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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 period ended December 31, 2020
OR
 
☐
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from                  to                 .
Commission file number
001-39745
 
 
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
 
 
 
Cayman Islands
 
N/A
(State or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization)
 
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)
   
Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 1400
San Francisco, CA
 
94111
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
 
Zip Code
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: +1
415-295-4488
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
 
Title of Each Class
 
Trading
Symbol(s)
 
Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Class A ordinary shares, par value
$0.0001 per share
 
TACA
 
The New York Stock Exchange
Redeemable warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50
 
TACA.WS
 
The New York Stock Exchange
Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and
one-half
of one redeemable warrant
 
TACA.U
 
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 Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation
S-T
(§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a
non-accelerated
filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule
12b-2
of the Exchange Act.
 
Large accelerated filer   ☐    Accelerated filer   ☐
Non-accelerated
filer 		  ☒    Smaller reporting company   ☒
         Emerging growth company   ☒
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.  ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule
12b-2
of the Act).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐
As of December 31, 2020 (the last business day of the registrant’s second fiscal quarter), the registrant was not a public company and, therefore, cannot calculate the aggregate market value of its voting and
non-voting
common equity held by
non-affiliates
as of such date.
As of January 2
7
, 2022, 23,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, were issued and
outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None.
 
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
          Page  
     v  
   
     1  
Item 1.
   Business      1  
Item 1A.
   Risk Factors      12  
Item 1B.
   Unresolved Staff Comments      48  
Item 2.
   Properties      48  
Item 3.
   Legal Proceedings      48  
Item 4.
   Mine Safety Disclosures      48  
   
     49  
Item 5.
        49  
Item 6.
   Selected Financial Data      50  
Item 7.
        51  
Item 7A.
   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk      56  
Item 8.
   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data      56  
Item 9.
        56  
Item 9A.
   Controls and Procedures      56  
Item 9B.
   Other Information      57  
   
     58  
Item 10.
   Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance      58  
Item 11.
   Executive Compensation      66  
Item 12.
        67  
Item 13.
   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence      69  
Item 14.
   Principal Accountant Fees and Services      71  
   
     73  
Item 15.
   Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules      73  
Item 16.
   Form 10-K Summary      74  
   
    
F-1
 
 
i
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 Trepont Acquisition Corp I, unless the context otherwise indicates.
This Amendment No. 2 to the Annual Report on Form
10-K/A
(this “Annual Report”) amends Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form
10-K/A
of Trepont Acquisition Corp I for the fiscal period ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on June 9, 2021 (the “First Amended Filing”).
In preparation of the Company’s financial statements as of and for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, the Company concluded it should revise its previously filed financial statements to classify all Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in temporary equity. In accordance with the SEC and its staff’s guidance on redeemable equity instruments in ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of the Company require ordinary shares subject to possible redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. The Company had previously classified a portion of its Class A ordinary shares in permanent equity, or total shareholders’ equity (deficit). Although the Company did not specify a maximum redemption threshold, its charter currently provides 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. Previously, the Company did not consider redeemable shares classified as temporary equity as part of net tangible assets. Effective with its financial statements for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, the Company revised this interpretation to include temporary equity in net tangible assets. In addition, in connection with the change in presentation for the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, 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.
After further consideration of the impact of the error that led to the revised September 30, 2021 financial statements, on January 24, 2022, the Company’s management and the audit committee of our board of directors concluded that the Company’s previously issued (i) audited balance sheet as of December 4, 2020 (the “Post IPO Balance Sheet”), as previously revised 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 June 9, 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 Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on June 21, 2021; and (iv) 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 16, 2021 (collectively, the “Affected Periods”), should be restated to report all Public Shares as temporary equity 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. The unaudited condensed financial statements for the periods ended March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will be amended in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q/A for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, to be filed with the SEC (the “Q3 2021 Form 10-Q”).
The restatement does not have an impact on the Company’s 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 Item 4 of Part I to the Q3 2021 Form 10-Q.
 
ii
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 the Company 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 periods affected by the restatement or our previously filed balance sheet, dated December 4, 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.
 
iii
CERTAIN TERMS
Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report, references to:
“we,” “us,” “our,” “company” or “our company” are to Trepont Acquisition Corp I, a Cayman Islands exempted company;
“amended and restated memorandum and articles of association” are to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association;
“Class A ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share;
“Class B ordinary shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share;
“Co-Founders”
are to Arun Sarin and Ori Sasson;
“Companies Act” are to the Companies Act (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time;
“directors” are to our current directors;
“founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to our initial public offering and the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares will not be “public shares”);
“initial shareholders” are to our sponsor and other holders of our founder shares prior to our initial public offering;
“letter agreement” are to the letter agreement entered into between us and our initial shareholders, directors and officers on December 1, 2020;
“management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors;
“ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares;
“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering;
“public shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market);
“public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsor, officers and directors to the extent our sponsor, officers or directors purchase public shares, provided their status as a “public shareholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;
“sponsor” are to Trepont Acquisition I, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company;
“warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in the initial public offering or thereafter in the open market) and the private placement warrants; and
“$,” “US$” and “U.S. dollar” each refer to the United States dollar.
 
iv
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
Some statements contained in this Annual Report are forward-looking in nature. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report may include, for example, statements about:
 
 
•
 
our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;
 
 
•
 
our ability to complete our initial business combination;
 
 
•
 
our expectations around the performance of the 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 uncertainty resulting from the
COVID-19
pandemic;
 
 
•
 
the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities;
 
 
•
 
our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;
 
 
•
 
the lack of a market for our securities;
 
 
•
 
the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;
 
 
•
 
the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or
 
 
•
 
our financial performance following our initial public offering.
These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
 
 
v
 
PART I
 
Item 1.
Business
Introduction
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed 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 Annual Report as our initial business combination.
Our management team is led by our
Co-Founders
Arun Sarin, the Chairman of the Board, and Ori Sasson, our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer. Our
Co-Founders
have over six decades of combined experience leading, advising and investing in public and private technology and telecommunications businesses. They have a track record of generating shareholder value by driving growth and initiating strategic operational improvements. Furthermore, they have experience successfully leading companies from their inception to their initial public offering as well as their sale. Through this experience, our
Co-Founders
have developed a deep, global network across entrepreneurs, operating executives, experts, investors and advisors. They have also established a history of working together to advise and invest in technology businesses. We will seek to capitalize on the experience and network of our
Co-Founders
to create value post-combination.
Company History
On September 28, 2020, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares (our “founder shares”) for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. On November 16, 2020, the Sponsor forfeited 1,437,500 Class B ordinary shares for no consideration, resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. Our Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares, on a
one-for-one
basis, upon the completion of a business combination. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon completion of the initial public offering (the “IPO”).
On December 4, 2020, we completed our IPO of 23,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit (the “units”), generating gross proceeds of $230,000,000. Each unit consists of one of the Company’s shares of Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and
one-half
of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to certain adjustments.
Substantially concurrently with the completion of the IPO, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 8,900,000 warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant, or $8,900,000 in the aggregate. A total of $232,300,000, comprised of $225,400,000 of the proceeds from the IPO, including $8,050,000 of the underwriters’ deferred discount, and $6,900,000 of the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants, was placed in a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.
On January 19, 2021, we announced that, commencing January 22, 2021, holders of the 23,000,000 units sold in the IPO may elect to separately trade the Class A ordinary shares and the warrants included in the units. Those units not separated continued to trade on the NYSE under the symbol “TACA.U” and the Class A ordinary shares and warrants that were separated trade under the symbols “TACA” and “TACA.WS,” respectively.
Initial Business Combination
The rules of the NYSE require and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commission held in trust) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement
 
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in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination upon standards generally accepted by the financial community. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it likely that our board of directors will be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target’s assets or prospects.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. 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 issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of net assets test described above. 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.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Members of our management team and our independent directors that directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity 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
 
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present such business combination opportunity to such other entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Emerging Growth Company Status and Other Corporate Information
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a
non-binding
advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our IPO, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our ordinary shares that is held by
non-affiliates
exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in
non-convertible
debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies wishing to conduct business outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act. As an exempted company, we have applied for and received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Law (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 30 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations shall apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall be payable (1) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (2) 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.
 
