class A and Class B common stock. The Company has not considered the effect of the Public Warrants (as defined in Note 3) and Placement Warrants (as defined in Note 4), to purchase an aggregate of 12,134,375 shares in the calculation of income per share, since the exercise of the warrants is contingent upon the occurrence of future events.

 

The following table reflects the calculation of basic and diluted net income per share:

 

           
  

For the period from March 11,

2022 (inception) through

December 31, 2022

 
    Class A    Class B 
Basic and diluted net income per share:          
Numerator:          
Net income  $381,031   $171,782 
Denominator:          
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding   5,951,288    2,683,051 
Basic and diluted net income per share  $0.06   $0.06 

 

Concentration of Credit Risk

 

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution which, at times may exceed the Federal depository insurance coverage of $250,000. The Company has not experienced losses on this account and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such account.

 

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

 

The Company applies ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement (“ASC 820”), which establishes a framework for measuring fair value and clarifies the definition of fair value within that framework. ASC 820 defines fair value as an exit price, which is the price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability in the Company’s principal or most advantageous market in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The fair value hierarchy established in ASC 820 generally requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability and are developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity. Unobservable inputs reflect the entity’s own assumptions based on market data and the entity’s judgments about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability and are to be developed based on the best information available in the circumstances.

 

F-12

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

The carrying amounts reflected in the balance sheet for current assets and current liabilities approximate fair value due to their short-term nature. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:

 

Level 1 — Assets and liabilities with unadjusted, quoted prices listed on active market exchanges. Inputs to the fair value measurement are observable inputs, such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

 

Level 2 — Inputs to the fair value measurement are determined using prices for recently traded assets and liabilities with similar underlying terms, as well as direct or indirect observable inputs, such as interest rates and yield curves that are observable at commonly quoted intervals.

 

Level 3 — Inputs to the fair value measurement are unobservable inputs, such as estimates, assumptions, and valuation techniques when little or no market data exists for the assets or liabilities.

 

See Note 9 for additional information on assets measured at fair value.

 

Derivative Financial Instruments

 

The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as liabilities, the derivative instrument is initially recorded at its fair value on the grant date and is then re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statement of operations. For derivative instruments that are classified as equity, the derivative instruments are initially measured at fair value (or allocated value), and subsequent changes in fair value are not recognized as long as the contracts continue to be classified in equity.

 

Warrants

 

The Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in ASC 480 and ASC 815. The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own common stock, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding.

 

For issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional paid-in capital at the time of issuance. For issued or modified warrants that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as liabilities at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter. Changes in the estimated fair value of the warrants are recognized as a non-cash gain or loss on the statement of operations.

 

The warrants are not precluded from equity classification, and are accounted for as such on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter.

 

F-13

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Offering Costs

 

The Company complies with the requirements of ASC Topic 340, Other Assets and Deferred Costs and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) Topic 5A — Expenses of Offering. Offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the Initial Public Offering date that are directly related to the Initial Public Offering. The Company recorded offering costs as a reduction of temporary equity in connection with the warrants and shares.

 

Recent Accounting Standards

 

In August 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-06, Debt - Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-0) and Derivatives and Hedging - Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) (“ASU 2020-06”) to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments. ASU 2020-06 eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity. ASU 2020-06 amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the if-convened method for all convertible instruments. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 effective March 11, 2022 (inception). The adoption of ASU 2020-06 did not have a material impact on the financial statements.

 

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.

 

NOTE 3. INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING

 

The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on August 4, 2022. On August 9, 2022, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 11,500,000 Units, including 1,500,000 Units issued pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in full, generating gross proceeds of $115,000,000. Each Unit consisted of one share of Class A common stock and one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per whole share (see Note 7).

