trueFYKY0001819608 0001819608 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 2020-12-31 0001819608 2020-10-06 2020-10-06 0001819608 2020-10-06 0001819608 2020-10-16 2020-10-16 0001819608 2020-07-23 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassBMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassAMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:FounderSharesMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PrivatePlacementWarrantsMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:WorkingCapitalLoansMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PublicWarrantsMember avan:ShareTriggerPriceTwoMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ShareTriggerPriceOneMember avan:PublicWarrantsMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:BusinessCombinationMember us-gaap:CommonClassAMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:PrivatePlacementMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:USTreasurySecuritiesMember us-gaap:MoneyMarketFundsMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel1Member us-gaap:FairValueMeasurementsRecurringMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PublicWarrantsMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ForwardPurchaseAgreementLiabilityMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 srt:RevisionOfPriorPeriodReclassificationAdjustmentMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 srt:RestatementAdjustmentMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 srt:ScenarioPreviouslyReportedMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PublicWarrantsMember us-gaap:WarrantMember us-gaap:DerivativeFinancialInstrumentsLiabilitiesMember us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel1Member us-gaap:FairValueMeasurementsRecurringMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PrivatePlacementWarrantsMember us-gaap:WarrantMember us-gaap:DerivativeFinancialInstrumentsLiabilitiesMember us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel2Member us-gaap:FairValueMeasurementsRecurringMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ForwardPurchaseAgreementLiabilityMember us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel3Member us-gaap:FairValueMeasurementsRecurringMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ForwardPurchaseAgreementLiabilityMember us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel3Member 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:CapitalUnitsMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:WarrantMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassAMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassBMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PrivatePlacementWarrantsMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ForwardPurchaseUnitsMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 srt:MaximumMember avan:ForwardPurchaseUnitsMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PublicWarrantsMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ShareTriggerPriceOneMember avan:PublicWarrantsMember us-gaap:CommonClassAMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ShareTriggerPriceTwoMember avan:PublicWarrantsMember us-gaap:CommonClassAMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ShareTriggerPriceOneMember avan:PublicWarrantsMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PrivatePlacementWarrantsMember us-gaap:CommonClassAMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PublicWarrantsMember avan:ShareTriggerPriceTwoMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 srt:MinimumMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PublicWarrantsMember srt:MinimumMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ShareTriggerPriceOneMember avan:PublicWarrantsMember srt:MaximumMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:PrivatePlacementMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ForwardPurchaseAgreementLiabilityMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PublicWarrantsMember us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel1Member 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PrivatePlacementWarrantsMember us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel2Member 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:NonredeemableOrdinarySharesMember srt:RestatementAdjustmentMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:NonredeemableOrdinarySharesMember srt:ScenarioPreviouslyReportedMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:OrdinarySharesSubjectToPossibleRedemptionMember srt:RestatementAdjustmentMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:OrdinarySharesSubjectToPossibleRedemptionMember srt:ScenarioPreviouslyReportedMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassAMember srt:RevisionOfPriorPeriodReclassificationAdjustmentMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassAMember srt:RestatementAdjustmentMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassBMember srt:RevisionOfPriorPeriodReclassificationAdjustmentMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassBMember srt:RestatementAdjustmentMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ForwardPurchaseAgreementLiabilityMember us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel3Member 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PrivatePlacementWarrantsMember us-gaap:WarrantMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PublicWarrantsMember us-gaap:WarrantMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:WarrantMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 srt:RestatementAdjustmentMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 srt:ScenarioPreviouslyReportedMember 2020-07-24 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:IPOMember 2020-10-06 2020-10-06 0001819608 avan:PrivatePlacementWarrantsMember 2020-10-06 2020-10-06 0001819608 us-gaap:WarrantMember us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel3Member 2020-10-06 2020-10-06 0001819608 avan:ForwardPurchaseAgreementLiabilityMember us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel3Member 2020-10-06 2020-10-06 0001819608 avan:PrivatePlacementWarrantsMember 2020-10-06 0001819608 avan:ProRataMember 2020-10-06 0001819608 us-gaap:IPOMember 2020-10-06 0001819608 avan:TrustAccountMember 2020-10-06 0001819608 srt:MaximumMember avan:TrustAccountMember 2020-10-06 0001819608 us-gaap:WarrantMember 2020-10-06 0001819608 srt:RevisionOfPriorPeriodReclassificationAdjustmentMember 2020-10-06 0001819608 srt:RestatementAdjustmentMember 2020-10-06 0001819608 srt:ScenarioPreviouslyReportedMember 2020-10-06 0001819608 avan:ForwardPurchaseAgreementLiabilityMember us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel3Member 2020-10-06 0001819608 us-gaap:WarrantMember us-gaap:FairValueInputsLevel3Member 2020-10-06 0001819608 avan:FounderSharesMember 2020-07-25 2020-07-25 0001819608 avan:FounderSharesMember us-gaap:CommonClassBMember 2020-07-25 2020-07-25 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassBMember avan:FounderSharesMember 2020-07-25 0001819608 avan:PromissoryNoteMember 2020-07-25 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassBMember avan:FounderSharesMember 2020-10-01 0001819608 avan:FounderSharesMember 2020-11-20 2020-11-20 0001819608 avan:PromissoryNoteMember 2020-10-16 0001819608 avan:FounderSharesMember 2020-09-30 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassAMember 2021-12-21 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassBMember 2021-12-21 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassAMember 2020-07-23 0001819608 us-gaap:CommonClassBMember 2020-07-23 0001819608 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2020-07-23 0001819608 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2020-07-23 0001819608 us-gaap:RetainedEarningsMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:AdditionalPaidInCapitalMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:ForwardPurchaseAgreementLiabilityMember 2020-07-23 0001819608 avan:PrivatePlacementWarrantsMember us-gaap:WarrantMember 2020-07-23 0001819608 avan:PublicWarrantsMember us-gaap:WarrantMember 2020-07-23 0001819608 us-gaap:WarrantMember 2020-07-23 0001819608 avan:PrivatePlacementWarrantsMember us-gaap:WarrantMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 avan:PublicWarrantsMember us-gaap:WarrantMember 2020-12-31 0001819608 us-gaap:WarrantMember 2020-12-31 iso4217:USD xbrli:shares xbrli:pure utr:Day utr:Month utr:Year iso4217:USD xbrli:shares avan:trading_days
 
 
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
 
 
FORM
10-K/A
Amendment No. 2
 
 
(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, 2020
 
☐
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from
    
    
    
    
to
    
    
    
    
 
 
Avanti Acquisition Corp.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
 
 
 
Cayman Islands
  
001-39586
  
98-1550179
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
  
(Commission
File Number)
  
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)
   
PO Box 1093, Boundary Hall, Cricket Square,
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
  
KY1-1102
(Address of principal executive offices)
  
(Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (305)
814-5831
Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
 
Title of Each Class:
  
Trading Symbol:
  
Name of Each Exchange
on
Which Registered:
Units, each consisting of one Class A Ordinary Share, $0.0001 par value, and
one-half
of one redeemable warrant
  
AVAN.U
  
The New York Stock Exchange
Class A Ordinary Shares included as part of the units
  
AVAN
  
The New York Stock Exchange
Redeemable warrants included as part of the units, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A Ordinary Share at an exercise price of 11.50
  
AVAN WS
  
The New York Stock Exchange
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 Exchange 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 and post 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 definition 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. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule
12b-2
of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐
As of September 30, 2020, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed last fiscal quarter, the registrant’s securities were not publicly traded. The registrant’s units began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) on October 2, 2020 and the registrant’s Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 (the “Class A ordinary shares”) and warrants began trading on the NYSE on November 23, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 outstanding, computed by reference to the closing sales price for the ordinary shares on December 31, 2020, as reported on the NYSE, was $616,800,000 (based on the closing sales price of the AVAN on December 31, 2020 of $10.28).
As of December 21, 2021
, 60,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value and 15,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value, were issued and outstanding.
Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.
 
 
 
Table of Contents
 
     2  
   
     4  
   
     4  
   
     26  
   
     62  
   
     62  
   
     62  
   
     62  
   
     63  
   
     63  
   
     64  
   
     64  
   
     66  
   
     66  
   
     67  
   
     67  
   
     67  
   
     68  
   
     68  
   
     77  
   
     78  
   
     81  
   
     83  
   
     84  
   
     84  
   
     84  
 
2
EXPLANATORY NOTE
References throughout this Amendment No. 2 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K to “we,” “us,” the “Company” or “our company” are to Avanti Acquisition Corp., unless the context otherwise indicates.
This Amendment No. 2 (“Amendment No. 2”) to the Annual Report on Form 10-K/A amends Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K/A of Avanti Acquisition Corp. as of and for the period ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on July 12, 2021 (the “First Amended Filing”).
The Company has re-evaluated the Company’s application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A to its accounting classification of the redeemable Class A ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Public Shares”), issued as part of the units sold in the Company’s initial public offering (the “IPO”) on October 6, 2020. Historically, a portion of the Public Shares was classified as permanent equity to maintain stockholders’ equity greater than $5 million on the basis that the Company will not redeem its Public Shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001, as described in the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Charter”). Pursuant to such re-evaluation, the Company’s management has determined that the Public Shares include certain provisions that require classification of all of the Public Shares as temporary equity regardless of the net tangible assets redemption limitation contained in the Charter. In addition, in connection with the change in presentation for the Public Shares, the Company determined it should restate its earnings per share calculation to allocate income and losses shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. This presentation contemplates a Business Combination as the most likely outcome, in which case, both classes of shares share pro rata in the income and losses of the Company.
Therefore, on November 24, 2021, the Company’s management and the audit committee of the Company’s board of directors (the “Audit Committee”) concluded that the Company’s previously issued (i) audited balance sheet as of October 6, 2020 (the “Post IPO Balance Sheet”), as previously restated in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on July 12, 2021 (“2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1”), (ii) audited financial statements included in the 2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1, (iii) unaudited interim financial statements included in the Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2020 as previously restated in the 2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1; (iv) unaudited interim financial statements included in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on July 12, 2021; and (v) unaudited interim financial statements included in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2021, filed with the SEC on August 13, 2021 (collectively, the “Affected Periods”), should be restated to report all Public Shares as temporary equity and restate earnings per share and should no longer be relied upon. As such, the Company will restate its financial statements for the Affected Periods in this Form 10-K/A for the Post IPO Balance Sheet and the Company’s audited financial statements included in the 2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1, and the unaudited condensed financial statements for the periods ended March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021 in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, to be filed with the SEC (the “Q3 Form 10-Q/A”).
The restatement does not have an impact on its cash position and cash held in the trust account established in connection with the IPO (the “Trust Account”).
The Company’s management has concluded that a material weakness remains in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were not effective. The Company’s remediation plan with respect to such material weakness will be described in more detail in the Q3 Form 10-Q/A.
We are filing this Amendment No. 2 to amend and restate the First Amended Filing with modification as necessary to reflect the restatements. The following items have been amended to reflect the restatements:
Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors
Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Part II, Item 9A Controls and Procedures
In addition, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have provided new certifications dated as of the date of this filing in connection with this Form 10-K/A (Exhibits 31.1, 31.2, 32.1 and 32.2).
Except as described above, no other information included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Avanti Acquisition Corp. as of and for the period ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the SEC on March 31, 2021 (the “Original Filing”) or the First Amended Filing is being amended or updated by this Amendment No. 2 and, other than as described herein, this Amendment No. 2 does not purport to reflect any information or events subsequent to the Original Filing or the First Amended Filing. We have not amended our previously filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period affected by the restatement or our previously filed balance sheet, dated October 6, 2020, on Form 8-K. This Amendment No. 2 continues to describe the conditions as of the date of the Original Filing or the First Amended Filing and, except as expressly contained herein, we have not updated, modified or supplemented the disclosures contained in the Original Filing or the First Amended Filing. Accordingly, this Amendment No. 2 should be read in conjunction with the Original Filing and the First Amended Filing and with our filings with the SEC subsequent to the Original Filing.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
This Report, including, without limitation, statements under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the “Exchange Act”). These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “possible,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “potential,” “projects,” “predicts,” “continue,” “could,” “would,” or “should,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These words and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. There can be no assurance that actual results will not materially differ from expectations. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our ability to consummate any acquisition or other business combination and any other statements that are not statements of current or historical facts. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various factors, risks, and uncertainties, including, but not limited to:
 
  •  
our being a company with no operating history and no revenue;
 
  •  
our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;
 
  •  
our ability to complete our initial business combination;
 
  •  
our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses;
 
  •  
our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;
 
  •  
our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;
 
  •  
our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;
 
  •  
our pool of prospective target businesses;
 
  •  
our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the continued uncertainty resulting from the
COVID-19
pandemic;
 
  •  
the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential investment opportunities;
 
  •  
our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;
 
  •  
the lack of a market for our securities;
 
  •  
the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;
 
  •  
the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties;
 
  •  
our financial performance following our initial public offering; or
 
  •  
the other risks and uncertainties discussed in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Report.
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) and 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. These risks and others described under “Risk Factors” may not be exhaustive.
 