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We are a Cayman Islands exempted company incorporated on September 25, 2020. Our executive offices are located at Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 1400, San Francisco, CA 94111, and our telephone number is (415)
295-4488.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following our IPO until the closing of the initial business combination. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash held in the trust account, our shares, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. 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 the redemption of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
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 taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. At the completion of our initial business combination, we will be required to purchase any Class A ordinary shares properly delivered for redemption and not withdrawn. The
per-share
amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our initial shareholders have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers have also entered into the letter agreement, imposing similar obligations on them with respect to public shares acquired by them, if any. Permitted transferees of our initial shareholders, officers or directors will be subject to the same obligations.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (1) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (2) without a shareholder vote 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 requirements. 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 Class A ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. So long as we maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with NYSE’s shareholder approval rules.
 
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The requirement that we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above is contained in provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) or our listing on the NYSE. Such provisions may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company.
If we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with a general meeting, we will:
 
  •  
conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and
 
  •  
file proxy materials with the SEC.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. A quorum for such meeting will be present if the holders of a majority of issued and outstanding shares entitled to vote at the meeting are represented in person or by proxy. Our initial shareholders will count toward this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution,
non-votes
will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,625,001, or 37.5%, of the 23,000,000 public shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted). These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial shareholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a public shareholder on the record date for the general meeting held to approve the proposed transaction.
If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will:
 
  •  
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.
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 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.
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with
Rule 10b5-1
to purchase our Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with
Rule 14e-5
under the Exchange Act.
 
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We intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public shareholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed initial business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by public shareholders who elected to redeem their shares.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) 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 public 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 such business combination or redeem any shares in connection therewith, and all public shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if We Seek Shareholder Approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to 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 IPO 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 IPO, 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.
 
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Delivering Share Certificates in Connection With the Exercise of Redemption Rights
As described above, we intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC system. The transfer agent will typically charge the broker submitting or tendering shares 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 submit or 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.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. 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 June 4, 2022.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
We have only until June 4, 2022 to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such
18-month
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 (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which
 
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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 in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the
18-month
time period.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination by June 4, 2022. However, if our sponsor or management team acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted
18-month
time period.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by June 4, 2022 or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or
pre-initial
business combination activity, 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 taxes, divided by the number of 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. 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. 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 $1,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
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 approximately $1,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay income taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our IPO 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 approximately $10.10. The funds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual
per-share
redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.10. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
 
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Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, 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 consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. 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. WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of our IPO will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. 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 (other than, our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.10 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.10 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations, and 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 $10.10 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.
In the event that the funds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.10 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.10 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, 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 if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. 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 $10.10 per share.
 
9
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 IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to approximately $1,000,000 from the proceeds of our IPO with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,000,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,000,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
If we file a bankruptcy or
winding-up
petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or
winding-up
petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the funds 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 $10.10 per 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 will be 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 by June 4, 2022, (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 allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by June 4, 2022 or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or
pre-initial
business combination activity or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of our initial business combination. 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.
Conflicts of Interest
All of our executive officers and certain of our directors have or may have fiduciary and contractual duties to certain companies in which they have invested. These entities may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing it. However, we do not expect these duties to present a significant conflict of interest with our search for an initial business combination.
 
10
Certain of our officers and directors presently have, 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. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 1400, San Francisco, California 94111. The cost for the space is included in the up to $10,000 monthly fee that we pay our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have one executive officer and do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Members of our management team 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 that any such person will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.
 
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Item 1A.
Risk Factors
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report, before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This material weakness could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.
Following the issuance of the SEC Staff Statement on April 12, 2021, our management and our audit committee concluded that, in light of the SEC Staff Statement, it was appropriate to restate previously issued and audited financial statements as of and for the period ended December 31, 2020. Our management and our audit committee also concluded that it was appropriate to restate previously issued financial statements for the Affected Periods.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our management is likewise required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation of those internal controls. 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 on a timely basis.
As described in the First Amended Filing, we have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the accounting for the warrants we issued in connection with our initial public offering in December 2020. As a result of this material weakness, our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2020. This material weakness resulted in a material misstatement of our derivative warrant liabilities, change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities, Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, accumulated deficit and related financial disclosures as of and for the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020. For a discussion of management’s consideration of the material weakness identified related to our accounting for the warrants we issued in connection with the December 2020 initial public offering, see “Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures” included in the First Amended Filing.
As described elsewhere in this Annual Report, 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 calculation of earnings per share. As a result of this material weakness, our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2020. Historically, a portion of our Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption was classified as permanent equity to maintain shareholders’ equity greater than $5 million on the basis that the Company will not redeem its Class A ordinary shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001, as described in the charter. Pursuant to the Company’s re-evaluation of the Company’s application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A to its accounting classification of its Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, the Company’s management has determined that the Class A ordinary shares include certain provisions that require classification of all of the Class A ordinary shares as temporary equity regardless of the net tangible assets redemption limitation contained in the charter. For a discussion of management’s consideration of the material weakness identified related to the Company’s application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A to its accounting classification of the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, see Note 2 to the accompanying financial statements, as well as “Part II, Item 9A: Controls and Procedures” included in this
Annual Report.
 
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As described in “Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures,” we have concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was ineffective as of December 31, 2020 because material weaknesses existed in our internal control over financial reporting. We have taken a number of measures to remediate the material weaknesses described therein; however, if we are unable to remediate our material weaknesses in a timely manner or we identify additional material weaknesses, we may be unable to provide required financial information in a timely and reliable manner and we may incorrectly report financial information. Likewise, if our financial statements are not filed on a timely basis, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the stock exchange on which our Class A ordinary shares are listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Failure to timely file will cause us to be ineligible to utilize short form registration statements on Form
S-3
or Form
S-4,
which may impair our ability to obtain capital in a timely fashion to execute our business strategies or issue shares to effect an acquisition. In either case, there could result a material adverse effect on our business. The existence of material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting could adversely affect our reputation or investor perceptions of us, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock. In addition, we will incur additional costs to remediate material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, as described in “Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.”
We can give no assurance that the measures we have taken and plan to take in the future will remediate the material weakness identified or that any additional material weaknesses or restatements of financial results will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention of these controls. In addition, even if we are successful in strengthening our controls and procedures, in the future those controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of our financial statements.
Our proximity to our liquidation date expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s ("FASB") Accounting Standards Update ("ASU")
2014-15,
“Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” management has determined that mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after June 4, 2022. The financial statements do not include any adjustment that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern.
Risks Relating to Our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with no operating results, and all of our activities to date have been related to our formation, our IPO and our search for a business combination target. 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. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. In
 
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such case, 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, and such holders have agreed to vote in favor of our proposed business combination. Even if we seek shareholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Your only opportunity to effect your 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 will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete 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 vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding our initial 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, our initial shareholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Upon the completion of the IPO, our initial shareholders owned 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders and 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 of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, including the founder shares. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 8,625,001, or 37.5%, of the 23,000,000 public shares sold in the IPO to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted). Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive an ordinary resolution, being the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public 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. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriter will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a business combination and such amount of deferred underwriting discount is not available for us to use as consideration in an initial business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if
 
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accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination or less than such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption of our public shares and the related business combination, and we 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. If we are able to consummate an initial business combination, the
per-share
value of shares held by
non-redeeming
shareholders will reflect our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commissions.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third-party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B ordinary shares results in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than
one-to-one
basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, 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 above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may 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.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination by June 4, 2022. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete
 
15
our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any partner business with which we ultimately complete a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus
(COVID-19)
pandemic 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 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
pandemic 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 partner business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected.
Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if concerns relating to
COVID-19
continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the partner business’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and complete 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 complete a business combination, or the operations of a partner business with which we ultimately complete a business combination, may be materially adversely affected. In addition, our ability to complete 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.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination by June 4, 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
COVID-19
pandemic continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the pandemic 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
COVID-19
pandemic may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a
per-share
price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) 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 in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law.
 