 

NOTE 4. PRIVATE PLACEMENT

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 634,375 Placement Units at a price of $10.00 per Placement Unit in a private placement to the Sponsor, including 63,000 Placement Units issued pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in full, generating gross proceeds of $6,343,750. Each Placement Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock (“Placement Share”) and one warrant (“Placement Warrant”). The proceeds from the sale of the Placement Units were added to the net proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a business combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Placement Units held in the Trust Account will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the Placement Units will expire worthless.

 

F-14

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

NOTE 5. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

Founder Shares

 

On May 17, 2022, the Sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 to cover certain expenses on behalf of the Company in exchange for the issuance of 2,875,000 shares of Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”). The Founder Shares included an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor would own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. The underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in full, so those shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.

 

The Sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Class B common stock (except to certain permitted transferees as disclosed herein) until, with respect to any of the Class B common stock, the earlier of (i) six months after the date of the consummation of a business combination, or (ii) the date on which the closing price of the Company’s common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing after a business combination, with respect to the remaining any of the Class B common stock, upon six months after the date of the consummation of a business combination, or earlier, in each case, if, subsequent to a business combination, the Company consummates a subsequent liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their common stock for cash, securities or other property.

 

Promissory Note - Related Party

 

On April 25, 2022, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Promissory Note”). This loan is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) March 31, 2023 or (ii) the date on which Company consummates the Initial Public Offering. Prior to the Initial Public Offering, the Company had borrowed $300,000 under the Promissory Note. The outstanding balance under the Promissory Note of $300,000 was repaid at the closing of the Initial Public Offering on August 9, 2022.

 

Administrative Support Agreement

 

The Company’s Sponsor has agreed, commencing from the date of the Initial Public Offering through the earlier of the Company’s consummation of a business combination and its liquidation, to make available to the Company certain general and administrative services, including office space, utilities and administrative services, as the Company may require from time to time. The Company has agreed to pay to Mehana Capital LLC, the Sponsor, $10,000 per month for these services during the 9-month period to complete a business combination. For the period from March 11, 2022 (inception) through December 31, 2022, $50,000 was paid to Mehana Capital LLC for these services.

 

Related Party Loans

 

In order to finance transaction costs in connection with the initial business combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required. If the Company completes the initial business combination, the Company will repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts, including the repayment of loans from the Sponsor to pay for any amount deposited to pay for any extension of the time to complete the initial business combination, but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into Units, at a price of $10.00 per Unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of the initial business combination. The Units would be identical to the Placement Units. The terms of such loans by the Company’s officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. As of December 31, 2022, the Company did not have any outstanding related party loans.

 

F-15

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

Registration and Stockholder Rights Agreement

 

The holders of the Founder Shares and Placement Units (including securities contained therein) and Units (including securities contained therein) that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and extension loans, and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Placement Warrants and any shares of Class A common stock and warrants (and underlying Class A common stock) that may be issued upon conversion of the Units issued as part of the working capital loans and extension loans and Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of the Founder Shares, will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed on the effective date of the Initial Public Offering, requiring the Company to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion to the Class A common stock). The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to two demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company registers such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the initial business combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act.

 

Underwriting Agreement

 

Simultaneously with the Initial Public Offering, the underwriters fully exercised the over-allotment option to purchase an additional 1,500,000 Units at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit for an aggregate purchase price of $15,000,000.

 

The underwriters were paid a cash underwriting discount of $0.17 per Unit, or $1,955,000 in the aggregate, upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, $0.35 per unit, or $4,025,000 in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a business combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.

 

Representative Shares

 

Upon closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company issued 57,500 shares of Class A common stock to the underwriters. The underwriters have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell the Representative Shares until the completion of the initial business combination. In addition, the underwriters have agreed (i) to waive their redemption rights with respect to the Representative Shares in connection with the completion of the initial business combination and (ii) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to the Representative Shares if the Company fails to complete its initial business combination within 9 months (or up to 18 months if the Company extends such period) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering.