2
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. We caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and developments in the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this Report. In addition, even if our results or operations, financial condition and liquidity, and developments in the industry in which we operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this Report, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.
 
3
PART I
Item 1. Business
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Report as “business combination” or “initial business combination.”
Our Sponsor is an affiliate of the NNS Group, a single-family office founded by Mr. Nassef Sawiris, and Sienna Capital, the wholly-owned alternative investment platform of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, a publicly traded investment holding company, or GBL. We refer to NNS Group and Sienna Capital as our founders.
NNS Group and Sienna Capital bring together a team of professionals with extensive operating, investing and capital raising experience for the purpose of effecting a business combination with an attractive target. We believe that our team will position the target for long-term success in the public markets.
Mr. Sawiris, our chairman and chief executive officer, and Mr. Colin Hall, vice-chairman of the board of directors of Sienna Capital and one of our directors, have focused their careers on investing across a variety of areas and have a track record of identifying high-quality assets, businesses and management teams with significant resources and optimization potential.
We will further be supported by our advisory committee comprised of senior executives from both NNS Group and Sienna Capital with experience in a wide range
of sub-sectors. We
expect that our advisory committee will provide us with access to its expertise and extensive industry networks from which we intend to source and evaluate targets, as well as devise plans to optimize any business that we acquire.
We intend to capitalize on the multiple decades of combined investment experience of our management, our board of directors and advisory committee, as well as on our founders’ respective platforms, to identify and acquire a business that we believe provides opportunities for attractive risk-adjusted returns.
We intend to identify and acquire one or more businesses across various industries in Europe, with a strong U.S. nexus and international reach. We believe this regional focus offers a differentiated investment opportunity to our shareholders. We plan to leverage our team’s European sourcing channels and extensive relationships within the business and financial community to build a pipeline of business combination opportunities.
With respect to the above, past experience or performance of our management team, directors, advisory committee and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) our ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (ii) success with respect to any business combination that we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team or their respective affiliates as indicative of future performance. See Item 1A “Risk Factors—Past performance by our management team or their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.” No member of our management team has any experience in operating special purpose acquisition companies.
Our Founders / Management Team
Our founders, NNS Group and Sienna Capital, are approaching the formation of Avanti Acquisition Corp. as an opportunity to further capitalize on their knowledge of, and experience investing in, the European markets, their track record of working efficiently together, and their connections with European family-owned businesses. They believe this is a key differentiator of Avanti Acquisition Corp. as compared to other blank check companies. NNS Group and Sienna Capital share the same business principles and investment approach, which include:
 
4
  •  
seeking sustainable growth of portfolio assets and ultimately long-term value creation through consistent and disciplined implementation of environmental, social and governance principles and sustainable business practices;
 
  •  
being long-term and engaged shareholders;
 
  •  
promoting a constructive and collaborative approach focused on all stakeholders;
 
  •  
partnering with families and founders to facilitate effective business practices while recognizing that confrontational engagement may be ineffective in the European business environment;
 
  •  
providing long-term and committed capital to accelerate beneficial change; and
 
  •  
adopting a customized approach utilizing varied levers to achieve their aims depending on the specific situation.
NNS Group
NNS Group is a single-family office and privately owned investment group founded by Mr. Sawiris. Mr. Sawiris is the executive chairman of NNS
S.à r.l.-SPF, the
parent company of the NNS Group, and NNS UK Investment
S.à r.l.-SPF, the
parent company of NNS UK Group, a separate investment structure also founded by Mr. Sawiris. NNS Group’s long-term capital allows the group to invest across the economic cycle through constructive and engaged corporate relationships. NNS Group aims at building significant stakes in a concentrated number of companies, mainly, but not exclusively, in Europe and North America, acting as an engaged long-term investor and professional, responsible shareholder.
NNS Group’s strategic objective is to create value through the continuous and sustainable growth of its concentrated listed equity portfolio and its more
diversified, non-disclosed and non-public participations.
NNS Group brings support to its portfolio companies with:
 
  •  
deep operating and industrial understanding of several sectors;
 
  •  
financial strength and long-term capital;
 
  •  
strong focus on high standards of corporate governance;
 
  •  
entrepreneurial heritage and rapid decision-making supported by a robust operations team; and
 
  •  
a track-record of mergers and acquisitions, complex financial transactions and capital markets transactions.
In the public markets, NNS Group or NNS UK Group are most notably:
 
  •  
a significant shareholder in adidas AG;
 
  •  
a significant shareholder in Arkema S.A., a French listed specialty chemicals business;
 
  •  
the largest shareholder in OCI N.V., a leading fertilizer and chemicals company listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange;
 
  •  
the largest shareholder in Orascom Construction PLC, a leading engineering, procurement and construction contractor listed on Nasdaq Dubai and on the Egyptian Stock Exchange; and
 
  •  
a significant shareholder in Signature Aviation PLC, a U.K. listed air transportation services provider with a focus on the business jet and private aircraft market.
NNS Group has also invested in excess of approximately $2 billion over the past two years across more than ten companies in the technology, software and media space in the United States, Europe and China.
In the private markets, some of NNS Group’s or NNS UK Group’s significant investments include:
 
  •  
the co-ownership alongside
another prominent U.S. based investor of Aston Villa Football Club, the largest professional soccer club of Birmingham, the second largest city in England;
 
  •  
being a significant shareholder in Babylon Health (Babylon Holdings Ltd.), a technology and artificial intelligence for
healthcare start-up company,
valued in excess of $2 billion as of August 2019; and
 
  •  
being a significant shareholder alongside other like-minded institutions in the 2019 landmark real estate transaction pursuant to which they jointly acquired a 48.5% interest of a joint venture investment vehicle with Vornado, which owns an upper Fifth Avenue and Times Square, New York City, retail real estate portfolio valued by the transaction at $5.56 billion.
 
5
Sienna Capital
Sienna Capital is the alternative investments platform and wholly-owned subsidiary of GBL. Sienna Capital is uniquely positioned to leverage GBL’s European presence and influence to source attractive transactions. Sienna Capital and GBL often share knowledge, experience and investment ideas, which are accretive to both Sienna Capital and GBL.
GBL is an established investment holding company, which has been public since 1956. GBL has a net asset value of approximately €17.5 billion and a market capitalization of approximately €12 billion, in each case as of June 30, 2020. GBL’s purpose is to build sustainable, leading companies through long-term, engaged and responsible ownership. GBL strives to invest in and to support European industry leaders, with strong market positions and exposure to positive global long-term trends. As an engaged owner, GBL seeks to partner with portfolio companies and their management teams to create value over the long-term, in a sustainable manner. GBL aims to maintain a diversified high-quality portfolio composed of global companies where GBL can contribute to value creation by leveraging its experience. GBL seeks to provide attractive returns to its shareholders through a combination of sustainable dividends and growth in its net asset value. GBL has a stable and solid family shareholder base, supported by the partnership between the Frère and Desmarais families, which has been in place for several decades. Mr. Ian Gallienne is currently chief executive officer of GBL (since 2012) and chairman of Sienna Capital (since 2013).
With a net asset value reaching approximately €1.9 billion as of June 30, 2020, Sienna Capital accounts for approximately 11% of GBL’s net asset value. Sienna Capital acts as an active partner for GBL’s investment managers and direct investments. Sienna Capital has created a direct investing and fund environment, whereby it utilizes the GBL ecosystem to source, collaborate, and invest
with best-in-class management
teams and companies in Europe and globally. Initially, Sienna Capital provided seed capital to investment managers and received preferred economics in return for its seeding or transformative capital. Since 2018, Sienna Capital has expanded its investment strategy, and it now seeks to make direct investments, which are sourced either directly, through GBL, or through its fund management network. Currently, Sienna Capital’s portfolio is composed of ten managers and eight direct investments.
Sienna Capital endeavors to invest with the same philosophy as GBL, through long-term, patient, and supportive capital in companies which have defensible business models and are active in sectors with strong long-term fundamentals. Sienna Capital is supportive with its capital and influence, maintaining a close relationship with its investment managers and direct investments.
In July 2018, Sienna Capital invested €250 million alongside KKR in Upfield Europe B.V., valuing the company at an enterprise value of approximately €6.8 billion. The transaction was the first direct investment transaction of Sienna Capital. Sienna Capital is represented on the board of Upfield. Upfield is a global leader in plant-based nutrition with more than 100 brands, operating in 69 markets around the globe, and holding the number one brand position in 49 countries, in each as of December 31, 2019. Upfield is headquartered in Europe and has six business units, which cover Northwest Europe, Southwest Europe, Central/Eastern Europe, North America, Middle/ Latin America and Asia/Africa.
Joint Experience
Our founders share successful experiences in working efficiently together on major investments and being engaged shareholders represented at board levels of Lafarge and its successor, LafargeHolcim (for 11 years) and adidas (for four years).
For instance, Mr. Sawiris and Mr. Gallienne joined the supervisory board of adidas on May 12, 2016 following the 2016 annual general shareholders meeting. Since they joined the supervisory board and began acting as engaged shareholders in the business, while seeking the support of the board and the management, adidas has taken several major steps to improve its performance, including:
 
  •  
the appointment of a talented chief executive officer to succeed the incumbent chief executive officer, who had headed the firm for 15 years, ensuring a smooth transition;
 
6
  •  
the exit from the golf business (sale of TaylorMade and other golf brands, including Adams Golf and Ashworth) and the divestment
of non-core footwear
brands such as Rockport;
 
  •  
since 2016, adidas dividend per share has increased from €2.0 per share to €3.35 per share for 2018. This was announced to be €3.85 per share for 2019, but it was canceled due to
COVID-19;
 
  •  
initiatives to raise operating margins from 6.5% in 2015 to 11.3% in 2019;
 
  •  
in 2018, adidas initiated a €3 billion buyback program of which approximately €1.8 billion has already been executed through to the end of 2019;
 
  •  
an increased focus on research & development, and the development of new environmentally friendly and high-tech products as illustrated by the launch of Primeblue, a high-performance material made in part with recycled Parley Ocean Plastic, or Futurecraft, a shoe made with liquid resin elastomers produced by Arkema; and
 
  •  
an enhancement of the international profile and global perspectives of the company.
The total shareholder return of adidas (including reinvestment of dividends when paid) from the date of appointment of Mr. Sawiris and Mr. Gallienne through to July 21, 2020 has been approximately 129% (or approximately 22% per year).
Our Advisory Committee
We established an advisory committee formed for the purpose of assisting our board of directors and management with sourcing and evaluating business combination opportunities and establishing plans and strategies to optimize any business that we acquire.
The members of our advisory committee assist our management team with sourcing and evaluating business opportunities and devising plans and strategies to optimize any business that we acquire following the consummation of our initial public offering. However, unlike our management team, members of our advisory committee are not responsible for managing our
day-to-day
affairs and have no authority to engage in substantive discussions with business combination targets on our behalf. Members of our advisory committee will not be paid, but may be reimbursed for any
out-of-pocket
expenses incurred by them, in connection with the search for business combination targets before or after the consummation of our initial business combination. We have not currently entered into any formal arrangements or agreements with the members of our advisory committee to provide services to us and they will have no fiduciary obligations to present business opportunities to us.
Our advisory committee is comprised of eight senior executives from NNS Group and Sienna Capital, of which two
are non-independent directors
of our Company (Mr. Sawiris and Mr. Hall). Their experience in a wide range
of sub-sectors and
functional areas will provide us with access to their expertise and industry networks from which we intend to source and evaluate targets. Our advisory committee has experience in:
 
  •  
operating companies, setting and changing strategies, and identifying, monitoring and recruiting world-class talent;
 
  •  
developing and growing companies organically by expanding their product range and geographic footprint;
 
  •  
acquiring companies, leading transformational transactions or corporate restructurings and managing corporate integration with success;
 
  •  
investing in equity and fixed income assets in both public and private markets across various sectors, jurisdictions and economic cycles; and
 
  •  
developing and maintaining extensive relationships with owners and operators of companies, but also with a wide range of financial and legal advisers.
We believe that the combination of our management team, directors, founders and advisory committee is an innovative approach to identifying potential high-quality targets and that it aligns incentives with our shareholders, providing us with differentiated capabilities to create shareholder value.
 