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If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants 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. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and NYSE rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such purchases may include a contractual acknowledgment that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights.
In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for submitting or 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 proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for
 
17
redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed.
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 will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by June 4, 2022 or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or
pre-initial
business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination by June 4, 2022, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right
to the funds held in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
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 units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are listed on the NYSE. Although we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or 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 amount in Shareholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the NYSE. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and our Shareholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5.0 million. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an
over-the-counter
market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
 
  •  
a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
 
  •  
reduced liquidity for our securities;
 
  •  
a determination that our Class A ordinary shares 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 we
 
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expect that our units and eventually our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants will qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on 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 will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed 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 as a result of the successful completion of our IPO and the sale of the private
placement warrants and filed a Current Report on Form
8-K,
including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our IPO were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.
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 provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our IPO without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
 
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Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter 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 similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Certain members of our management team may be involved in and have a greater financial interest in the performance of other entities, and such activities may create conflicts of interest in making decisions on our behalf.
Certain members of our management team may be subject to a variety of conflicts of interest relating to their responsibilities to the company and its other affiliates. Such individuals may serve as members of management or a board of directors (or in similar such capacity) to various other entities. Such positions may create a conflict between the advice and investment opportunities provided to such entities and the responsibilities owed to us. The other entities in which such individuals may become involved may have investment objectives that overlap with ours. Furthermore, certain of our principals and employees may have a greater financial interest in the performance of such other entities than our performance. Such involvement may create conflicts of interest in sourcing investment opportunities on our behalf and on behalf of such other entities.
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.
Following the completion of the IPO and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses or entities. Certain of our officers and directors presently have, 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
 
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Islands law. In addition, our sponsor, directors and officers 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, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other.
If the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, only $1,000,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that, upon the closing of our IPO, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least until June 4, 2022; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a
“no-shop”
provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target
businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $1,000,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the trust account will not be impacted as a result of such increase or decrease. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $1,000,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such 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 or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.10 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
 
21
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 due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present within a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or
write-off
assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be
non-cash
items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming
pre-existing
debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any shareholders or warrant holders who choose to remain shareholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
If third parties bring claims against us, the funds held in the trust account could be reduced and the
per-share
redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public 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 consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of our IPO will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the
per-share
redemption amount
 
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received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.10 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 WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.10 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.10 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations, and 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 $10.10 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.
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 funds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.10 per share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.10 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy his obligations or that he has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.10 per share.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage 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.
 
23
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 $10.10 per share.
The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule
2a-7
under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we do not 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 earned thereon (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income 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 $10.10 per share.
If, after we distribute the funds 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 funds 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.
If, before distributing the funds 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 funds 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 funds 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,
 
24
each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
 
  •  
registration as an investment company;
 
  •  
adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and
 
  •  
reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations.
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading 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.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule
2a-7
promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. Our IPO was not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by June 4, 2022 or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or
pre-initial
business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination by June 4, 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, 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 will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
 
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If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by June 4, 2022, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond June 4, 2022 before redemption from our trust account.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by June 4, 2022, the funds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income 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 Law. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond June 4, 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 funds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination.
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 to a fine of $18,293 and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our shareholders to appoint directors.
In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Law for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to appoint directors and to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first general meeting) serving a three-year term. In addition, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants, except on a cashless basis as described herein, and such
 
26
warrants 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.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration or redemption of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.
If the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis, in which case the number of Class A ordinary shares that the holders of warrants will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum number of shares equal to 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
In no event will warrants be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
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 “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws.
Our ability to require holders of our warrants to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis after we call the warrants for redemption or if there is no effective registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants will cause holders to receive fewer Class A ordinary shares upon their exercise of the warrants than they would have received had they been able to pay the exercise price of their warrants in cash.
If we call the warrants for redemption, we will have the option, in our sole discretion, to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis under certain circumstances. If we choose to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis or if holders elect to do so when there is no effective
 
27
registration statement, the number of Class A ordinary shares received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his or her warrant for cash. For example, if the holder is exercising 875 public warrants at $11.50 per share through a cashless exercise when the Class A ordinary shares have a fair market value of $17.50 per share when there is no effective registration statement, then upon the cashless exercise, the holder will receive 300 Class A ordinary shares. The holder would have received 875 Class A ordinary shares if the exercise price was paid in cash. This will 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.
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders and holders of our private placement warrants 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 entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in our IPO, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, holders of our private placement warrants and their permitted
transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and holders of securities that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register such units, shares, warrants or the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the ordinary shares owned by our initial shareholders, holders of our private placement warrants or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Our efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or sector, we intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business or businesses that can benefit from our management team’s established global relationships and operating experience. Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing strategic investments globally and has done so successfully in a number of sectors, including the technology and telecommunications sectors. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prohibit us from effectuating a business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity
 
28
were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
Past performance by our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.
Information regarding our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance by our management team, and the businesses with which they have been associated, is not a guarantee that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial
business combination, that we will be able to provide positive returns to our shareholders, or of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical experiences of our management team, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or as indicative of every prior investment by each of the members of our management team. The market price of our securities may be influenced by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, and our shareholders may experience losses on their investment in our securities.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in our IPO than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this Annual 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 ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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
 
29
target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation, accounting or appraisal 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 or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the
assistance of financial advisors), we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm 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 materials or tender offer documents, 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 therein. 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 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Upon the completion of our IPO, there were 177,000,000 and 14,250,000 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. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a
one-for-one
ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination. Upon the completion of our IPO, there were 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 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 therein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all
 
30
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:
 
  •  
may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in our IPO;
 
  •  
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;
 
  •  
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; and
 
  •  
may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants.
Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a
one-for-one
basis, subject to adjustment for share
sub-divisions,
share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders), including 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, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than
one-for-one
basis.
Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, consultants and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse United States federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants, the United States Holder may be subject to adverse U.S.
 
31
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 the status of an acquired company pursuant to a business combination and 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, moreover, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. If we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year (of which there can be no assurance), 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 own 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 Law, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders to pay such taxes. Shareholders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
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.
We are dependent upon our 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 officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating 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 officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be 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.
 
32
Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
In addition, the directors and officers of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition 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 acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. 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, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target 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 remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous
 
33
risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition 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 acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We intend to have one employee other than our executive officers. Each of our officers is engaged in other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of our IPO and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. 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. 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. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other.
In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in
 
34
which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
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, officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination 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 which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Since our sponsor, 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 IPO), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On September 28, 2020, our sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain expenses on our behalf in exchange for the issuance of 7,187,500 founder shares, or approximately $0.003 per share. The purchase price of the founder
 
35
shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. In November 2020, our sponsor forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares such that 5,750,000 founder shares remain outstanding. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 8,900,000 private placement warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $8,900,000, or $1.00 per warrant. The private placement warrants will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the deadline following the closing of the IPO nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination if we do not get an extension by shareholder vote.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this Annual Report, 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;
 
  •  
our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand;
 
  •  
our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding;
 
  •  
our inability to pay dividends on our 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.
 
36
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability. The net proceeds from our IPO and the private placement of warrants provided us with $224,250,000 that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account $8,050,000 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account).
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
 
  •  
solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or
 
  •  
dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
 
37
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the 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 issued and 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 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 provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of 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, special purpose acquisition 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, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be
 
38
exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least
two-thirds
of the shareholders 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 65% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 65% of the then outstanding private placement 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) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination by June 4, 2022 or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or
pre-initial
business combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered through our IPO, 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.
The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our
pre-business
combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of not less than
two-thirds
of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (or 65% of our ordinary shares with respect to amendments to the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition 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.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions related to
pre-business
combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our IPO and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, under Cayman Islands law which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least
two-thirds
of the shareholders 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 65% of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. Our initial shareholders, who collectively beneficially owned 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of our IPO, 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 special purpose acquisition 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, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by June 4, 2022 or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or
pre-initial
business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a
per-share
price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public
 
39
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, 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.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors contain provisions relating to transfer restrictions of our founder shares and private placement warrants, indemnification of the trust account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the trust account. The letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval (although releasing the parties from the restriction not to transfer the founder shares for 185 days following the closing of our IPO will require the prior written consent of the underwriters). While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreement. Any such amendments to the letter agreement would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
We intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of our IPO and the sale of the private placement warrants. As a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Our initial shareholders control 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.
Upon closing our IPO, our initial shareholders owned 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were appointed by our sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms for three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors
 
40
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 general meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment and our initial shareholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
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 65% 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 Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants 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 of public warrants if holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or shares, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
If (i) we issue additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the initial shareholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by the initial shareholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination, and (iii) the volume weighted average trading price of the Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the company consummates its 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 $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share
sub-divisions,
share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). 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.
 
41
Redemption of the outstanding warrants as described above 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. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsors or their permitted transferees.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share
sub-divisions,
share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of our Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. 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 of our Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
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 11,500,000 Class A ordinary shares as part of the units offered in our IPO and, simultaneously with the closing of our IPO, we issued in a private placement an aggregate of 8,900,000 warrants, at $1.00 per warrant. In addition, if the sponsor makes any working capital loans, it may convert those loans into up to an additional 1,500,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant. To the extent we issue ordinary shares to effectuate a business transaction, 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 warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other special purpose acquisition companies.
Each unit contains
one-half
of one 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 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 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 it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
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 the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an initial business combination include historical and pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial
 
42
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 (“GAAP”) or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“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) (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
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 internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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 election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation
S-K.
Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of 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. 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.
 