 

The Representative Shares are subject to a lock-up for a period of 180 days immediately following the commencement of sales of the registration statement pursuant to Rule 5110(e)(1) of FINRA’s NASD Conduct Rules. Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(e)(1), these securities may not be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated or the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the effective date of the registration statement, nor may they be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated for a period of 180 days immediately following the commencement of sales of the Initial Public Offering except to any underwriter and selected dealer participating in the Initial Public Offering and their bona fide officers or partners, registered persons or affiliates or as otherwise permitted under Rule 5110(e)(2).

 

F-16

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

The initial measurement of the fair value of the Representative Shares was determined using the market approach to value the subject interest. Based on the indication of fair value using the market approach, the Company determined the fair value of the Representative Shares to be $1.17 per share or $67,275 (for the 57,500 Representative Shares issued) as of the date of the Initial Public Offering (which is also the grant date).

 

Right of First Refusal

 

For a period beginning on the closing of the Initial Public Offering and ending 12 months from the closing of a business combination, the Company has granted EF Hutton a right of first refusal to act as lead-left book running manager and lead left manager for any and all future private or public equity, convertible and debt offerings during such period. In accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(3)(A)(i), such right of first refusal shall not have a duration of more than three years from the effective date of the registration statement.

 

NOTE 7. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)

 

Preferred stock — The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of December 31, 2022, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.

 

Class A common stock — The Company is authorized to issue 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of the Company’s Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. As of December 31, 2022, there were 12,191,875 shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding, including 11,500,000 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption and classified as temporary equity. The remaining 691,875 shares are classified as permanent equity and are comprised of 634,375 shares included in the Placement Units and 57,500 Representative Shares.

 

Class B common stock — The Company is authorized to issue 10,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. As of December 31, 2022, there were 2,875,000 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding. Of the 2,875,000 shares of Class B common stock outstanding, up to 375,000 shares were subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the initial stockholders would collectively own 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock after the Initial Public Offering. On August 9, 2022, the underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in full, so those shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.

 

The holders of record of the common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. In connection with any vote held to approve the initial business combination, the insiders, officers and directors, have agreed to vote their respective shares of common stock acquired in the Initial Public Offering or following the Initial Public Offering in the open market, in favor of the proposed business combination.

 

F-17

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Shares of Class B common stock shall be convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis automatically on the closing of the business combination at a ratio for which the numerator shall be equal to the sum of 20% of all shares of Class A Common Stock issued and outstanding or issuable (upon the conversion or exercise of any Equity-linked Securities or otherwise) by the Company, related to or in connection with the consummation of the initial business combination (excluding any securities issued or issuable to any seller in the initial business combination, any Placement Warrants issued to the Sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans to the Company) plus the number of shares of Class B Common Stock issued and outstanding prior to the closing of the initial business combination; and the denominator shall be the number of shares of Class B Common Stock issued and outstanding prior to the closing of the initial business combination.

 

Warrants — As of December 31, 2022, there were 11,500,000 Public Warrants and 634,375 Placement Warrants outstanding. Each whole Public Warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering and 30 days after the completion of the initial business combination. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its Public Warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. No fractional Public Warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole Public Warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of the initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

 

The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of the initial business combination, the Company will use its best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants, to cause such registration statement to become effective and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the Public Warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of the initial business combination, Public Warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise Public Warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their Public Warrants on a cashless basis.

 

Once the Public Warrants become exercisable, the Company may call the Public Warrants for redemption:

 

 ●in whole and not in part;

 

●at a price of $0.01 per Public Warrant;

 

●upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption given after the Public Warrants become exercisable (the “30-day redemption period”) to each Public Warrant holder; and

 

●if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period commencing once the Public Warrants become exercisable and ending three business days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the Public Warrant holders.

 

If and when the Public Warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may not exercise the redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the Public Warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or the Company is unable to effect such registration or qualification.