7
Business Strategy
Sourcing
We intend to identify and acquire one or more businesses in Europe, with a strong U.S. nexus and international reach. We believe this regional focus offers a differentiated investment opportunity to our shareholders. We plan to leverage our team’s European sourcing channels and relationships within the business and financial community to build a pipeline of business combination opportunities, and we will rely on our team’s experience in engaging with management to ensure the returns to all stakeholders are maximized.
In addition to our team’s sourcing capabilities, we intend to capitalize on the platforms of our two founders, NNS Group and Sienna Capital. Both groups have experience in investing across a variety of sectors and jurisdictions and a track record of identifying high-quality assets, businesses and management teams.
We believe that we are well-positioned to pursue differentiated opportunities, which would not be easily replicated by other market participants, due to:
 
  •  
our team’s relationships with numerous operating companies based on the experience of our management as leaders, chief executive officers and board members of international businesses;
 
  •  
access to potential asset disposals and divisional carve outs that owners (both companies and families) may have otherwise been considering as initial public offering candidates;
 
  •  
our ties with other prominent families (particularly, but not exclusively, based in Europe)
and founder-run businesses,
providing access to private businesses which need additional capital and could also benefit from a public listing partnered with two long-term anchor investors;
 
  •  
the extensive relationships of our management, via their board or council memberships, with other prominent European executives and entrepreneurs, further widening the reach of their network;
 
  •  
our founders’ experience investing either directly or indirectly via specific funds or their network in global venture capital and private equity opportunities should ensure access to the broadest possible breadth of deal flow via portfolio companies;
 
  •  
the history of our founders in constructively collaborating with other stakeholders and partnering with other families, offering a clear point of differentiation versus trade buyers or private equity buyers when negotiating a business combination with a founder-owned business;
 
  •  
the experience of our founders in public and private markets and relationships with large European and U.S. institutions, creating attractive opportunities for sellers seeking to grow their business, particularly European businesses which would not otherwise have access to U.S. capital markets or would not easily access capital to fulfil their growth potential; and
 
  •  
the personal network and connections of our independent board members and advisory committee members who will provide additional sourcing capabilities.
Following the completion of our initial public offering, we communicate with our networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target company and a potential business combination and undertake the process of pursuing and reviewing opportunities.
Acquisition Criteria
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines which we believe are important in evaluating potential target businesses. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:
 
  •  
have a clear European focus;
 
  •  
have an identifiable current and/or future nexus with the United States making them suitable for a NYSE listing;
 
  •  
will benefit from a public currency and access to an additional form of capital, enhancing their ability to pursue accretive acquisitions, high-return capital projects, and/or strengthen their balance sheet;
 
  •  
will leverage the extensive networks of our management, our founders and advisory committee members as well as the team’s operational, transactional, financial, managerial and investment experience; and
 
  •  
will offer an attractive risk-adjusted return for our shareholders.
 
8
Based in part on the above general criteria and guidelines, we do not currently expect to consider target businesses that operate primarily in the following sectors:
 
  •  
Real Estate;
 
  •  
Banking and Insurance, except Fintech companies;
 
  •  
Natural Resources and Infrastructure, except renewable sources of energy companies;
 
  •  
Biotech; and
 
  •  
Pure Media, Publishing and Advertising, except new business model or Tech angle companies.
However, while we do not currently expect to consider a business in the above sectors for our initial business combination, we are not prohibited from doing so.
These criteria and guidelines are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general criteria and guidelines as well as other considerations, factors, criteria and guidelines that our management may deem relevant.
In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria and guidelines in our shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this Report, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
In addition to any potential business candidates we may identify on our own, we anticipate that other target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to
divest non-core assets
or divisions.
Our Acquisition Process
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which may encompass, as applicable and among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, reports about the potential target prepared by third parties, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. We will also utilize our management team’s operational and capital planning experience.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed, will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Over time, our founders have built up significant experience of working efficiently together on specific situations as a result of their common presence in various governance bodies without any formal or informal agreements. Any business combination will require the support of both our founders. This commitment will lead to a straightforward and optimal outcome for us, as it ensures that any business combination proposed to the board has the full backing of the two founders, enhancing the likelihood of success when negotiating with the seller of the asset and, if consummated, ensuring that we fully benefit from both founders’ network and expertise.
The company offers sellers of assets of a potential business combination a differentiated opportunity and transaction structure than those currently available within the NNS Group or Sienna Capital—specifically the offer of a fast-track full NYSE listing facilitating an ability for the seller to roll its existing ownership into the publicly listed entity and retain direct and material involvement in the combined entity, including, potentially, managerial responsibilities, should they wish to do so. The transaction structure we can offer may better take into account and value the growth prospects of the target company. It may also facilitate a greater alignment of interests between us, as the buyer, and the seller due to our ability to combine cash and shares when completing the business combination. These important differences in transaction structure mean that we believe the targets that we will evaluate are generally different from those that are regularly considered by the founders in their existing activities.
 
9
Certain of our officers and directors have, or may in the future have, fiduciary or contractual obligations that oblige them, either now or in the future, to present business combination opportunities to such entity (subject to his or her fiduciary duties). As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to such officer’s and director’s fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands’ law, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
Following the consummation of our initial public offering, we adopted a Code of Ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, we will not consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our founders, officers or directors unless we, or a committee of independent directors, have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our Company from a financial point of view.
In addition, our founders, officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. Our founders, officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Initial Business Combination
So long as our securities are then listed on the NYSE, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of a target business or businesses, it may be unable to do so if the board is less familiar or experienced with the target company’s business, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the company’s assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the target business meets the 80% of net assets threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our shareholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to shareholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed transaction will include such opinion.
 
10
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-business combination company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Even if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-business combination company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our Sponsor. If our securities are not then listed on the NYSE for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net asset test.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.
Other Considerations
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our Company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Our management team is regularly made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with our Company. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate for us, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any such acquisition candidate.
 
11
In addition, certain of our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities. As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he, she or it has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he, she or it will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
Our Sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates. However, we do not currently expect that any such other blank check company would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. In addition, our Sponsor, officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence.
Status as a Public Company
We believe our structure makes us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock, shares or other equity interests in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.
Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees. While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding
a non-binding advisory
vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved, If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
 
12
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held
by non-affiliates exceeds
$700 million as of the prior June 30
th
, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion
in non-convertible debt
during the prior three-year period. Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of
Regulation S-K. Smaller
reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held
by non-affiliates did
not exceed $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues did not exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held
by non-affiliates did
not exceed $700 million as of the prior June 30.
Financial Position
As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately $580,000,000 available to consummate an initial business combination, after payment of the expenses of our initial public offering and $21,000,000 of deferred underwriting fees, excluding any proceeds that we may receive pursuant to the forward purchase agreement, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third-party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.
Effectuating Our Initial Business Combination
General
We are currently not engaged, and do not expect to engage for an indefinite period of time in the future, in any operations. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to the forward purchase agreement or other forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of our initial public offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing or other sources. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-business combination company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
 
13
We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account and the sale of the forward purchase securities, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination or are unable to close the sale of the forward purchase securities, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. Other than the forward purchase agreement and the potential availability of the backstop arrangement with our Sponsor, we are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.
Sources of Target Businesses
We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from our founders’ connections with European businesses, as well as various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since some of these sources will have read this Report and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our Sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or their respective affiliates be paid by us any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). We may agree to pay an affiliate of our Sponsor a total of up to $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse our Sponsor for
any out-of-pocket expenses
related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-business combination company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our Company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including entities that are affiliates of our Sponsor, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
 
14
Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which may encompass, as applicable and among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. We will also utilize our management team’s operational and capital planning experience. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our Sponsor.
Lack of Business Diversification
For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:
 
  •  
subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination; and
 
  •  
cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.
Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.
We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
 
15
Following a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
Under the NYSE’s listing rules, shareholder approval would typically be required for our initial business combination if, for example:
 
  •  
We issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our ordinary shares then-outstanding (other than in a public offering);
 
  •  
Any of our directors, officers or substantial security holder (as defined by the NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in issued and outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 1% or more (or 5% or more if the related party involved is classified as such solely because such person is a substantial security holder); or
 
  •  
The issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control.
The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:
 
  •  
the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company;
 
  •  
the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote;
 
  •  
the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination;
 
  •  
other time and budget constraints of the company; and
 
  •  
additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders.
Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our Sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, they have no current
 
16
commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any
material non-public information
not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.
In the event that our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules.
The purpose of any such transaction could be to (i) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (ii) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (iii) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our Sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates may identify the shareholders with whom our Sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of tender offer or proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our Sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the general meeting related to our initial business combination. Our Sponsor, executive officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will be restricted from purchasing shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.
Our Sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or
Rule 10b-5 of
the Exchange Act. We expect any such purchases would be reported by such person pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at
a per-share price,
payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to
 
17
the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share.
The per-share amount
we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Further, we will not proceed with redeeming our public shares, even if a public shareholder has properly elected to redeem its shares, if a business combination does not close. Our Sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). However, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our Company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with the NYSE rules.
If we held a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
 
  •  
conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and
 
18
 
  •  
file proxy materials with the SEC.
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of a majority of the ordinary shares represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon and who vote at a general meeting. In such case, our Sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 22,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted), or 3,750,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted), of the 60,000,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. In addition, our Sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
 
  •  
conduct the redemptions pursuant to
Rule 13e-4 and
Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and
 
  •  
file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our Sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with
Rule 10b5-1 to
purchase Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with
Rule 14e-5 under
the Exchange Act.
In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with
Rule 14e-1(a) under
the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.
Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold
 
19
in our initial public offering, which we refer to as “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our Sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.
However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
Public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/ Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the general meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming shareholder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.
 
20
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, unless otherwise agreed to by us. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we have 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering to consummate an initial business combination. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at
a per-share price,
payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
Our Sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame).
Our Sponsor, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at
a per-share price,
payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our Sponsor, any executive officer and director, or any other person.
 
21
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the $1,194,821 held outside the trust account (as of December 31, 2020) plus up to $100,000 of funds from the trust account available to us to pay dissolution expenses, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account,
the per-share redemption
amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the
actual per-share redemption
amount received by shareholders will not be less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including, but not limited, to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third-party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third-party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third-party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party for services rendered or products sold to us (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations,
 provided
 that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. However, we have not asked our Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our Company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our Sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
 
22
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay our income tax obligations, and our Sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of
the per-share redemption
price will not be less than $10.00 per public share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our Sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our Sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $1,194,821 held outside the trust account (as of December 31, 2020) with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors, however such liability will not be greater than the amount of funds from our trust account received by any such shareholder.
If we file a bankruptcy
or winding-up petition
or an involuntary bankruptcy
or winding-up petition
is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per public share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy
or winding-up petition
or an involuntary bankruptcy
or winding-up petition
is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our Company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public shareholders are entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote.
 
23
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies, and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at PO Box 1093, Boundary Hall, Cricket Square, Grand
Cayman, KY1-1102, Cayman
Islands. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our Sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
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 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.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We have registered our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, sent to shareholders. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
 
24
We filed a Registration Statement on
Form 8-A with
the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding
a non-binding advisory
vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held
by non-affiliates exceeds
$700 million as of the prior June 30
th
, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion
in non-convertible debt
during the prior three-year period.
 
25
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of
Regulation S-K. Smaller
reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements, and, if their revenues are less than $100 million, not providing an independent registered public accounting firm attestation on internal control over financial reporting. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held
by non-affiliates equals
or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held
by non-affiliates equals
or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Report, including the financial statements before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. The risk factors described below are not necessarily exhaustive and you are encouraged to perform your own investigation with respect to us and our business.
We are a recently incorporated company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. Our initial public offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.
Our warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.
On April 12, 2021, the Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance and Acting Chief Accountant of the SEC together issued a statement regarding the accounting and reporting considerations for warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (the “SEC Statement”). Specifically, the SEC Statement focused on certain settlement terms and provisions related to certain tender offers following a business combination, which terms are similar to those contained in the warrant agreement governing our warrants.
As a result, included on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2020 contained elsewhere in this Amendment are derivative liabilities related to embedded features contained within our warrants. Accounting Standards Codification 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”) provides for the remeasurement of the fair value of such derivatives at each balance sheet date, with a resulting
non-cash
gain or loss related to the change in the fair value being recognized in earnings in the statements of operations. As a result of the recurring fair value measurement, our financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly based on factors which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we expect that we will recognize
non-cash
gains or losses on our warrants each reporting period and that the amount of such gains or losses could be material.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020. If we are unable to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
Following this issuance of the SEC Statement, on April 12, 2021, our management and our audit committee concluded that, in light of the SEC Statement, it was appropriate to restate our previously issued audited financial statements as of and for the period ended December 31, 2020. As part of such process, we identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting.
In addition, as described elsewhere in this Amendment No. 2, we have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the Company’s application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A to its accounting classification of the Public Shares and the restatement of our earnings per share calculation.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis.
 