43
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form
10-K
for the period 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. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target 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 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 Law (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
 
44
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.
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 and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or
security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.
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 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;
 
45
  •  
rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;
 
  •  
complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;
 
  •  
laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;
 
  •  
exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;
 
  •  
tariffs and trade barriers;
 
  •  
regulations related to customs and import/export matters;
 
  •  
local or regional economic policies and market conditions;
 
  •  
unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;
 
  •  
challenges in managing and staffing international operations;
 
  •  
longer payment cycles;
 
  •  
tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;
 
  •  
currency fluctuations and exchange controls;
 
  •  
rates of inflation;
 
  •  
challenges in collecting accounts receivable;
 
  •  
cultural and language differences;
 
  •  
employment regulations;
 
  •  
underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;
 
  •  
corruption;
 
  •  
protection of intellectual property;
 
  •  
social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances;
 
  •  
regime changes and political upheaval;
 
  •  
terrorist attacks 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 initial business 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.
 
46
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. 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.
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 Securities and Exchange Commission, 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 revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.
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.
 
47
We employ a mail forwarding service, which may delay or disrupt our ability to receive mail in a timely manner.
Mail addressed to the Company and received at its registered office will be forwarded unopened to the forwarding address supplied by Company to be dealt with. None of the Company, its directors, officers, advisors or service providers (including the organization which provides registered office services in the Cayman Islands) will bear any responsibility for any delay howsoever caused in mail reaching the forwarding address, which may impair your ability to communicate with us.
 
Item 1B.
Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
 
Item 2.
Properties
We currently maintain our executive offices at Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 1400, San Francisco, California 94111. The cost for the space is included in the up to $10,000 monthly fee that we pay our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
 
Item 3.
Legal Proceedings
None.
 
Item 4.
Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
 
48
PART II
 
Item 5.
Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
(a) Market Information
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are each traded on the NYSE under the symbols “TACA.U,” “TACA” and “TACA.WS,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on December 2, 2020. Our Class A ordinary shares and warrants began separate trading on January 22, 2021.
(b) Holders
On March 25, 2021, there were one holder of record of our units, one holder of record of our Class A ordinary shares, four holders of our Class B ordinary shares and two holders of record of our warrants.
(c) 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. If we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
(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
Unregistered Sales
On September 28, 2020, we issued an aggregate of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares to our sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 (the founder shares). In November 2020, our sponsor forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares such that 5,750,000 founder shares remain outstanding. Prior to our IPO, the sponsor transferred 40,000 of our founder shares to each of our three independent directors.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a
one-for-one
basis, subject to adjustment for share
sub-divisions,
share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders), including 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
 
49
combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than
one-for-one
basis.
With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share
sub-divisions,
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, and (B) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Up to 750,000 founder shares may be surrendered to us for no consideration depending on the exercise of the over-allotment option.
Our sponsor purchased 8,900,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant in a private placement that occurred concurrently with the closing of our IPO and generated gross proceeds of $8,900,000. Each private placement warrant is exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants was added to the net proceeds from the IPO held in the trust account. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold in our IPO except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units sold in our IPO. If we do not complete a business combination by June 4, 2022, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The sale of the private placement warrants was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Use of Proceeds
A total of $232,300,000, comprised of $225,400,000 of the proceeds from the IPO, including $8,050,000 of the underwriters’ deferred discount, and $6,900,000 of the proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, was placed in a U.S.-based trust account at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.
There has been no material change in the planned use of proceeds from such use as described in the Company’s registration statement (File
No. 333-250126),
dated November 27, 2020, which was declared effective by the SEC on December 1, 2020.
(g) Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
 
Item 6.
Selected Financial Data
Not applicable.
 
50
Item 7.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
References to the “Company,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to Trepont Acquisition Corp I. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the audited condensed financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Annual Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
In this Annual Report, we are restating our audited financial statements as of December 31, 2020,
our audited financial statements for the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020
and the audited balance sheet issued in connection with our initial public offering on December 4, 2020.
.
In preparation of our financial statements as of and for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, we concluded we should revise our previously filed financial statements to classify all Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in temporary equity. In accordance with the SEC and its staff’s guidance on redeemable equity instruments in ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within our control require shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. We had previously classified a portion of its Class A ordinary shares in permanent equity, or total shareholders’ equity. Although we did not specify a maximum redemption threshold, our charter currently provides 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. Previously, we did not consider redeemable share classified as temporary equity as part of net tangible assets. Effective with its financial statements for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, the Company revised this interpretation to include temporary equity in net tangible assets. In addition, in connection with the change in presentation for the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, we determined we should restate our 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 our income and losses.
After further consideration of the impact of the error that led to the revised September 30, 2021 financial statements, on January 24, 2022, the management and the audit committee of our board of directors concluded that our previously issued (i) audited balance sheet as of December 4, 2020 (the “Post IPO Balance Sheet”), as previously revised in our 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 Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on June 21, 2021; and (iv) unaudited interim 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 16, 2021, should be restated to report all Public Shares as temporary equity and should no longer be relied upon. As such, we will restate our financial statements for the Affected Periods in this Form 10- K/A for the Post IPO Balance Sheet and our audited financial statements included in the 2020 Form 10-K/A No. 1. The unaudited condensed financial statements for the periods ended March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will be amended in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q/A for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, to be filed with the SEC.
The restatement does not have an impact on our cash position and cash held in the Trust Account.
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 the classification of the Company’s complex financial instruments. For more information, see “Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures” included in this Annual Report .
 
51
The financial information that has been previously filed or otherwise reported for these periods is superseded by the information in this Annual Report, and the financial statements and related financial information contained in such previously filed reports should no longer be relied upon.
The restatement is more fully described in Note 2 of the notes to the financial statements included herein.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form
10-K
includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Such statements include, but are not limited to, possible business combinations and the financing thereof, and related matters, as well as all other statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Form 10-K. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those described in our other SEC filings.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on September 25, 2020 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 that we have not yet identified. Our sponsor is Trepont Acquisition I, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.
The registration statement for our IPO was declared effective on December 1, 2020. On December 4, 2020, we consummated our IPO of 23,000,000, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $230.0 million.
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, we consummated the private placement of 8,900,000 warrants, at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating total gross proceeds of $8.9 million.
Upon the closing of the IPO and the private placement, $232.3 million ($10.10 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the IPO and certain of the proceeds of the private placement were placed in a trust account, located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule
2a-7
under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the “Investment Company Act,” which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the distribution of the trust account as described below.
Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the IPO and the sale of private placement warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a business combination.
If we are unable to complete a business combination within the alloted
18-month
period, the Company 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 (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the
 
52
number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete its initial business combination within the alloted
18-month
period.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately $1.6 million due from related party and working capital of approximately $2.1 million.
To date, our liquidity needs have been satisfied through a payment of $25,000 from our sponsor to cover certain expenses on our behalf in exchange for the issuance of the founder shares to our sponsor, a loan of approximately $89,000 pursuant to a promissory note issued to our sponsor and the net proceeds from the consummation of the private placement not held in the trust account. We repaid approximately $64,000 of the principal balance on December 10, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, the outstanding principal balance was $25,000. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, our sponsor may, but is not obligated to, provide us working capital loans. To date, we have not borrowed under the working capital loans.
Based on the foregoing, management believes that we will have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor, or our officers and directors to meet our needs through the earlier of the consummation of a business combination or one year from this filing. Over this time period, we will be using these funds for paying existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective initial business combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the business combination.
Subsequent to the Company’s previously issued Form 10-K/A on June 9, 2021, in connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB’s ASU No. 205-40,
Basis of Presentation—Going Concern
, management has determined that the mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after June 4, 2022. The financial statements do not include any adjustment that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern. The Company intends to complete its initial business combination before the mandatory liquidation date; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to consummate any business combination by June 4, 2022.
Results of Operations
Our entire activity since inception through December 31, 2020 related to our formation, the preparation for the IPO, and since the closing of the IPO, the search for a prospective initial business combination. We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. We will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate
non-operating
income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents. We expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.
For the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had net loss of approximately $6.2 million, which consisted of approximately $5.3 million loss from changes in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities, financing costs of approximately $0.8 million, and approximately $126,000 in general and administrative expenses, which was partially offset by an approximately $1,000 interest earned on investments held in trust account.
 