 

F-18

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of the initial business combination on the date of the consummation of the initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the market value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the greater of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the greater of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

 

In order to extend the period of time the Company has to consummate a business combination, the Sponsor or its affiliates or designees may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company up to $379,500 or $0.033 per unit. The Company may extend the period in which the Company must complete the initial business combination nine times, for an additional month (for a total of up to 18 months to complete the business combination). Such loans may be convertible into up to an additional 341,550 units, at a price of $10.00 per unit, and the Company will issue and deliver up to an aggregate of 341,550 warrants (the “Extension Warrants”).

 

The Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants except that, so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these Placement Warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the Sponsor until 30 days after the completion of the initial business combination, and (ii) the holders thereof (including with respect to shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such Placement Warrants) are entitled to registration rights.

 

The Company accounts for the 12,134,375 warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering (including 11,500,000 Public Warrants and 634,375 Placement Warrants) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that the warrants described above are not precluded from equity classification. Equity-classified contracts are initially measured at fair value (or allocated value). Subsequent changes in fair value are not recognized as long as the contracts continue to be classified in equity.

 

NOTE 8. INCOME TAXES

 

The Company’s net deferred tax assets (liabilities) as of December 31, 2022 are as follows:

 

       
Deferred tax assets      
Start-up costs  $80,230 
Net operating loss carryforwards   — 
Total deferred tax assets   80,230 
Valuation allowance   (80,230)
Deferred tax assets, net of allowance  $— 

 

F-19

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

The income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2022 consists of the following:

 

       
Federal      
Current  $248,508 
Deferred   (80,230)
      
State     
Current   — 
Deferred   — 
Change in valuation allowance   80,230 
Income tax provision  $248,508 

 

In assessing the realization of the deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion of all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. After consideration of all of the information available, management believes that significant uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of the deferred tax assets and has therefore established a full valuation allowance. For the period ended December 31, 2022 the change in the valuation allowance was $80,230.

 

A reconciliation of the federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate are as follows:

 

   December 31, 2022 
Statutory federal income tax rate   21.0%
State taxes, net of federal tax benefit   0.0%
Change in valuation allowance   10.0%
Income tax provision   31.0%

 

The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and is subject to examination by the taxing authorities.

 

F-20

 

 

PONO CAPITAL TWO, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

NOTE 9. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

 

The following table presents information about the Company’s financial assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2022, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value:

 

Description  Amount at Fair
Value		   Level 1   Level 2   Level 3 
December 31, 2022                    
Assets                    
Investments held in Trust Account:                    
U.S. Treasury Securities  $119,220,016   $119,220,016   $—   $— 

 

NOTE 10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

 

The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements other than as described below.

 

On January 31, 2023, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among the Company, Pono Two Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation incorporated in January 2023, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub”), SBC Medical Group Holdings Incorporated, a Delaware corporation (“SBC”), Mehana Capital, LLC, in its capacity as Purchaser Representative, and Yoshiyuki Aikawa, in his capacity as Seller Representative.

 

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, at the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub will merge with and into SBC, with SBC continuing as the surviving corporation. The transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement are referred to herein as the “Business Combination.”

 

As a condition to closing of the Business Combination, SBC will complete certain restructuring transactions pursuant to which SBC Medical Group Co., Ltd., a Japanese corporation (“SBC-Japan”) and certain related entities which carry on the business of SBC-Japan and such other related entities, will become subsidiaries of SBC.

 

As consideration for the Business Combination, the holders of SBC securities as of the closing of the Business Combination, collectively will be entitled to receive from the Company, in the aggregate, a number of the Company’s securities with an aggregate value equal to (a) $1,200,000,000, minus (b) the amount, if any, by which $3,000,000 exceeds SBC’s Net Working Capital, plus (c) the amount, if any, by which SBC’s Net Working Capital exceeds $3,000,000, minus (d) the aggregate amount of any outstanding indebtedness (minus cash held by SBC) of SBC at Closing, minus (e) specified transaction expenses of SBC associated with the Business Combination.

 

F-21