26
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. We continue to evaluate steps to remediate the material weakness. These remediation measures may be time consuming and costly and there is no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and our stock price may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting.
Following the issuance of the SEC Statement, our management and our audit committee concluded that it was appropriate to restate our previously issued audited financial statements as of December 31, 2020 and for the year ended December 31, 2020. As part of the Restatement, we identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting.
As a result of such material weakness, the improper valuation of our Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption at the closing of our initial public offering, the restatement of our earnings per share calculation and the change in accounting for the warrants, and other matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, we face potential for litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the Restatement and material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements. As of the date of this Amendment No. 1, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or our ability to complete a Business Combination.
We are a recently incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We were formed on July 24, 2020 under the laws of the Cayman Islands and have no operating results. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Past performance by our management team or their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.
Information regarding performance is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience or performance of our management team and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) our ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (ii) success with respect to any business combination that we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team or their respective affiliates as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. Our management has no experience in operating special purpose acquisition companies.
Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even if a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination
.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote before we complete our initial business combination if the business combination would not require shareholder approval under applicable law or NYSE rules. For instance, if we were seeking to acquire a target business where the consideration we were paying in the transaction was all cash, we would typically not be required to seek shareholder approval to complete such a transaction. Except for as required by applicable law or NYSE, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
 
27
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you were not provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder approval. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, after approval of our board, our Sponsor and members of our management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Our initial shareholders own, on
an as-converted basis,
20% of our outstanding ordinary shares immediately following the completion of our initial public offering. Our Sponsor and members of our management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a shareholder meeting are voted in favor of the business combination, after approval of our board. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 22,500,001, or 37.5%, or 3,750,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted), of the 60,000,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination, after approval of our board, in order to have our initial business combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our Sponsor and each member of our management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
In evaluating a prospective target business for our initial business combination, our management will rely on the availability of all of the funds from the sale of the forward purchase securities to be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination. If the sale of the forward purchase securities does not close, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination.
In connection with the consummation of our initial public offering, we entered into a forward purchase agreement with our Sponsor, which provides for the purchase by our Sponsor of up to $100,000,000 of forward purchase units, with each forward purchase unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share and
one-half
of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The proceeds from the sale of these forward purchase units, together with the amounts available to us from the trust account (after giving effect to any redemptions of public shares and the payment of deferred underwriting commissions) and any other equity or debt financing obtained by us in connection with the business combination, will be used to satisfy the cash requirements of the business combination, including funding the purchase price and paying expenses and retaining specified amounts to be used by the post-business combination company for working capital or other purposes. To the extent that the amounts available from the trust account and other financing are sufficient for such cash requirements, our Sponsor may purchase less than 10,000,000 forward purchase units. The forward purchase agreement contains customary closing conditions, the fulfillment of which is a condition for our Sponsor to purchase the forward purchase securities, including that our initial business combination must be consummated concurrently with the purchase of forward purchase securities. If the sale of the forward purchase securities does not close for any reason, including by reason of the failure by our Sponsor to fund the purchase price for its forward purchase securities, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination.
 
28
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target
.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the Commission’s “penny stock” rules). Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If a large number of shares are submitted for redemption, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for additional third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination.
The per-share amount
we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we consummate an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of our initial public offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
 
29
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must consummate an initial business combination by October 6, 2022. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the time frame described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the
coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
and the status of debt and equity markets.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has and is continuing to spread throughout parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus
disease (“COVID-19”) a
“Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding
to COVID-19, and
on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic.”
The COVID-19 outbreak
has and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to find or evaluate business combination opportunities or complete a business combination if continued concerns relating
to COVID-19 continues
to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to
which COVID-19 impacts
our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity
of COVID-19 and
the actions to
contain COVID-19 or
treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed
by COVID-19 or
other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted
by COVID-19 and
other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Finally, the outbreak
of COVID-19 may
also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and cross-border transactions.
We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination within prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
 
30
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate an initial business combination by October 6, 2022. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the outbreak
of COVID-19 continues
to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak
of COVID-19 may
negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within such applicable time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at
a per-share price,
payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law. In either such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.00 per public share, or less than $10.00 per public share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See Item 1A “Risk Factors—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and
the per-share redemption
amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public share” and other risk factors herein.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or warrants, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class
 A ordinary shares or public warrants
.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions.
In the event that our Sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See Item 1 “Business—Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities” for a description of how our Sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.
 
31
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed
.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly redeem or tender public shares. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed.
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss
.
Our public shareholders are entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by October 6, 2022 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business combination by October 6, 2022, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination by October 6, 2022, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
The NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our securities are currently listed on NYSE. However, we cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum market capitalization (generally $50,000,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders).
Additionally, our units will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination and, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the NYSE continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE.
For instance, in order for our shares to be listed upon the consummation of our business combination, at such time our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our total market capitalization would generally be required to be at least $200.0 million, the aggregate market value of publicly held shares would be required to be at least $100.0 million and we would be required to have at least 400 round lot shareholders. We may not be able to meet those listing requirements at that time.
If the NYSE delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on
an over-the-counter market.
If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
 
32
reduced liquidity for our securities;
a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;
a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and
a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are currently listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the NYSE, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
You are not entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies
.
Since the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business, we are considered to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors are not afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means that we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our initial public offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would have prohibited the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class
 A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class
 A ordinary shares
.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
 
33
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially, especially in the last six months. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, more effort and more resources to identify a suitable target and to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We have encountered and expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources are relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable is limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See Item 1A “Risk Factors—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and
the per-share redemption
amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public share” and other risk factors herein.
If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate until October
 6, 2022, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and our ability to complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our Sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination
.
 
34
As of December 31, 2020, we had $1,194,821 in cash held outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that, upon the closing of our initial public offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account, together with funds available from loans from our Sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team will be sufficient to allow us to operate for 24 months following the closing of our initial public offering; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate, and our Sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team are under no obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Of the funds available to us, we expect to use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund
a “no-shop” provision
(a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our Sponsor, its affiliates, members of our management team, or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our Sponsor, members of our management team nor their affiliates is under any obligation to us in such circumstances. Any such advances may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our Sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per public share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See Item 1A “Risk Factors—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and
the per-share redemption
amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public share” and other risk factors herein.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment
.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down
or write-off assets,
restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Although these charges may
be non-cash items
and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of
assuming pre-existing debt
held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
 
35
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the
 per-share
 redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per public share
.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third-party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third-party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third-party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third-party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not consummated an initial business combination by October 6, 2022, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the ten years following redemption. Accordingly,
the per-share redemption
amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to a letter agreement our Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third-party (other than our independent auditors) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third-party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third-party, our Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
However, we have not asked our Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our Company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our Sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
 
36
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our Sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our tax obligations, and our Sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per public share.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive officers
.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share
.
The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in direct U.S. Treasury obligations having a maturity of 185 days or less, or in certain money market funds which invest only in direct U.S. Treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. Treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest income (which we may withdraw to pay income taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, our public shareholders are entitled to receive
their pro-rata share
of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of income taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that
the per-share redemption
amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or
 winding-up
 petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or
 winding-up
 petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy or insolvency court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages
.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy
or winding-up petition
or an involuntary bankruptcy
or winding-up petition
is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
 
37
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or
 winding-up
 petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or
 winding-up
 petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the
 per-share
 amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced
.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy
or winding-up petition
or an involuntary bankruptcy
or winding-up petition
is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account,
the per-share amount
that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
 
  •  
restrictions on the nature of our investments; and
 
  •  
restrictions on the issuance of securities,
each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
 
  •  
registration as an investment company with the SEC;
 
  •  
adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and
 
  •  
reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to.
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
 
38
We do not believe that our principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under
Rule 2a-7 promulgated
under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by October 6, 2022 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares; or (iii) absent our completing an initial business combination by October 6. 2022, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations
.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we are required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
If we have not consummated an initial business combination by October 6, 2022, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such time before redemption from our trust account.
If we have not consummated an initial business combination by October 6, 2022, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond October 6, 2022 before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination and do not amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we wind up for any other reason prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will follow the foregoing procedures with respect to the liquidation of the trust account as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to applicable Cayman Islands law.
 
39
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our Company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable for a fine of $18,292.6 and imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
Holders of Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on any election of directors we hold prior to our initial business combination.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our Company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.
We have not registered the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.
We have not registered the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants issued in our initial public offering under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to file with the Commission a registration statement covering the issuance of such shares, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed. We may not be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus relating to our initial public filing, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct or the Commission issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants issued in our initial public offering are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, in which case, the number of Class A ordinary shares that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum amount of shares equal to 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment). However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. Exercising the warrants on a cashless basis could have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our Company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities
or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in our initial public offering. In such an instance, our Sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.
 
40
The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, and you will not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within twenty business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
The grant of registration rights to our Sponsor may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of our initial public offering, our Sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, forward purchase securities and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of such warrants. The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the founder shares, the forward purchase securities, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such private placement warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our securities that is expected when the securities owned by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees are registered for resale.
Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry, sector or geographic area nor have we negotiated the acquisition of any specific target businesses, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
While we intend to focus our search on businesses across various industries in Europe, with a strong U.S. nexus and international reach, we expect to pursue business combination opportunities in any industry or sector and we may pursue business combination opportunities in any sector or geographic area, except that we are not, under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet entered
 
41
into a definitive agreement with any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries, sectors or geographies which may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise.
We will consider a business combination in industries, sectors or geographies outside of our management’s area of expertise if a business combination target is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our Company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination target, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in our securities than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination target. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this Report regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
 
42
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent accounting or investment banking firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater
than one-to-one at
the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. There are currently 440,000,000 and 35,000,000 authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares, if any, or any securities issuable pursuant to the forward purchase agreement. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we fail to consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. There are no preference shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with our redeeming the warrants or upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater
than one-to-one at
the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth herein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to or in connection with our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination or on any other proposal presented to shareholders prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares, including pursuant to the forward purchase agreement:
 
  •
may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in our initial public offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater
than one-to-one basis
upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares;
 
  •
may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares;
 
43
  •
could cause a change in control if a substantial number of Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors;
 
  •
may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us;
 
  •
may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and
 
  •
may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants.
Unlike some other similarly structured blank check companies, our Sponsor will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we fail to consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on
an as-converted basis,
20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of our initial public offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our Sponsor, any of its affiliates or any members of our management team upon conversion of working capital loans. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less
than one-to-one. This
is different than some other similarly structured blank check companies in which the initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination.
Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
 
44
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a beneficial owner of our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the who or that is (i) an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, (ii) a corporation (or other entity taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia, (iii) an estate whose income is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source, or (iv) a trust, if (a) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons (as defined in the Code) have authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (b) it has a valid election in effect under Treasury Regulations to be treated as a U.S. person (a “U.S. Holder”), such U.S. Holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on whether we qualify for the
PFIC start-up exception.
Depending on the particular circumstances the application of
the start-up exception
may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for
the start-up exception.
Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, upon written request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. investors to consult their tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Act, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay such taxes. Shareholders or warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
In particular, there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Cayman Islands or any other applicable jurisdictions would recognize and enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained against us or our directors or officers predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States or entertain original actions brought in the Cayman Islands or any other applicable jurisdiction’s courts against us or our directors or officers predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States.
 
45
We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with,
or key-man insurance
on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers.
The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management, director or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
In addition, the officers and directors of a business combination candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of a business combination candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of a business combination candidate’s management team will remain associated with the business combination candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of a business combination candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our Company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. In addition, pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement, our Sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as our Sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.
 
46
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company, which could, in turn, negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to retain their securities following the initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
The officers and directors of an initial business combination candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of an initial business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an initial business combination candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an initial business combination candidate’s management team will remain associated with the initial business combination candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an initial business combination candidate will not wish to remain in place and may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of an initial business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see Item 10 “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance” and Item 13 “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we will continue to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses or entities. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
 
47
In addition, our Sponsor, officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with other blank check companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to such other blank check companies prior to its presentation to us, subject to our officers’ and directors’ fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce, to the maximum extent permitted by law, our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer or about which any of our officers or directors acquires knowledge unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our Company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue. In addition, our amended and restated articles of association contain provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to our Company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity.
For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see Item 13 “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”
Our executive officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our Sponsor, our directors or executive officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or initial shareholders, which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our Sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or initial shareholders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under Item 13 “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.” Our Sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our Sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we are not specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria and guidelines for a business combination as set forth in Item 1 “Business—Effecting Our Initial Business Combination—Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions regarding the fairness to our Company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or initial shareholders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
 
48
Since our Sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after our initial public offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On July 25, 2020, affiliates of our Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain expenses on our behalf in consideration of 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. On October 1, 2020, we effected a share capitalization resulting in our initial shareholders holding 17,250,000 Class B ordinary shares (of which 2,250,000 Class B ordinary shares were surrendered to us for no consideration by our Sponsor upon the expiry of the underwriters’ over-allotment option on November 20, 2020). Each of our independent directors currently owns 25,000 of the Class B ordinary shares noted above, which were transferred from our Sponsor to them in September 2020. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our Sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible.
The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 14,000,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($14,000,000 in the aggregate), in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering. If we do not consummate an initial business combination by October 6, 2022, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as
the 24-month anniversary
of the closing of our initial public offering nears, which is the deadline for our consummation of an initial business combination.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete an initial business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Report to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect
the per-share amount
available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
 
  •
default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;
 
  •
acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
 
49
  •
our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand;
 
  •
our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding;
 
  •
our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares;
 
  •
using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
 
  •
limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
 
  •
increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and
 
  •
limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and the forward purchase securities, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business, which may have a limited number of products or services and limited operating activities. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants provided us with up to $580,000,000 that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $21,000,000 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account and the estimated expenses of our initial public offering), which amount, in each case, excludes any proceeds that we may receive pursuant to the forward purchase agreement.
In addition, in connection with the consummation of our initial public offering, we entered into a forward purchase agreement with our Sponsor, which provides for the purchase by our Sponsor of up to $100,000,000 of forward purchase units, with each forward purchase unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share
and one-half of
one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The forward purchase securities will be issued only in connection with the closing of the initial business combination. The proceeds from the sale of these forward purchase units, together with the amounts available to us from the trust account (after giving effect to any redemptions of public shares and the payment of deferred underwriting commissions) and any other equity or debt financing obtained by us in connection with the business combination, will be used to satisfy the cash requirements of the business combination, including funding the purchase price and paying expenses and retaining specified amounts to be used by the post-business combination company for working capital or other purposes. To the extent that the amounts available from the trust account and other financing are sufficient for such cash requirements, our Sponsor may purchase less than 10,000,000 forward purchase units. There can be no assurance that the forward purchase will close.
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single-target business or multiple-target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the Commission that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
 
  •
solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or
 
  •
dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.
 