53
We classify the Warrants issued in connection with our Initial Public Offering and Private Placement as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the warrant instruments 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. For the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, the change in fair value of warrants was an increase of $5.3 million.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt obligations, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations, purchase obligations or long-term liabilities.
Critical Accounting Policies
This management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our financial statements. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related to fair value of financial instruments and accrued expenses. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. The Company has identified the following as its critical accounting policies:
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A 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 the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2020, 23,000,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.
Net Income (Loss) Per Ordinary Share
We have two classes of shares: 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 computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the periods. We do not consider the effect the warrants sold in the IPO and the private placement, an aggregate of 20,400,000 warrants, would have on diluted net income (loss) per share if exercised to purchase the Company’s Class A ordinary shares because their exercise is contingent upon future events and their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method.
As a result, diluted net income (loss) per share is the same as basic net income (loss) per share for the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020. Accretion associated with the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
Derivative Warrant Liabilities
We do not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market or foreign currency risks. We evaluate all of our financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC
815-15.
The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is
re-assessed
at the end of each reporting period.
 
54
We issued 11,500,000 warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares to investors in our Initial Public Offering and issued 8,900,000 Private Placement Warrants. All of our outstanding warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC
815-40.
Accordingly, we recognize the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The 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. The fair value of Public Warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering was measured using a Monte Carlo simulation model. The fair value of the Private Placement warrants has been estimated using a Black Scholes simulation model at each measurement date. The fair value of the Public Warrants issued in connection with our Initial Public Offering will be measured based on the listed market price of such warrants, once these warrants begin separately trading. Derivative warrant liabilities are classified as
non-current
liabilities as their liquidation is not reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06,
Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’ Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’ Own Equity
(“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 on January 1, 2021 using the modified retrospective method for transition. Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. The Company’s management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
Off-Balance
Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2020, we did not have any
off-balance
sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation
S-K.
Inflation
We do not believe that inflation had a material impact on our business, revenues or operating results during the period presented.
JOBS Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act are allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for
non-emerging
growth companies. As a result, the financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of
non-emerging
growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply
 
55
with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our IPO or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
 
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
The information required by this Item is set forth in the financial statements and notes thereto beginning at page
F-1
of this Annual Report on Form
10-K/A.
 
Item 9.
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
 
Item 9A.
Controls and Procedures
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period ended December 31, 2020, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer has concluded that, as of the evaluation date, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2020, because of a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. 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 the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Specifically, the Company’s management has concluded that our control around the interpretation and accounting for certain complex equity and equity-linked instruments issued by the Company and the presentation of earnings per share was not effectively designed or maintained. This material weakness resulted in the restatement of the Company’s balance sheet as of December 4, 2020 and its annual financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2020. Additionally, this material weakness could result in a misstatement of the warrant liability, Class A ordinary shares and related accounts and disclosures that would result in a material misstatement of the financial statements that would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
During the most recently completed fiscal quarter, there has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control
 
56
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.
Our principal executive officer and principal financial officer performed additional accounting and financial analyses and other post-closing procedures including consulting with subject matter experts related to the accounting for certain complex equity and equity-linked instruments issued by the Company and the presentation of earnings per share. The Company’s management has expended, and will continue to expend, a substantial amount of effort and resources for the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to properly identify and evaluate the appropriate accounting technical pronouncements and other literature for all significant or unusual transactions, we have expanded and will continue to improve these processes to ensure that the nuances of such transactions are effectively evaluated in the context of the increasingly complex accounting standards.
 
Item 9B.
Other Information
None.
 
57
PART III
 
Item 10.
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Directors and Executive Officers
 
Name
  
Age
    
Title
Arun Sarin
     66      Chairman of the Board
Ori Sasson
     58      Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Director
J. Michael Cline
     61      Director
Sanjay Jha
     57      Director
Oren Zeev
     56      Director
Our directors and executive officers are as follows:
Arun Sarin
has been the Chairman of our Board of Directors since our inception. He currently serves as the Chairman of the board of directors at Cerence Inc. and has been its Director since October 2019. He is also a Director of Accenture PLC since October 2015, Charles Schwab Corporation since October 2009 and ANI Technologies/Ola Cabs since July 2015, and he served as a Director of Cisco Systems, Inc. from 2009 to November 2020. Mr. Sarin served as Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Group plc from July 2003 to July 2008 and as a director at Vodafone Group plc from June 1999 to July 2008. He has also served as Chief Executive Officer of the USA/Asia-Pacific region of Vodafone plc from June 1999 to April 2000. Prior to that, Mr. Sarin served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Airtouch Inc. from February 1997 to June 1999 and as President and Chief Executive Officer of Airtouch International from April 1994 to February 1997. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Bluecora, Inc. from April 2000 to January 2001. Mr. Sarin served as Vice President and General Manager of Bay/regional markets, Vice president, Chief Financial Officer of Pacific Bell and Vice President of Corporate Strategy of Pacific Telesis Group from 1989 to 1993. He joined Pacific Telesis in the Corporate Development group in 1984. Over the last 20 years, Mr. Sarin has held several other directorships including Safeway Inc. (2009-2015), Blackhawk Networks (2009-2018), Gap, Inc. (1999-2003), Bank of England (2005-2009) and Mobileum (2017 to date). He was a senior advisor to KKR from 2009 to 2014 and a member of the advisory board of
Accel-KKR
from 2009 to 2019. Mr. Sarin was named as an Honorary Knight of the British Empire for his services to the communications industry. Mr. Sarin holds an M.B.A. and an M.S. in Engineering, both from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Technology degree from IIT, Kharagpur. We believe Mr. Sarin’s experiences make him well qualified to serve as a director.
Ori Sasson
has served as our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer since our inception. He has over three decades of experience as an entrepreneur and investor in disruptive technology companies. In 1990, Mr. Sasson founded Scopus Technology, a pioneer in enterprise customer relationship management software. Mr. Sasson served as Chairman and CEO of Scopus from its founding through its IPO in 1996 and its sale to Siebel Systems in 1998. In 1999, Mr. Sasson was appointed CEO of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories (“Genesys”), a provider of computer telephony integration and enterprise interaction management solutions. As CEO, Mr. Sasson, expanded Genesys’ global market reach and recruited an elite international management team. After approximately one year as CEO, Mr. Sasson spearheaded the sale of Genesys to Paris-based Alcatel (NYSE: ALU) for $1.9 billion. In total, Mr. Sasson has founded and seed funded multiple companies that have created billions of dollars in market value. Mr. Sasson has utilized his extensive operational experience as an entrepreneur to build a successful career as technology investor. Prior to founding Primera Capital in 2007, he was a partner at Apax Partners, a private equity firm. As General Partner of Primera Capital, Mr. Sasson leverages his operational knowledge, board experience and network connections to help his portfolio companies. Mr. Sasson’s strategy is to invest in extraordinary products, opportune markets and daring entrepreneurs with unwavering visions. Mr. Sasson has funded some of the world’s most transformative technology companies over the past two decades. Investments include VMware (acquired by EMC), Chegg (NYSE: CHGG), Fandango (acquired by Comcast), Houzz, HomeLight, Tipalti, TripActions and Duda. He founded and served as a board member of GTNexus until facilitating the company’s sale to Infor in August 2015.
 