50
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in an initial business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. Upon the loss of control of a target business, new management may not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-business combination company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
 
51
We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association do not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we do not then become subject to the Commission’s “penny stock” rules). As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even if a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our Sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning the approval of holders of at
least two-thirds of
our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or forward purchase warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants or forward purchase warrants, 50% of the number of the then-outstanding private placement warrants and forward purchase warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by October 6, 2022 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through our initial public offering, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
 
52
The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of a special resolution which requires the approval of the holders of at
least two-thirds of
our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to the rights of a company’s shareholders, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s shareholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s public shareholders.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions related to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our initial public offering and the placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, meaning holders of at
least two-thirds of
our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees, if any, who will collectively beneficially own, on
an as-converted basis,
20% of our Class A ordinary shares, will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern
our pre-business combination
behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Our Sponsor, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by October 6, 2022 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at
a per-share price,
payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our Sponsor, executive officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
 
53
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and forward purchase securities are sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet entered into a definitive agreement with any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and forward purchase securities prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment may make it difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. Other than in connection with the forward purchase agreement, none of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Our Sponsor controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our Sponsor owns, on
an as-converted basis,
20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Accordingly, it may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including appointment of our directors, amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial business combination. If our Sponsor purchases any additional Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase its control. Neither our Sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Report. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our Sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our Sponsor, because of its ownership position, will control the outcome, as only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors and to remove directors prior to our initial business combination. Accordingly, our Sponsor will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our Sponsor.
 
54
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants are issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this Report, or defective provision (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement or (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or forward purchase warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants or forward purchase warrants, 50% of the number of the then-outstanding private placement warrants and forward purchase warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our Company.
Our warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This
choice-of-forum
provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our Company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
 
55
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making such warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant,
 provided
 that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under Exhibit 4.2 of this Report) for any 20 trading days within a
30 trading-day period
ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and
 provided
 that certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption
 provided
 that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under Exhibit 4.2 of this Report) for any 20 trading days within a
30 trading-day period
ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and
 provided
 that certain other conditions are met, including that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. Please see Exhibit 4.2 of this Report. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us (except as set forth under Exhibit 4.2 of this Report) so long as they are held by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 30,000,000 of our Class A ordinary shares as part of the units offered in our initial public offering and, simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we issued in a private placement an aggregate of 14,000,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. In addition, if our Sponsor, its affiliates or a member of our management team makes any working capital loans, it may convert up to $1,500,000 of such loans into up to an additional 1,500,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant. We may also issue up to 5,000,000 forward purchase warrants pursuant to the forward purchase agreement. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with our redemption of our warrants.
To the extent we issue ordinary shares for any reason, including to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
Because each unit
contains one-half of
one redeemable warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.
Each unit
contains one-half of
one redeemable warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one whole warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate
for one-half of
the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if a unit included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
 
56
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Unlike most blank check companies, if (x) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share, (ii (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by us and, (i) in the case of any such issuance to our Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance, and (ii) to the extent that such issuance is made to our Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account the transfer of founder shares or private placement warrants (including if such transfer is effectuated as a surrender to us and subsequent reissuance by us) by our Sponsor in connection with such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources and divert management’s attention.
As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of NYSE and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet this standard, significant resources and management oversight may be required. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could adversely affect our business and operating results. We may need to hire more employees in the future or engage outside consultants to comply with these requirements, which will increase our costs and expenses.
A market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
The price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions, including as a result of
the COVID-19 outbreak.
Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statements may also be required to be prepared in accordance with GAAP in connection with our current report on Form
8-K
announcing the closing our initial business combination within four business days following such closing. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
 
57
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to “emerging growth companies” or “smaller reporting companies,” this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held
by non-affiliates exceeds
$700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply
to non-emerging growth
companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of
Regulation S-K. Smaller
reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held
by non-affiliates exceeds
$250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held
by non-affiliates exceeds
$700 million as of the prior June 30. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
 
58
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate a business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on
Form 10-K for
the year ending December 31, 2021. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or executive officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
 
59
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors, the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of our founder shares are entitled to vote on the election of directors, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
 
  •  
costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations;
 
  •  
rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;
 
  •  
complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;
 
  •  
laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;
 
  •  
exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;
 
  •  
tariffs and trade barriers, including the impact of ongoing trade wars between the United States and foreign countries;
 
  •  
regulations related to customs and import/export matters;
 
  •  
local or regional economic policies and market conditions;
 
  •  
unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;
 
  •  
longer payment cycles;
 
  •  
tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;
 
  •  
currency fluctuations and exchange controls;
 
  •  
rates of inflation;
 
  •  
challenges in collecting accounts receivable;
 
60
  •  
cultural and language differences;
 
  •  
employment regulations;
 
  •  
underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;
 
  •  
corruption;
 
  •  
protection of intellectual property;
 
  •  
social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances;
 
  •  
regime changes and political upheaval;
 
  •  
terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; and
 
  •  
deterioration of political relations with the United States.
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in any such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and social conditions and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire
a non-U.S. target,
all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction. Given our geographic focus of potential acquisition targets, our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may be elevated.
 
61
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk
of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from seeking a business combination target.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Facilities
We currently maintain our principal executive offices at PO Box 1093, Boundary Hall, Cricket Square, Grand
Cayman, KY1-1102, Cayman
Islands. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our Sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
 
62
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
(06) Market Information
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are each traded on the NYSE under the symbols “AVAN.U,” “AVAN” and “AVAN WS,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on October 2, 2020. Our Class A ordinary shares and warrants began separate trading on November 23, 2020.
(b) Holders
As of December 31, 2020, there was one holder of record of our units, one holder of record of our Class A ordinary shares, five holders of our Class B ordinary shares, and two holders of our warrants.
I Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with a business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
(d) Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.
(e) Performance Graph
Not applicable.
(f) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings.
On October 6, 2020, we consummated our initial public offering of 60,000,000 units, at a price of $10.00 per Unit, generating total gross proceeds of $600,000,000. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as joint book-running managers. The securities sold in the offering were registered under the Securities Act on registration statements
on Form S-1 (No. 333-248838 and 333-249241). The
registration statements became effective on October 1, 2020.
Simultaneously with the consummation of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, we consummated a private placement of 14,000,000 private placement warrants to our Sponsor at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating total proceeds of $14,000,000. Such securities were issued pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
The private placement warrants are identical to the public warrants underlying the units sold in the initial public offering, except that the private placement warrants are not transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a business combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Of the gross proceeds received from the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $600,000,000 was placed in the trust account.
 
63
We paid a total of $12,000,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions and $588,903 for other offering costs related to the initial public offering. In addition, the underwriters agreed to defer $21,000,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions.
(g) Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
Item 6. Selected Financial Data.
Not applicable.
Item 7. Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations
References to the “Company,” “us,” “our” or “we” refer to Avanti Acquisition Corp. The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and related notes included herein.
In this Amendment No. 2 (“Amendment No. 2”) to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Avanti Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) for the period ended December 31, 2020, we are restating (i) the Post IPO Balance Sheet, as previously revised in the 2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1, and (ii) FY 2020 statements as previously revised in the 2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1.
We have re-evaluated our application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A to our accounting and classification of the Public Shares, issued as part of the units sold in the initial public offering on October 6, 2020. Historically, a portion of the Public Shares was classified as permanent equity to maintain shareholders’ equity greater than $5 million on the basis that we will not redeem our Public Shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001, as described in the Charter. Pursuant to such re-evaluation, our management has determined that the Public Shares include certain provisions that require classification of all of the Public Shares as temporary equity regardless of the net tangible assets redemption limitation contained in the Charter. In addition, in connection with the change in presentation for the Public Shares, management determined it should restate earnings per share calculation to allocate income and losses shared pro rata between the two classes of ordinary shares. This presentation contemplates a Business Combination as the most likely outcome, in which case, both classes of ordinary shares share pro rata in the income and losses of our Company.
On November 24, 2021, the Audit Committee concluded, after discussion with the Company’s management, that our previously issued (i) Post IPO Balance sheet, as previously revised in the 2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1, (ii) FY 2020 Financial Statements as previously restated in the 2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1, (iii) Q1 2021 Financial Statements included in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on July 12, 2021 and (iv) Q2 Financial Statements included in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2021, filed with the SEC on August 13, 2021, should be restated to report all Public Shares as temporary equity and should no longer be relied upon. As such, the Company is restating the Post IPO Balance Sheet and the FY 2020 Financial Statements herein and intends to restate the Q1 2021 Financial Statements and the Q2 2021 Financial Statements in the Q3 Form 10-Q/A.
The restatement does not have an impact on our cash position.
Our management has concluded that in light of the classification error described above, a material weakness exists in our internal control over financial reporting and that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective.
In connection with the restatement, our management reassessed the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures for the periods affected by the restatement. As a result of that reassessment, we determined that our disclosure controls and procedures for such periods were not effective with respect to our internal controls around the proper accounting and classification of complex financial instruments. For more information, see Item 9A included in this Amendment No. 2.
The restatement is more fully described in Note 2 of the notes to the financial statements included herein.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated in the Cayman Islands on July 24, 2020 formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). We intend to effectuate our Business Combination using cash derived from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, shares and debt.
We expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete a business combination will be successful.
Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any operating revenues to date. Our only activities from inception through December 31, 2020 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for the initial public offering, described below, and 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 expect to generate
non-operating
income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held after the initial public offering. We expect that we will incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses in connection with searching for, and completing, a Business Combination.
As a result of the restatement described in Note 2 of the notes to the financial statements included herein, we classify the Warrants and FPA issued in connection with our Initial Public Offering as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the Warrant and FPA instruments to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to
re-measurement
at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our statement of operations.
For the period from July 24, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had a net loss of $25,755,683, which consisted of operating expenses of $225,770, a change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $11,440,000, loss on initial issuance of private warrants of $3,500,000 transaction costs allocable to warrants of $2,115,252 and a change in the fair value of the FPA liability of $8,483,278, offset by interest earned on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $8,617.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
On October 6, 2020, we consummated an initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) of 60,000,000 units, at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $600,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the sale of 14,000,000 private placement warrants (“Private Placement Warrants”) to the Sponsor at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant generating gross proceeds of $14,000,000.
 
64
Following the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, a total of $600,000,000 was placed in the Trust Account, and we had $2,960,219 of cash held outside of the Trust Account, after payment of costs related to the Initial Public Offering, and available for working capital purposes. We incurred $33,588,903 in transaction costs, including $12,000,000 of underwriting fees, $21,000,000 of deferred underwriting fees and $588,903 of other offering costs.
For the period from July 24, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, net cash used in operating activities was $217,669. Net loss of $25,755,683 was affected by interest earned on marketable securities of $8,617, offset by a change in fair value of warrant liability of $11,440,000, loss on initial issuance of private warrants of $3,500,000, transaction costs allocable to warrants of $2,115,252 and change in the fair value of the FPA liability of $8,483,278. Changes in operating assets and liabilities provided $8,101 of cash from operating activities.
At December 31, 2020, we had cash and marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $600,008,617. We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account, which interest shall be net of taxes payable and excluding deferred underwriting commissions, to complete our Business Combination. We may withdraw interest from the Trust Account to pay taxes, if any. To the extent that our share capital or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete a 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.
On December 31, 2020, we had cash of $1,194,821 held outside of the Trust Account. We intend to use the funds held outside the Trust Account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, structure, negotiate and complete a Business Combination.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete a Business Combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to us. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts, but no proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant, at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking
in-depth
due diligence and negotiating a 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 Business Combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our Business Combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Business Combination.
Off-Balance
Sheet Financing Arrangements
We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered
off-balance
sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2020. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating
off-balance
sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any
off-balance
sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any
non-financial
assets.
 
65
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than described below.
The underwriters are entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $21,000,000 in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that we complete a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
We entered into a forward purchase agreement with the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Sponsor committed to purchase from us up to 10,000,000 forward purchase units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share (“forward purchase share”) and
one-half
of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share (“forward purchase warrant”), for $10.00 per unit, or an aggregate amount of up to $100,000,000, in a private placement that will close substantially concurrently with the closing of a Business Combination.
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:
Warrant and Forward Purchase Agreement Liabilities
We account for the Warrants and the Forward Purchase Agreement in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815 under which the Warrants and the Forward Purchase Agreement do not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as liabilities. Accordingly, we classify the Warrants and the Forward Purchase Agreement as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the Warrants and the Forward Purchase Agreement to fair value at each reporting period. These liabilities are subject to
re-measurement
at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our statement of operations.
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
We account for our ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A Ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including ordinary shares that features redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. Our Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of our balance sheet. Under ASC 480-10-S99, the Company has elected to recognize changes in the redemption value immediately as they occur and adjust the carrying value of the security to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. This method would view the end of the reporting period as if it were also the redemption date for the security.
Net Income (Loss) per Ordinary Share
We comply with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” We have two classes of shares, which are referred to as Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Income and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. Net income (loss) per ordinary share is calculated by dividing the net income (loss) by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding for the respective period. We did not consider the effect of the warrants issued in connection with the initial public offering and the private placement in the calculation of diluted income (loss) per ordinary share because their exercise is contingent upon future events. As a result, diluted net income (loss) per ordinary share is the same as basic net income (loss) per ordinary share. Accretion associated with the redeemable Class A ordinary shares is excluded from income (loss) per ordinary share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
Recent Accounting Standards
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statements.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule
12b-2
of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
This information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is included herein by reference.
 
66
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In connection with this Amendment, our management
re-evaluated,
with the participation of our current chief executive officer and chief financial officer (our “Certifying Officers”), the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020, pursuant to Rule
13a-15(b)
under the Exchange Act. Due to a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting over the accounting for complex transactions, which resulted in the restatement of the Company’s financial statements as described in the Explanatory Note to this Amendment, the Certifying Officers concluded that our disclosure controls were not effective as of December 31, 2020. In light of this material weakness, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form
10-K/A
present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented.
We do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors and all instances of fraud. Disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
This Annual Report on Form
10-K/A
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.
Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements
We revised our prior position on accounting for our Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants. We restated our financial statements to reclassify the Company’s Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants, as described in the Explanatory Note of Amendment Number 1. The non-cash adjustments to the financial statements did not impact the previously reported amounts for cash and cash equivalents, total assets, revenue, total stockholders’ equity, or cash flows.
We revised our prior position on accounting for temporary equity and permanent equity and the earnings per share calculation. We restated our financial statements to revalue the Company’s Class A ordinary share subject to possible redemption and restate its earnings per share calculation, as described in the Explanatory Note of this Amendment. The Company’s accounting related to temporary equity and permanent equity and its earnings per share calculation did not have any effect on the Company’s previously reported investments held in trust or cash.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting as the circumstances that led to the restatement of our financial statements described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K/A had not yet been identified.
To respond to this material weakness, we have devoted, and plan to continue to devote, significant effort and resources to the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements, we plan to enhance our system of evaluating and implementing the complex accounting standards that apply to our financial statements. Our plans at this time include providing enhanced access to accounting literature, research materials and documents and increased communication among our personnel and third-party professionals with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications. The elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
Item 9B. Other Information
None.
 
67
Part III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Directors and Executive Officers
As of the date of this Annual Report on Form
10-K/A,
our directors and officers are as follows:
 
Name
   
Age
   
Position
Nassef Sawiris    59    Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Johann Dumas    41    Chief Financial Officer
Colin Hall    49    Director
Brent Hoberman    51    Director
Sophie Krishnan    44    Director
Roberto Mignone    49    Director
Nassef Sawiris
 is our chairman and chief executive officer. Mr. Sawiris is an industrialist, an entrepreneur and investor with a history of deal making and value creation at public and private companies across the globe. Throughout his career, Mr. Sawiris has operated and invested in a wide-range of industries and sectors, either through his executive positions at OCI N.V. (previously Orascom Construction Industries S.A.E.) and Orascom Construction PLC, the listed companies founded and controlled by the Sawiris family, or as the founder and executive chairman of NNS Group, the single-family office of Mr. Sawiris and his family, and NNS UK Group.
Mr. Sawiris currently serves as the executive chairman of OCI N.V. (since August 2020) and as a member of the supervisory board of adidas (since June 2016). Mr. Sawiris has previously served as the chief executive officer of OCI N.V. (from January 2013 to July 2020) and as its chief executive officer (from March 1998 to January 2013) when it was operating under its previous name, Orascom Construction Industries S.A.E. In addition, Mr. Sawiris has previously served as a director of LafargeHolcim (from July 2015 to May 2019), having been a director of Lafarge S.A. prior to its merger with Holcim Ltd in 2015, and as
non-executive
chairman of Orascom Construction PLC (from March 2015 to May 2016), previously Orascom Construction Ltd.
Since 1995, as chief executive officer or chairman of publicly listed companies (OCI N.V., previously Orascom Construction Industries S.A.E., and Orascom Construction PLC), Mr. Sawiris has a track record of creating value for shareholders, returning approximately $15 billion to shareholders through cash and share dividends and share buybacks. During his tenure at OCI N.V., Mr. Sawiris has directed and overseen the transformation of the company from a construction business to
a top-ten global
cement producer and
a top-five global
nitrogen fertilizer and methanol producer. Mr. Sawiris has deep and varied experience in mergers and acquisitions, financial and capital market transactions, executing approximately $55 billion in deal value throughout his career. Transactions executed during his tenure at Orascom Construction Industries S.A.E. include the sale of its cement division to Lafarge for a cash payment of approximately €8.8 billion ($12.9 billion) plus the transfer of approximately $2 billion in debt. During his tenure at OCI N.V., transactions include the joint venture with ADNOC to create the world’s largest export-focus nitrogen fertilizer platform in 2019, the initial public offering of OCI N.V. on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange in 2013 with an initial market capitalization of approximately $8.1 billion, the approximately €310 million acquisition of DSM’s Agro and Melamine assets in 2010 and the acquisition of a 20% stake in Gavilon, a commodity management firm, in 2008, eventually sold in 2013 for approximately $2.7 billion.
As the executive chairman of the NNS Group, Mr. Sawiris has guided the diversification of the group’s assets into new areas focused on long-term growth across numerous sectors in both the public and private markets. The NNS Group has invested in companies operating in consumer brands, chemicals, technology, software and media, sports and real estate, and in other sectors.
 
68
Mr. Sawiris’ current mandates include:
 
  •
executive chairman of NNS
S.à r.l.-SPF, the
Luxembourg-based parent company of the NNS Group;
 
  •
chairman & chief executive officer of NNS Advisers Limited;
 
  •
executive chairman of NNS UK Investment
S.à r.l.-SPF, the
Luxembourg-based parent company of the NNS UK Group;
 
  •
executive chairman of OCI N.V., a leading nitrogen fertilizer & chemicals producer listed on the Euronext Amsterdam;
 
  •
member of the supervisory board of adidas, the leading European sportswear company;
 
  •
executive chairman of Aston Villa Football Club;
 
  •
chief executive officer of Fertiglobe Holding Limited;
 
  •
director of Orascom Construction Industries S.A.E.;
 
  •
director of Firewater LLC;
 
  •
director of Middle East Petrochemical Corporation;
 
  •
director of OS Holding;
 
  •
director of NNS City; and
 
  •
member of the International Council of J P Morgan Chase Co, the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago, the Cleveland Clinic’s International Leadership Board Executive Committee, the Council on Foreign Relations Global Board of Advisors and Exor Partners Council.
Johann Dumas
 serves as our chief financial officer. Mr. Dumas joined Sienna Capital in October 2018 as chief financial officer. Before joining Sienna Capital S.à r.l., Mr. Dumas was the chief financial officer (from August 2014 to October 2018) and a member of the executive committee (from September 2017 to October 2018) of Quilvest Capital Partners (formerly Quilvest Private Equity), a family-owned global asset manager. Prior to this, Mr. Dumas headed the group finance department of Transcom from January 2010 to January 2012, after spending 8 years at KPMG. Mr. Dumas is a chartered accountant in Luxembourg. He is a graduate of ICN Business School, holds a master in accounting and finance from the University of Nancy and is a graduate of the INSEAD Advanced Management Program.
Colin Hall
 is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Hall is also vice-chairman of the board of Sienna Capital. Mr. Hall joined GBL in 2012, and he was appointed as the head of investments in 2016. In addition to his role at GBL, Mr. Hall was chief executive officer of Sienna Capital from June 2013 until June 2020. Mr. Hall led the development of Sienna Capital since its inception in 2013 and was instrumental to the strategic transformation of Sienna Capital from a fund manager seeding platform to a multi-asset class investment manager with direct investing capability. Since joining GBL, and recently in his capacity as the head of investments, Mr. Hall oversaw significant portfolio asset rotation. Since 2012, total purchased assets amounted to approximately €10.1 billion and total divestments of assets were approximately €9.2 billion. Over his
25-year
investment career, Mr. Hall has gained experience as a member of multiple public and private company boards.
Mr. Hall has served on public company boards across Europe including in Germany, France, Spain, Belgium and Switzerland. Mr. Hall has previously served as a board member of Kartesia Management S.A. (from August 2013 to November 2019), Parques ReunidosServicios Centrales S.A. (from April 2017 to April 2019) and Umicore (from April 2016 to April 2019). He currently represents GBL on three public company boards, Imerys (since December 2015), LafargeHolcim (since May 2019) and GEA (since November 2018), with aggregate market capitalization of approximately $40 billion as of July 31, 2020. In addition, Mr. Hall also sits on the board of WebHelp, a European leader in the customer relationship management—business process outsourcing. Mr. Hall began his career working for the Merchant Banking Division of Morgan Stanley in 1995. Between 1997 and 2008, Mr. Hall held various positions within the private equity firm Rhône Group in New York and London. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Hall was a partner in a hedge fund sponsored by Julian Robertson of Tiger Management. He holds a bachelor of arts degree with high honors from Amherst College and a master of business administration degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
 
69
Brent Hoberman
 is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Hoberman is
co-founder
and executive chairman of Founders Factory, a corporate-backed venture studio and accelerator (since 2015); Founders Forum, a global community of founders, corporates and tech leaders (since 2006); and firstminute capital, a $100 million seed fund with global remit, backed by Atomico, Tencent and over 30 unicorn founders (since 2017). Previously, Mr. Hoberman
co-founded
lastminute.com in 1998, of which he served as the chief executive officer from its inception, and sold it in 2005 to Sabre based on an equity value of $1.0 billion. Mr. Hoberman has
co-founded
technology businesses that include Karakuri, a provider of robotics, artificial intelligence and automation systems; made.com, a leading European direct-from-factory consumer homewares retailer; PROfounders Capital, Founders Intelligence, an entrepreneur-powered consultancy; accelerateHER, a network taking action to change the underrepresentation of women in technology; Founders Keepers, a technology executive search firm; Founders of the Future, a network that identifies and supports aspiring entrepreneurs; Founders Pledge, a community for entrepreneurs committed to finding and funding solutions to global challenges; Grip.events, an artificial intelligence powered event networking solution; and most recently Founders Academy, a new type of business school for a changing world.
Mr. Hoberman is chairman of the Karakuri board and sits on the advisory boards of The Royal Academy, the Government Digital Service, the WEF Digital Europe Group and the Imperial College Innovation Fund. He is also a Male Champion of Change for The Global Tech Group, and was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services to entrepreneurship in 2015.
Previously, Mr. Hoberman was Chairman of the Oxford Foundry advisory board from its inception,
co-chaired
the Prime Minister’s Theresa May and Boris Johnson, Business Sector Council for Small Business,
Scale-ups
and Entrepreneurs, chaired The Royal Foundation Taskforce on the Prevention of Cyberbullying for The Duke of Cambridge, and further former advisory board roles include LetterOne Technology, a $16 billion investment fund, TalkTalk, TimeOut, The Guardian Media Group, Shazam Entertainment and The Economist.
Sophie Krishnan
 is a member of our board of directors. Ms. Krishnan has served as the chief operations officer of WorldRemit in London since November 2019 and as director since September 2020, where she is responsible for WorldRemit’s growth and operations. She served at Trainline in London from May 2016 to August 2018, first as General Manager for the
business-to-business
and ancillary businesses, then for the UK Consumer. She also worked at Egencia, a company of the Expedia Group, as Vice President of Product and Marketing from 2014 to 2016, and as Vice President of Business Development and Strategy from 2012 to 2014 in London and Seattle. She served at Bain & Co. from 2005 to 2011 as a Manager in San Francisco and Paris. She started her career at Investor Growth Capital as an Associate from 1997 to 2002 in London and New York. Ms. Krishnan holds a double degree (diploma and Masters’) from London School of Economics and EDHEC, and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Roberto Mignone
 is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Mignone is director of Teva Pharmaceuticals, a global pharmaceutical company, where he chairs the Finance Committee and serves on the Science and Technology, and Audit committees. He founded Bridger Management, LLC in 2000, where he is the Managing Partner with principal responsibility for investments predominantly in public and private global equities, with particular focus in global consumer, technology, healthcare, and leisure sectors. He also
co-founded
Blue Ridge Capital LLC in 1996 as a Partner and Senior Research Analyst with broad responsibility for the firm’s research in public equities. Mr. Mignone holds an AB, cum laude degree from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and 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 general meeting) serving a three-year term. In accordance with the NYSE 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 the NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Brent Hoberman, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Sophie Krishnan and Roberto Mignone, will expire at our second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Nassef Sawiris and Colin Hall, will expire at our third annual general meeting.
 