58
Mr. Sasson was the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mobileum. He currently serves as Vice Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Airlinq and sits on the Board of Directors of Mobileum, Lifelink, Jitterbit and AirProtein. He has received numerous accolades, including the award for 1997 Bay Area Entrepreneur of the Year. Mr. Sasson earned a B.A. in Computer Science & Mathematics and an M.S. in Engineering and Operations Research in 1986 from the University of California at Berkeley. We believe Mr. Sasson’s experiences make him well qualified to serve as a director.
J. Michael Cline
is the founding managing partner of Accretive, LLC, a private equity firm that he founded in 1999. Mr. Cline has also founded a number of companies including Fandango, Accretive Health, Inc. (now known as R1 RCM, Inc.), Accolade, Inc., Insureon Holdings, LLC, Everspring Inc., and Accumen Inc., among others. Mr. Cline serves as the Chairman of Accolade (public) and Insureon and is on the Board of Everspring. From 1989 to 1999, Mr. Cline was a general partner of General Atlantic Partners, LLC, a private equity firm. Mr. Cline has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar and a B.S. from Cornell University. He chairs the Board of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and serves on the board of the Harvard Business School Rock Center for Entrepreneurship. We believe Mr. Cline’s experiences make him well qualified to serve as a director.
Sanjay Jha
 is the former Chief Executive Officer of GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc., a role in which he served from January 2014 to March 2018. Prior to that, he served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Motorola Mobility (January 2011-June 2012), the Chief Executive Officer of Motorola, Inc. (August 2008-December 2010), and the President and Chief Operating Officer of Qualcomm (May 1994-August 2008). Mr. Jha has also been a member of the Board of Advisors of the University of
California-San
Diego’s Faculty of Engineering since 2013 and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Salk Institute since 2012. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of SPARK Microsystems, Swift Navigation, Biological Dynamics, Anello Photonics, Cerence Inc., and is a strategic advisor to Eclipse Ventures. Mr. Jha earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Liverpool, a PhD from the University of Strathclyde in Digital Signal Processing, and a D.Sc. from the University of Strathclyde. We believe Mr. Jha’s experiences make him well qualified to serve as a director.
Oren Zeev
has been the Sole General Partner of Zeev Ventures, a venture capital firm, from 2015 to present. From 2007 to present, Mr. Zeev invested his own capital in early stage technology startups. Prior to that, Mr. Zeev was General Partner at Apax Partners, a multi-stage venture capital firm. Mr. Zeev also served on the board of Chegg (2008-2013) and Audible (2003-2008). Mr. Zeev has a BSc Cum Laude in EE from the Technion (1990) and an MBA with Distinction from INSEAD (1994). We believe Mr. Zeev’s experience as a professional investor makes him well qualified to serve as a director.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors consists of five members and is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed 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 NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general 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 Mr. Jha, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Mr. Cline and Mr. Zeev, will expire at the second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Mr. Sarin and Mr. Sasson, will expire at the third annual general meeting.
Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to appoint directors in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association relating to the rights of holders of Class B ordinary shares to appoint directors may be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary
 
59
shares voting in a general meeting. 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 officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Director Independence
The rules of the NYSE require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person who, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, stockholder, shareholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). We have three “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE rules and applicable SEC rules. Our board of directors has determined that J. Michael Cline, Sanjay Jha and Oren Zeev are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors 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 compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Each committee will operate under a charter that will be approved by our board and will have the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee is available on our website.
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. J. Michael Cline, Oren Zeev and Sanjay Jha serve as the members and Sanjay Jha serves as chair of the audit committee. J. Michael Cline, Oren Zeev and Sanjay Jha are independent of and unaffiliated with our sponsor and our underwriters. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, all the directors on the audit committee must be independent.
J. Michael Cline, Oren Zeev and Sanjay Jha are financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Sanjay Jha qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the purpose and principal functions of the audit committee, including:
 
  •  
assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent registered public accounting firm; the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us;
 
  •  
pre-approving
all audit and
non-audit
services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing
pre-approval
policies and procedures; reviewing and discussing with the independent registered public accounting firm all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence;
 
  •  
setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer
 
60
 
review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues;
 
  •  
meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation
S-K promulgated
by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and
 
  •  
reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities.
Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of the board of directors. J. Michael Cline, Sanjay Jha and Oren Zeev serve as the members and Oren Zeev serves as the chair of the compensation committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, all the directors on the compensation committee must be independent.
We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibility 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 based on such evaluation;
 
  •  
reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other 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;
 
  •  
approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our 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.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, other than the payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of up to $10,000 per month, for up to 18 months, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and reimbursement of expenses, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing shareholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.
 
61
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser and is 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 NYSE and the SEC.
Nominating Committee
We have established a nominating committee of the board of directors. The members of our nominating and corporate governance are J. Michael Cline, Sanjay Jha and Oren Zeev. J. Michael Cline serves as chair of the committee. Under the NYSE listing standards, all the directors on the nominating and corporate governance committee must be independent. Pursuant to NYSE’s
phase-in
rules for newly listed companies, we have 90 days from the date on which we are first listed on the NYSE to have a majority of the nominating and corporate governance committee be independent, and one year from the date on which we are first listed on the NYSE to have our nominating and corporate governance committee be fully independent. We intend to identify such additional independent directors as necessary to serve on the nominating and corporate governance committee within the applicable time period.
We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which will detail the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
 
  •  
identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for appointment at the annual general meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors;
 
  •  
developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines;
 
  •  
coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and
 
  •  
reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary.
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our shareholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of our ordinary shares to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. These
 
62
reporting persons are also required to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely upon a review of such forms, we believe that during the year ended December 31, 2020 there were no delinquent filers.
Code of Ethics
The Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. Our Code of Ethics is available on our website. If we make any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics other than technical, administrative or other
non-substantive
amendments, or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC or NYSE rules, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on our website. The information included on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form
10-K
or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our website are intended to be inactive textual references only.
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;
 
  •  
duty to 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 memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity 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. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and
 
63
to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:
 
Individual
  
Entity
  
Entity’s Business
  
Affiliation
Arun Sarin
   Cerence Inc.    Technology    Director
   Accenture PLC    Consulting    Director
   Charles Schwab Corporation    Financial Services    Director
   ANI Technologies/Ola Cabs    Transportation    Director
Ori Sasson
   Airlinq Inc.    Technology    Vice Chair & Chief Executive Officer
   Mobileum, Inc.    Technology    Director
   Lifelink, Inc.    Materials    Director
   Jitterbit    Technology    Director
   AirProtein    Consumer Food    Director
J. Michael Cline
   Accolade, Inc.    Technology    Chairman
   Insureon Inc.    Insurance    Chairman
   Everspring Industry Co., Ltd.    Security Systems    Director
Sanjay Jha
   SPARK Microsystems    Technology    Director
   Swift Navigation Inc.    Technology    Director
   Biological Dynamics Inc.    Technology    Director
   Anello Photonics    Technology    Director
   Cerence Inc.    Technology    Director
Oren Zeev
   —    —    —
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
 
  •  
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do intend to have one full-time employee prior to the completion of our initial business combination. However, each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs.
 
  •  
Our initial shareholders purchased founder shares prior to the closing of our IPO and purchase private placement warrants in a transaction that closed simultaneously with our IPO. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Additionally, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the private
 
64
 
placement warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share
sub-divisions,
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, the founder shares will be released from the lockup.
 
  •  
Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm, 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 any of their respective affiliates, be paid by the company 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 are first listed on the NYSE, we will also pay our sponsor or an affiliate thereof up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares, and they and the other members of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and any shares purchased during or after the offering 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, 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 may 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. We also intend to enter into indemnity agreements with them.
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
 
65
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. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if we (i) have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) consummate an initial business combination. 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.
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
None of our officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the NYSE through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will pay our sponsor or an affiliate thereof up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any
out-of-pocket
expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made from 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 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, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, 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 initial business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed initial business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after 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
 
66
our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
 
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 available to us at March 30, 2021, with respect to our ordinary shares held 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 officers and directors; and
 
  •  
all our 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 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 March 30, 2021.
 
    
Class B ordinary shares
(2)
   
Class A ordinary shares
       
Name of Beneficial Owners
(1)
  
Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
    
Approximate
Percentage
of Class
   
Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
    
Approximate
Percentage
of Class
   
Approximate
Percentage
of Voting
Control
 
Trepont Acquisition I, LLC
(3)
     5,630,000        97.9 %      —          —         19.58 % 
Arun Sarin
(3)
     5,630,000        97.9 %      —          —         19.58 % 
Ori Sasson
(3)
     5,630,000        97.9 %      —          —         19.58 % 
J. Michael Cline
     40,000        0.7 %      —          —         0.14 % 
Sanjay Jha
     40,000        0.7 %      —          —         0.14 % 
Oren Zeev
     40,000        0.7 %      —          —         0.14 % 
Allan Weine
(4)
     —          —         1,439,175        6.26 %      5.01 % 
Kenneth Griffin
(5)
     —          —         1,231,344        5.35 %      4.28 % 
All directors and officers as a group (five individuals)
     5,750,000        100 %      —          —         —    
 
(1)
Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 1400, San Francisco, CA 94111.
(2)
Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as Class B ordinary shares. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares on the first business day following our initial business combination on a
one-for-one
basis.
(3)
Sarin Sasson LLC is the sole member and manager of our sponsor and has voting and investment discretion with respect to the founder shares held of record by Trepont Acquisition I, LLC. Sarin Sasson LLC is beneficially owned and controlled by Arun Sarin and Ori Sasson. Each such person disclaims beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest he may have therein, directly or indirectly. Accordingly, all of the shares held by our sponsor may be deemed to be beneficially owned by Sarin Sasson LLC, Arun Sarin and Ori Sasson.
(4)
Includes 1,211,785 Class A ordinary shares owned by CC Arb West, LLC and 227,390 Class A ordinary shares held by CC Arbitrage, Ltd. Castle Creek Arbitrage, LLC is a registered investment adviser to CC Arb West, LLC and CC Arbitrage, Ltd. Allan Weine is the managing member of Castle Creek Arbitrage, LLC. By virtue of these relationships, each of Castle Creek Arbitrage, LLC and Allan Weine may be deemed to beneficially own the Class A ordinary shares that are directly owned by CC Arb West, LLC and CC Arbitrage, Ltd. The principal business address for the entities and Mr. Weine is 190 South LaSalle Street, Suite 3050, Chicago, Illinois 60603.
 