70
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of our initial public offering, our Sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as our Sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder 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 appoint persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that our officers may consist of one or more chairman of the board, chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
Director Independence
NYSE listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. Our board of directors has determined that Brent Hoberman, Sophie Krishnan and Roberto Mignone are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a nominating committee and a compensation committee. Subject
to phase-in rules
and a limited exception, the rules of the NYSE 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 the NYSE require that the compensation committee and the nominating committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Roberto Mignone, Brent Hoberman and Sophie Krishnan serve as members of our audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of Roberto Mignone, Brent Hoberman and Sophie Krishnan are independent under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Roberto Mignone will serve as the Chairman of the audit committee. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, all the directors on the audit committee must be independent. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Roberto Mignone, Brent Hoberman and Sophie Krishnan qualify as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
The audit committee is responsible for:
 
  •
meeting with our independent registered public accounting firm regarding, among other issues, audits, and adequacy of our accounting and control systems;
 
  •
monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm;
 
  •
verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law;
 
  •
inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
 
  •
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;
 
  •
determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work;
 
  •
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;
 
71
  •
monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of our initial public offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of our initial public offering; and
 
  •
reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing shareholders, executive officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval.
Nominating Committee
We have established a nominating committee of our board of directors. The members of our nominating committee are Sophie Krishnan and Roberto Mignone, and Sophie Krishnan will serve as chairman of the nominating committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, we are required to have a nominating committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of Roberto Mignone and Sophie Krishnan are independent.
The nominating committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating committee considers persons identified by its members, management, shareholders, investment bankers and others.
Guidelines for Selecting Director Nominees
The guidelines for selecting nominees, which will be specified in a charter to be adopted by us, generally will provide that persons to be nominated:
 
  •
should have demonstrated notable or significant achievements in business, education or public service;
 
  •
should possess the requisite intelligence, education and experience to make a significant contribution to the board of directors and bring a range of skills, diverse perspectives and backgrounds to its deliberations; and
 
  •
should have the highest ethical standards, a strong sense of professionalism and intense dedication to serving the interests of the shareholders.
The nominating committee will consider a number of qualifications relating to management and leadership experience, background and integrity and professionalism in evaluating a person’s candidacy for membership on the board of directors. The nominating committee may require certain skills or attributes, such as financial or accounting experience, to meet specific board needs that arise from time to time and will also consider the overall experience and makeup of its members to obtain a broad and diverse mix of board members. The nominating committee does not distinguish among nominees recommended by shareholders and other persons.
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Brent Hoberman and Sophie Krishnan, and Brent Hoberman will serve as chairman of the compensation committee.
Under the NYSE listing standards, we are required to have a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of Brent Hoberman and Sophie Krishnan are independent. We adopted a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
 
  •
reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer;
 
  •
reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 executive officers;
 
  •
reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans;
 
  •
implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;
 
  •
assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;
 
72
  •
approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and employees;
 
  •
producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and
 
  •
reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.
The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
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.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. 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.
Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
 
  •
duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole;
 
  •
duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose;
 
  •
directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion;
 
  •
duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders;
 
  •
duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and
 
  •
duty to exercise independent judgment.
In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders
 provided
 that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
Certain of our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities. As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any business combination opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.
 
73
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties, contractual obligations or other material management relationships:
 
Individual
  
Entity
  
Entity’s Business
  
Affiliation
Nassef Sawiris   OCI N.V.(1)   Nitrogen fertilizer and chemicals producer   Executive Chairman
  adidas AG   European sportswear company   Member of the Supervisory Board
  NNS S.à
r.l.-SPF(1)
   Parent company of the NNS Group   Executive Chairman
  NNS Advisers Limited   Investment advisory company to the NNS Group and NNS UK Group   Chief Executive Officer / Chairman
  Aston Villa Football Club   Professional British football club   Executive Chairman
  NNS UK Investment
S.à r.l.-SPF
   Parent company of the NNS UK Group   Executive Chairman
  OS Holding   Private investment company   Director
  NNS City   Private investment company   Director
Colin Hall   Groupe Bruxelles Lambert   Holding investment company   Head of Investments
  Sienna Capital   Holding investment company   Director / Vice Chairman
  Imerys   Production and processing of industrial minerals   Director
  GEA Group AG   Suppliers for food processing technology and of related industries   Director
  LafargeHolcim Ltd   Global leader in building materials and solutions   Director
  Ergon Capital Partners   Holding investment company   Director
  Ergon Capital Partners II   Holding investment company   Director
  Ergon Capital Partners III   Holding investment company   Director
  Marnix French ParentCo   Customer management and business process outsourcing   Director
  Globality Inc.   Smart sourcing platform for business services   Director
Johann Dumas   Sienna Capital Participations S.à r.l.   Holding investment company   Director
  Sienna Capital Coinvest Master S.à r.l.   Holding investment company   Director
  Sienna Capital Opportunity GP S.à r.l.   Holding investment company   Director
  SC Opportunity Master S.à r.l.   Holding investment company   Director
  Sienna Capital Management S.A   Holding and investment management   Director
Brent Hoberman   Founders Factory   Multi-sector accelerator and incubator  
Co-Founder
and Executive Chairman
  Firstminute Capital   Seed fund  
Co-Founder
and Executive Chairman
  Founders Forum   Private network for digital and technology entrepreneurs  
Co-Founder
and Executive Chairman
  Karakuri   Food and technology industry   Executive Chairman
  Made.com   Homeware and furniture online retailer  
Non-executive
Director
  Grip.events   Event networking solution  
Co-Founder
and Chairman
Sophie Krishnan   WorldRemid Ltd.   Online money transfer service   Chief Operations Officer / Director
  WorldRemit Belgium   Online money transfer service   Director
  Focalis Limited   Consulting firm   Director
Roberto Mignone   Teva Pharmaceuticals   Pharmaceutical company   Director
  Bridger Management LLC(1)   Investment fund   Founder and Managing Partner
 
(1)   Includes certain of its funds, other affiliates and portfolio companies.
 
74
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
 
•
Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs.
 
•
Our Sponsor subscribed for founder shares prior to the date of our initial public offering and purchased private placement warrants in a transaction that closed simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering.
 
•
We entered into a forward purchase agreement with our Sponsor forward purchase agreement with the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Sponsor committed to purchase from the Company up to 10,000,000 forward purchase units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share (“forward purchase share”)
and one-half of
one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share (“forward purchase warrant”), for $10.00 per unit, or an aggregate amount of up to $100,000,000, in a private placement that will close substantially concurrently with the closing of a Business Combination.
 
•
Our Sponsor and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. Additionally, our Sponsor has agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Except as described herein, our Sponsor and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for
any 20-trading days
within
any 30-trading day
period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Except as described herein, the private placement warrants will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. In case of our executive officers and director nominees will own ordinary shares or warrants directly or indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.
 
•
Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. In addition, our Sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates.
 
75
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our Company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
Furthermore, in no event will our Sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or their respective affiliates, be paid by us any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. Further, commencing on the date our securities were first listed on the NYSE, we may also reimburse an affiliate of our Sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of up to $10,000 per month.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of a majority of the ordinary shares represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon and who vote at a general meeting. In such case, our Sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, willful neglect, civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We entered into agreements with our directors and officers to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. We expect to purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.
 
76
Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
Item 11. Executive Compensation
Executive Officer and Director Compensation
None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities were first listed on the NYSE through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we may reimburse an affiliate of our Sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of up to $10,000 per month. In addition, our Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or 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 reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our Sponsor, executive officers or directors, or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination are 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 consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, is 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, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining 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.
 
77
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our 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 consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares as of the date of this Report, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our Class A ordinary shares included in the units offered by our prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in our initial public offering, by:
 
  •
each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares;
 
  •
each of our executive officers and directors that beneficially owns ordinary shares; and
 
  •
all our executive officers and directors as a group.
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all of our ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this Report.
On July 25, 2020, affiliates of our Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain expenses on our behalf in consideration of 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our Sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. On October 1, 2020, we effected a share capitalization resulting in our initial shareholders holding 17,250,000 Class B ordinary shares (of which 2,250,000 Class B ordinary shares were surrendered to us for no consideration by our Sponsor upon the expiry of the underwriters’ over-allotment option on November 20, 2020). Each of our independent directors currently owns 25,000 of the Class B ordinary shares noted above, which were transferred from our Sponsor to them in September 2020. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The post-offering percentages in the following table assume that there are 75,000,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding after this offering.
 
78
    
Class B ordinary shares
    
Class A ordinary shares
    
 
  
Name of Beneficial Owners(1)
   
Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned(2)
    
Approximate
Percentage
of Class
    
Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
    
Approximate
Percentage
of Class
    
Approximate
Percentage
of Voting
Control
  
Avanti Acquisition SCSp (our Sponsor)(3)
      14,925,000       (4 )      99.6 %      —         —         19.9 % 
Nassef Sawiris
      —         (5 )      —         —         —         —    
Colin Hall
      —         (5 )      —         —         —         —    
Johann Dumas
      —         (5 )      —         —         —         —    
Brent Hoberman
      25,000 *          —         —   *  
Sophie Krishnan
      25,000       *       —         —   *  
Robert Mignone
      25,000       *       100,000 (6)      *     *
All officers and directors as a group (six individuals)
      75,000       *       —         —   *  
Luxor Capital Partners, LP (7)(10)
      —           —         2,953 *       *
Luxor Capital Partners Offshore Master Fund, LP(8)(10)
      —           —         1,911 *       *
Lugard Road Capital Master Fund, LP(9)(10)
      —           —         354,403 *       *
Falcon Edge Capital, LP(11)
      —           —         7,170,000       11.9 %      9.6 % 
Citadel Advisors LLC(12)
      —           —         2,810,271       4.7 %      3.7 % 
Baupost Group, L.L.C.(13)
      —           —         4,000,000       6.7 %      5.3 % 
Vellar Opportunities Fund Master, Ltd.(14)
      —           —         100,000 *       *
 
*
Less than one percent.
(1)
Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our shareholders is PO Box 1093, Boundary Hall, Cricket Square, Grand
Cayman, KY1-1102, Cayman
Islands.
(2)
Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities.” Excludes Class A ordinary shares issuable pursuant to the forward purchase agreement, as such shares will only be issued concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination.
(3)
Represents 14,925,000 shares of Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value per share, of the Issuer (the “Class B ordinary shares”) directly held by Avanti Acquisition SCSp. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Issuer (the “Class A ordinary shares”) at the time of the issuer’s initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, on a
one-for-one
basis, as more fully described in the Issuer’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or under the heading “Description of Securities-Founder Shares” in the Issuer’s final prospectus (File Nos.
333-248838
and
333-249241),
filed in connection with the Issuer’s initial public offering..
(4)
Excludes up to 2,250,000 founder shares that were surrendered to us for no consideration by our Sponsor upon the expiry of the underwriters’ over-allotment option on November 20, 2020.
(5)
Does not include any shares indirectly owned by this individual as a result of his membership interest in our Sponsor.
(6)
Represents Class A Ordinary Shares held of record by Swiftcurrent Partners, L.P. and Swiftcurrent Offshore Master, Ltd. (the “Funds”). Bridger Management, LLC is the investment adviser to the Funds and Mr. Robert Mignone is the manager of Bridger Management, LLC.
(7)
Luxor Capital Partners, LP (the “Onshore Fund”) beneficially owns 2,953 Class A Ordinary Shares.
(8)
Luxor Capital Partners Offshore Master Fund, LP (the “Offshore Master Fund”) beneficially owns 1,911 Class A Ordinary Shares. Luxor Capital Partners Offshore, Ltd. (the “Offshore Feeder Fund”) as the owner of a controlling interest in the Offshore Master Fund, may be deemed to have beneficially owned the Class A Ordinary Shares beneficially owned by the Offshore Master Fund.
(9)
Lugard Road Capital Master Fund, LP (the “Lugard Master Fund”) beneficially owns 354,403 Class A Ordinary Shares.
 