67
(5)
Includes 1,231,344 Class A ordinary shares owned by Citadel Equity Fund Ltd., Citadel Multi-Strategy Equities Master Fund Ltd., and Citadel Securities LLC. Citadel Advisors LLC is the portfolio manager for Citadel Equity Fund Ltd. and Citadel Multi-Strategy Equities Master Fund Ltd. Citadel Advisors Holdings LP is the sole member of Citadel Advisors LLC. Citadel GP LLC is the general partner of Citadel Advisors Holdings LP. CALC IV LP is the
non-member
manager of Citadel Securities LLC. Citadel Securities GP LLC is the general partner of CALC IV LP. Mr. Griffin is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Citadel GP LLC, and owns a controlling interest in Citadel GP LLC and Citadel Securities GP LLC. By virtue of these relationships, Mr. Griffin may be deemed to beneficially own the Class A ordinary shares that are directly owned by Citadel Equity Fund Ltd., Citadel Multi-Strategy Equities Master Fund Ltd., and Citadel Securities LLC. The principal business address for the entities and Mr. Griffin is 131 S. Dearborn Street, 32nd Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60603.
Our initial shareholders beneficially own 20% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares (excluding the representative shares). Only holders of Class B ordinary shares have the right to appoint directors in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to appoint any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial business combination. Because of this ownership block, our initial shareholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial business combination.
Our sponsor has purchased an aggregate of 8,900,000 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our IPO. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold in our IPO except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units sold in our IPO. If we do not complete a business combination by June 4, 2022, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The sale of the private placement warrants was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Our sponsor and
Co-Founders
are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws. See “Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions—Director Independence” for additional information regarding our relationships with our promoters.
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. Those
lock-up
provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (i) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our initial business combination, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share
sub-divisions,
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 and (B) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion or exercise thereof, until 30 days after the
 
68
completion of our initial business combination except in each case (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliate or family member of any of our officers or directors, any affiliate of our sponsor or to any member of the sponsor or any of their affiliates, (b) in the case of an individual, as a gift to such person’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of such person’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 such person; (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 shares or warrants were originally purchased; (f) by virtue of the laws of the Cayman Islands or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor, (g) in the event of our liquidation prior to our consummation of our initial business combination; or (h) in the event that, subsequent to our consummation of an initial business combination, we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property; 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 agreements.
Registration Rights
The holders of the (i) founder shares, which were issued in a private placement prior to the closing of our IPO, (ii) private placement warrants, which were issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our IPO and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such private placement warrants and (iii) private placement warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement. Pursuant to the registration rights agreement and assuming that 1,500,000 of working capital loans are converted into private placement warrants, we will be obligated to register 16,150,000 Class A ordinary shares and 8,900,000 warrants. The number of Class A ordinary shares includes (i) 5,750,000 Class A ordinary shares to be issued upon conversion of the founder shares, (ii) 8,900,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants and (iii) 1,500,000 Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans. The number of warrants includes 8,900,000 private placement warrants. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Equity Compensation Plans
As of December 31, 2020, we had no compensation plans (including individual compensation arrangements) under which equity securities were authorized for issuance.
 
Item 13.
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions
In September 28, 2020, our sponsor purchased 7,187,500 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or $0.003 per share. In November 2020, our sponsor forfeited 1,437,500 founder shares such that 5,750,000 founder shares remain outstanding. Prior to our IPO, the sponsor transferred 40,000 of our founder shares to each of our three independent directors.
Our sponsor has purchased an aggregate of 8,900,000 warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant, or $8,900,000 in the aggregate, in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of our IPO. The private placement warrants will be identical to the warrants sold in our IPO except that the private placement warrants, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including Class A ordinary
 
69
shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
We currently utilize office space at Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 1400, San Francisco, CA 94111 from our sponsor as our executive offices. Commencing on December 1, 2020, we pay our sponsor or an affiliate thereof up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team. Upon completion of our initial business combination or liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any
out-of-pocket
expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required on a
non-interest
basis. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts 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 private placement warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
Any of the foregoing payments to our sponsor, repayments of loans from our sponsor or repayments of working capital loans prior to our initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a general meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
We have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares and private placement warrants, which is described above.
Related Party Policy
The audit committee of our board of directors adopted a policy setting forth the policies and procedures for its review and approval or ratification of “related party transactions.” A “related party transaction” is any consummated or proposed transaction or series of transactions: (i) in which the company was or is to be a
 
70
participant; (ii) the amount of which exceeds (or is reasonably expected to exceed) the lesser of $120,000 or 1% of the average of the company’s total assets at year end for the prior two completed fiscal years in the aggregate over the duration of the transaction (without regard to profit or loss); and (iii) in which a “related party” had, has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. “Related parties” under this policy will include: (i) our directors, nominees for director or officers; (ii) any record or beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities; (iii) any immediate family member of any of the foregoing if the foregoing person is a natural person; and (iv) any other person who maybe a “related person” pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation
S-K under
the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the policy, the audit committee will consider (i) the relevant facts and circumstances of each related party transaction, including if the transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained in
arm’s-length
dealings with an unrelated third party, (ii) the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction, (iii) whether the transaction contravenes our code of ethics or other policies, (iv) whether the audit committee believes the relationship underlying the transaction to be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders and (v) the effect that the transaction may have on a director’s status as an independent member of the board and on his or her eligibility to serve on the board’s committees. Management will present to the audit committee each proposed related party transaction, including all relevant facts and circumstances relating thereto. Under the policy, we may consummate related party transactions only if our audit committee approves or ratifies the transaction in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the policy. The policy will not permit any director or officer to participate in the discussion of, or decision concerning, a related person transaction in which he or she is the related party.
Director Independence
The rules of the NYSE require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person who, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, stockholder, shareholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). We have three “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE rules and applicable SEC rules. Our board of directors has determined that J. Michael Cline, Sanjay Jha and Oren Zeev are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
 
Item 14.
Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The following is a summary of fees paid to WithumSmith+Brown, PC (“Withum”) for services rendered.
Audit Fees
. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our
year-end
financial statements, reviews of our quarterly financial statements and services that are normally provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with statutory and regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Withum for audit fees, inclusive of required filings with the SEC for the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, and of services rendered in connection with our initial public offering, totaled $65,185.
Audit-Related Fees
. Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our
year-end
financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultation concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay Withum any audit-related fees during the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
Tax Fees
. Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. We did not pay Withum any tax fees during the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
 
71
All Other Fees
. All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services. We did not pay Withum any other fees during the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
Pre-Approval
Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our IPO. 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).
 
72
PART IV
 
Item 15.
Exhibits, Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedules
 
(a)
The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report:
 
(1)
Financial Statements
The following financial statements are filed as part of this Annual Report:
 
    
F-2
 
Financial Statements:
  
    
F-3
 
    
F-4
 
    
F-5
 
    
F-6
 
    
F-7 – F-24
 
 
(2)
Financial Statements Schedule
All financial statement schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the amounts are immaterial and not required, or the required information is presented in the financial statements and notes thereto in this Item 15 of Part IV below.
 
(3)
Exhibits
We hereby file as part of this Annual 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 (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3.1 of the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 4, 2020)
  4.1    Warrant Agreement, dated December 1, 2020, between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 4.1 of the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 4, 2020)
10.1    Letter Agreement, dated December 1, 2020, among the Company and its officers and directors and Trepont Acquisition I, LLC (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 4, 2020)
10.2    Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated December 1, 2020, between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 4, 2020)
10.3    Registration Rights Agreement, dated December 1, 2020, between the Company and certain security holders (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.3 of the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 4, 2020)
 
73
Exhibit
No.
  
Description
10.4    Administrative Services Agreement, dated December 1, 2020, between the Company and Trepont Acquisition I, LLC (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 4, 2020)
10.5    Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement, dated December 1, 2020, between the Company and Trepont Acquisition I, LLC (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on December 4, 2020)
10.6    Form of Securities Purchase Agreement (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.7 of the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-250126) filed with the SEC on November 16, 2020)
31.1    Certification of the Registrant’s Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002*
31.2    Certification of the Registrant’s Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002*
32.1    Certification of the Registrant’s Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002*
32.2    Certification of the Registrant’s Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002*
101.INS    Inline XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document
101.SCH    Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CAL    Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEF    Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
101.LAB    Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PRE    Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
104    Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)
 
*
Filed herewith.
 