79
(10)
LCG Holdings LLC (“LCG Holdings”), as the general partner of the Onshore Fund, the Offshore Master Fund and Luxor Wavefront, LP (the “Wavefront Fund”) may be deemed to have beneficially owned the 4,864 Class A Ordinary Shares beneficially owned by the Onshore Fund, the Offshore Master Fund and the Wavefront Fund; Lugard Road Capital GP, LLC (“Lugard GP”), as the general partner of the Lugard Master Fund, may be deemed to have beneficially owned the 354,403 Class A Ordinary Shares beneficially owned by the Lugard Master Fund; Mr. Jonathan Green, as a managing member of Lugard GP, may be deemed to have beneficially owned the 354,403 Class A Ordinary Shares beneficially owned by Lugard GP; Luxor Capital Group, LP (“Luxor Capital Group”), as the investment manager of the Onshore Fund, the Offshore Feeder Fund, the Offshore Master Fund, the Lugard Master Fund and the Wavefront Fund (collectively, the “Funds”), may be deemed to have beneficially owned the 359,267 Class A Ordinary Shares beneficially owned by the Funds; Luxor Management, LLC (“Luxor Management”), as the general partner of Luxor Capital Group, may be deemed to have beneficially owned the 359,267 Class A Ordinary Shares beneficially owned by Luxor Capital Group; and Mr. Christian Leone, as the managing member of Luxor Management, may be deemed to have beneficially owned the 359,267 Class A Ordinary Shares beneficially owned by Luxor Management. The principal business address of each of the Onshore Fund, the Wavefront Fund, Luxor Capital Group, Luxor Management, Lugard GP, LCG Holdings, Mr. Green and Mr. Leone is 1114 Avenue of the Americas, 28
th
Floor, New York, New York 10036. The principal business address of each of the Offshore Master Fund, the Offshore Feeder Fund and the Lugard Master Fund is c/o Maples Corporate Services Limited, P.O. Box 309, Ugland House, Grand Cayman,
KY1-1104,
Cayman Islands.
(11)
Represents 7,170,000 Class A Ordinary Shares held by (i) Falcon Edge Capital, LP a Delaware limited partnership, and the investment manager of certain affiliated funds (the “Falcon Edge Funds”) held by the Falcon Edge Funds; and (ii) Mr. Richard Gerson who serves as the Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of the Investment Manager, with respect to the Class A Ordinary Shares held by the Falcon Edge Funds. The address of their business office is 660 Madison Avenue, 19
th
Floor, New York, New York 10065.
(12)
Citadel Advisors LLC (“Citadel Advisors”) is the portfolio manager for Citadel Equity Fund Ltd., a Cayman Islands company (“CEFL”), and Citadel Multi-Strategy Equities Master Fund Ltd., a Cayman Islands company (“CM”). Citadel Advisors Holdings LP (“CAH”) is the sole member of Citadel Advisors. Citadel GP LLC (“CGP”) is the general partner of CAH. CALC IV LP (“CALC4”) is the
non-member
manager of Citadel Securities LLC (“Citadel Securities”). Citadel Securities GP LLC (“CSGP”) is the general partner of CALC4. Mr. Griffin is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CGP, and owns a controlling interest in CGP and CSGP. Each of Citadel Advisors, CAH and CGP beneficially owns 2,617,232 Class A Ordinary Shares. Citadel Securities beneficially owns 193,039 Class A Ordinary Shares. Each of CALC4 and CSGP beneficially own 193,039 Class A Ordinary Shares. Mr. Griffin beneficially owns 2,810,271 Class A Ordinary Shares. The address of each of their principal business office is 131 S. Dearborn Street, 32
nd
Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60603.
(13)
Each of Baupost Group, L.L.C. (“Baupost”), Baupost Group GP, L.L.C. (“BG GP”) and Seth A. Klarman beneficially own 4,000,000 Class A Ordinary Shares. Securities reported on Schedule 13G as being beneficially owned by Baupost were purchased on behalf of certain of such partnerships. BG GP, as the Manager of Baupost, and Seth A. Klarman, as the Managing Member of BG GP and a controlling person of Baupost. The address of each of their principal business office is 10 St. James Avenue, Suite 1700 Boston, Massachusetts 02116.
(14)
Represents 100,000 Class A Ordinary Shares held by (i) Vellar Opportunities Fund Master, Ltd.; (ii) Cohen & Company Financial Management, LLC; (iii) Dekania Investors, LLC; (iv) Cohen & Company LLC; (iv) Cohen & Company Inc.; and (v) Daniel G. Cohen. Mr. Cohen may be considered a control person for Cohen & Company Financial Management, LLC and Cohen & Company Inc. The address of the principal business office of Vellar Opportunities Fund Offshore, Ltd. is c/o Mourant Governance Services (Cayman) Limited, 94 Solaris Avenue, Camana Bay, PO Box 1348, Grand Cayman
KY1-1108,
Cayman Islands. The address of the principal business office of the other reporting entities / persons is 3 Columbus Circle, Suite 2400, New York, New York 10019, United States.
Our initial shareholders beneficially own 20% of the then-issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Because of this ownership block, our Sponsor may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including appointment of our directors, amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial business combination.
Our initial shareholders have agreed (a) to vote any founder shares and public shares held by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (b) not to redeem any founder shares or public shares held by them in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination.
In connection with the consummation of our initial public offering, we entered into a forward purchase agreement with our Sponsor, which provides for the purchase by our Sponsor of up to $100,000,000 of forward purchase units, with each forward purchase unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share and
one-half
of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, for a purchase price of $10.00 per unit, in a private placement to occur concurrently with the closing of our initial business combination. The proceeds from the sale of these forward purchase units, together with the amounts available to us from the trust account (after giving effect to any redemptions of public shares and the payment of deferred underwriting commissions) and any other equity or debt financing obtained by us in connection with the business combination, will be used to satisfy the cash requirements of the business combination, including funding the purchase price and paying expenses and retaining specified amounts to be used by the post-business combination company for working capital or other purposes. To the extent that the amounts available from the trust account and other financing are sufficient for such cash requirements, our Sponsor may purchase less than 10,000,000 forward purchase units. The forward purchase securities will be issued only in connection with the closing of the initial business combination.
 
80
Our Sponsor is deemed to be our “promoter” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants
The founder shares, private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant
to lock-up provisions
in the agreement entered into by our Sponsor and management team. Our Sponsor and each member of our management team have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (a) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (b) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for
any 20-trading days
within
any 30-trading day
period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. The private placement warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants are not transferable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The foregoing restrictions are not applicable to transfer (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members or partners of our Sponsor or their affiliates, any affiliates of our Sponsor, or any employees of such affiliates; (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with any forward purchase agreement or similar arrangement or in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the founder shares, private placement warrants or Class A ordinary shares, as applicable, were originally purchased; (f) by virtue of our Sponsor’s organizational documents upon liquidation or dissolution of our Sponsor; (g) to the Company for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination; (h) in the event of our liquidation prior to the completion of our initial business combination; or (i) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination;
 provided
, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (f) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreement.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
Founder Shares
On July 25, 2020, the Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain offering costs of the Company in consideration of 14,375,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. On October 1, 2020 the Company effected a share capitalization resulting in 17,250,000 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding (the “Founder Shares”). All share and
per-share
amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share capitalization. The Founder Shares include up to 2,250,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part, so that the number of Founder Shares will equal, on an
as-converted
basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. On November 20, 2020, the underwriters’ election to exercise their over-allotment option expired unexercised, resulting in the forfeiture of 2,250,000 Founder Shares. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2020, there are 15,000,000 Founder Shares issued and outstanding.
The initial shareholders have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell their Founder Shares until the earlier of (i) one year after the completion of the Company’s Business Combination and (ii) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the closing price of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any
30-trading
day period commencing at least 150 days after the Company’s Business Combination or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s Public Shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
 
81
Private Placement
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor purchased 14,000,000 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $14,000,000. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. A portion of the proceeds from the Private Placement Warrants were added to the 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 of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law), and the Private Placement Warrants and all underlying securities will expire worthless.
Advance from Related Party
During October 2020, the Sponsor advanced $957,468 to the Company in order to fund the Company’s ongoing working capital needs. The advances were
non-interest
bearing and due on demand. Advances amounting to $957,468 were repaid on October 16, 2020.
Promissory Note — Related Party
On July 25, 2020, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note (the “Promissory Note”) to the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company could borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000. The Promissory Note was
non-interest
bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2020 and the completion of the Initial Public Offering. The outstanding borrowings of $300,000 under the Promissory Note was repaid on October 16, 2020.
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a 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 (the “Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company may repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had no outstanding borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors will adopt 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
 
82
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.
Director Independence
NYSE listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. Our board of directors has determined that Brent Hoberman, Sophie Krishnan and Roberto Mignone are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The firm of WithumSmith+Brown, PC, or Withum, acts as our independent registered public accounting firm. The following is a summary of fees paid to Withum for services rendered.
Audit Fees
. During the period from July 24, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were approximately $70,930 for the services Withum performed in connection with our Initial Public Offering and the audit of our December 31, 2020 financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form
10-K/A.
Audit-Related Fees.
During the period from July 24, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render assurance and related services related to the performance of the audit or review of financial statements.
Tax Fees
. During the period from July 24, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were approximately $3,500 for the services Withum performed in connection with our tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.
All Other Fees
. During the period from July 24, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, 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).
 
83
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules
 
  (a)
The following documents are filed as part of this Form
10-K/A:
 
  (1)
Financial Statements:
 
  (2)
Exhibits
We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index.
Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of such material can also be obtained from the Public Reference Section of the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, at prescribed rates or on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
 
Exhibit
No.
   
Description
  3.1    Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association.(1)
  4.1    Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Company.(1)
  4.2    Description of Registrant’s Securities.*
10.1    Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement between the Registrant and the Sponsor.(1)
10.2    Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Company. (1)
10.3    Registration and Shareholder Rights Agreement among the Company, the Sponsor and certain other equityholders named therein.(1)
10.4    Letter Agreement among the Company, the Sponsor, and the Company’s officers and directors.(1)
10.5    Administrative Services Agreement between the Company and the Sponsor.(1)
10.6    Forward Purchase Agreement between the Company and the Sponsor.(1)
21    List of Subsidiaries.*
31.1    Certification of the Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).*
31.2    Certification of the Chief Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).*
32.1    Certification of the Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and 18 U.S.C. 1350**
32.2    Certification of the Chief Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and 18 U.S.C. 1350**
 
101.INS    XBRL Instance Document*
101.CAL    XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document*
101.SCH    XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document*
101.DEF    XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document*
101.LAB    XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document*
101.PRE    XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document*
104    Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101).*
 
*
Filed herewith
**
Furnished herewith
(1)
Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form
8-K,
filed with the SEC on October 06, 2020
Item 16. Form
10-K/A
Summary
Not applicable.
 
84
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this Annual Report on Form
10-K/A
to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
December 21, 2021
 
AVANTI ACQUISITION CORP.
/s/ Nassef Sawiris
Name: Nassef Sawiris
Title: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Annual Report on Form
10-K/A
has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
 
Name
   
Position
   
Date
/s/ Nassef Sawiris
    Chairman and Chief Executive Officer    December 21, 2021
Nassef Sawiris
   
(Principal Executive Officer)
   
/s/ Johann Dumas
    Chief Financial Officer    December 21, 2021
Johann Dumas
   
(
Principal Financial and Accounting Officer
)
   
/s/ Colin Hall
    Director    December 21, 2021
Colin Hall
      
/s/ Brent Hoberman
    Director    December 21, 2021
Brent Hoberman
      
/s/ Sophie Krishnan
    Director    December 21, 2021
Sophie Krishnan
      
/s/ Roberto Mignone
    Director    December 21, 2021
Roberto Mignone
      
 
85
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of
Avanti Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Avanti Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ equity (deficit) and cash flows for the period from July 24, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 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, 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from July 24, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Restatement of Financial Statements
As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, the 2020 financial statements have been restated to correct certain misstatements.
Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, if the Company is unable to complete a business combination by October 6, 2022, then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The liquidity condition and date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans regarding these matters are also described in Note 2. 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/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.
New York, New York
July 8, 2021, except for the effects of the restatement disclosed in Note 2, as to which the date is December 21, 2021
 
F-2
AVANTI ACQUISITION CORP.
BALANCE SHEET
DECEMBER 31, 2020
(AS RESTATED – see Note 2)
 
ASSETS
         
Current assets
         
Cash
    $ 1,194,821  
Prepaid expenses
      20,949  
    
 
 
  
Total Current Assets
      1,215,770  
Marketable securities held in Trust Account
      600,008,617  
    
 
 
  
TOTAL ASSETS
   
$
601,224,387
 
    
 
 
  
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
         
Current liabilities
         
Accounts payable and accrued expenses
    $ 2,250  
Accrued offering costs
      3,193  
    
 
 
  
Total Current Liabilities
      5,443  
FPA liability
      8,483,278  
Warrant liabilities
      66,440,000  
Deferred underwriting fee payable
      21,000,000