Item 16.
Form
10-K
Summary
Not applicable.
 
74
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of 1934, as amended, 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, on January 27, 2022.
 
Trepont Acquisition Corp I
By:
 
/s/ Ori Sasson
  Name: Ori Sasson
  Title: Chief Executive Officer
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this Annual Report on Form
10-K/A
has been signed by the following persons in the capacity and on the dates indicated.
 
Name
  
Positon
 
Date
/s/ Ori Sasson
Ori Sasson
   Chief Executive Officer   January 27, 2022
/s/ Arun Sarin
Arun Sarin
   Chairman of the Board   January 27, 2022
/s/ J. Michael Cline
J. Michael Cline
   Director   January 27, 2022
/s/ Sanjay Jha
Sanjay Jha
   Director   January 27, 2022
/s/ Oren Zeev
Oren Zeev
   Director   January 27, 2022
 
75
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of
Trepont Acquisition Corp I
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Trepont Acquisition Corp I (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the period from September 25, 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 September 25, 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 June 4, 2022 then the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. The date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 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
June 9, 2021, except for the effects of the restatement disclosed in Note 2, as to which the date is January 27, 2022
 
F-2
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
BALANCE SHEET
AS RESTATED – SEE NOTE 2
DECEMBER 31, 2020
 
Assets
        
Current assets:
        
Due from related party
   $ 1,637,690  
Prepaid expenses
     565,678  
    
 
 
 
Total current assets
     2,203,368  
Investments held in Trust Account
     232,300,970  
    
 
 
 
Total assets
  
$
234,504,338
 
    
 
 
 
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit

        
Current liabilities:
        
Accounts payable
   $ 27,988  
Accrued expenses
     77,001  
Note payable - related party
     25,000  
    
 
 
 
Total current liabilities
     129,989  
Derivative warrant liabilities
     28,330,000  
Deferred underwriting commissions
     8,050,000  
    
 
 
 
Total liabilities
     36,509,989  
Commitments and Contingencies
     
Class A ordinary shares; 23,000,000 shares subject to possible redemption at $10.10 per share
     232,300,000  
   
Shareholders’ Deficit
        
   
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding
     —    
   
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; no non-redeemable shares issued or outstanding
  
 
—  
 
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 shares issued and outstanding
     575  
Additional paid-in capital
     —    
Accumulated deficit
     (34,306,226 ) 
    
 
 
 
Total shareholders’ deficit
     (34,305,651 ) 
    
 
 
 
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Deficit

  
$
234,504,338
 
    
 
 
 
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
 
F-3
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
AS RESTATED – SEE NOTE 2
FOR THE PERIOD FROM SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020
 
Operating expenses:
        
General and administrative expenses
   $ 115,918  
Administrative fee—related party
     10,000  
    
 
 
 
Loss from operations
     (125,918 ) 
    
 
 
 
Other (expense) income:
        
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities
     (5,285,000 ) 
Financing costs—derivative warrant liabilities
     (775,153 ) 
Income earned on investments in Trust Account
     970  
    
 
 
 
Total other income
     (6,059,183 ) 
    
 
 
 
Net loss
   $ (6,185,101 ) 
    
 
 
 
Weighted average Class A ordinary shares outstanding, basic and diluted
     6,778,947  
    
 
 
 
Basic and diluted net income per ordinary share, Class A
   $ (0.52 ) 
    
 
 
 
Weighted average Class B ordinary shares outstanding, basic and diluted
     5,221,053  
    
 
 
 
Basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share, Class B
   $ (0.52 ) 
    
 
 
 
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
 
F-4
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
AS RESTATED – SEE NOTE 2
FOR THE PERIOD FROM SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020
 
 
  
Ordinary Shares
 
  
Additional Paid-In

Capital
 
 
Accumulated

Deficit
 
 
Total

Shareholders’

Deficit
 
 
  
Class A
 
  
Class B
 
 
  
Shares
 
  
Amount
 
  
Shares
 
  
Amount
 
Balance—September 25, 2020 (inception)
    
—  
    
$
—  
      
—  
    
$
—  
    
$
—  
   
$
—  
   
$
—  
 
Issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor
    
—  
      
—  
       5,750,000        575        24,425       —         25,000  
Accretion of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption amount
    
—  
      
—  
      
—  
      
—  
       (24,425 )     (28,121,125 )      (28,145,550 ) 
Net loss
    
—  
      
—  
      
—  
      
—  
      
—  
      (6,185,101 )      (6,185,101 ) 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
   
 
 
   
 
 
 
Balance—December 31, 2020
  
 
—  
 
  
$
—  
 
  
 
5,750,000
 
  
$
575
 
  
$
—  
 
 
$
(34,306,226
) 
 
$
(34,305,651
) 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
   
 
 
   
 
 
 
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
 
F-5
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
AS RESTATED – SEE NOTE 2
FOR THE PERIOD FROM SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020
 
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
        
Net loss
   $ (6,185,101 ) 
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
        
Income earned on investments held in Trust Account
     (970 ) 
General and administrative expenses paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B ordinary shares
     25,000  
General and administrative expenses paid by Sponsor under promissory note
     735  
Change in fair value of warrant derivative liabilities
     5,285,000  
Financing costs - derivative warrant liabilities
     775,153  
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
        
Prepaid expenses
     (565,678 ) 
Accounts payable
     27,988  
Accrued expenses
     2,001  
    
 
 
 
Net cash used in operating activities
     (635,872 ) 
    
 
 
 
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
        
Cash deposited in Trust Account
     (232,300,000 ) 
    
 
 
 
Net cash used in investing activities
     (232,300,000 ) 
    
 
 
 
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
        
Proceeds from note payable to related party
     25,000  
Repayment of note payable to related party
     (64,453 ) 
Proceeds received from initial public offering, gross
     230,000,000  
Proceeds received from private placement
     8,900,000  
Offering costs paid
     (4,986,985 ) 
Reimbursement from underwriters of offering costs
     700,000  
    
 
 
 
Net cash provided by financing activities
     234,573,562  
    
 
 
 
Net change in cash
     1,637,690  
Due from related party - beginning of the period
     —    
    
 
 
 
Due from related party - end of the period
  
$
1,637,690
 
    
 
 
 
Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities:
        
Offering costs included in accrued expenses
   $ 75,000  
Offering costs funded with note payable - related party
   $ 63,718  
Deferred underwriting commissions
 
   $ 8,050,000  
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
 
F-6
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
Note 1—Description of Organization and Business Operations
Trepont Acquisition Corp I (the “Company”) was incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on September 25, 2020. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is an emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.
As of December 31, 2020, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 relates to the Company’s formation and the preparation of its initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) and since the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the search for a prospective initial Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate
non-operating
income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering (as defined below). The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The Company’s sponsor is Trepont Acquisition I, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on December 1, 2020. On December 4, 2020, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 23,000,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), including 3,000,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments (the “Over-Allotment Units”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $230.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $12.5 million, inclusive of approximately $8.1 million in deferred underwriting commissions (Note 6), net of reimbursement of $700,000 from the underwriters.
Substantially concurrently with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 8,900,000 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”), at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $8.9 million (Note 5).
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, $232.3 million ($10.10 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”), located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule
2a-7
under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the “Investment Company Act”, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commission held in trust) at the time of the signing of a definitive agreement in connection with the initial Business Combination. However, the Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the

F-7
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
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.
The Company will provide the holders (the “Public Shareholders”) of the Public Shares, with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.10 per Public
Share). The per-share amount to
be distributed to Public Shareholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 6). These Public Shares will be classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” In such case, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation of a Business Combination, only if a majority of the ordinary shares, represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote thereon, voted at a general meeting are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a shareholder vote is not required by law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which the Company adopted upon the consummation of the Initial Public Offering (the “Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, shareholder approval of the transactions is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain shareholder approval for business reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Additionally, each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against or vote at all for the proposed transaction or vote at all. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Company’s Sponsor and each member of the Company’s management team agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined below in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of a Business Combination.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company seeks shareholder approval of the initial Business Combination and the Company does not conduct redemptions in connection with the Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association will provide that a Public Shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering, without the prior consent of the Company.
The holders of the Founder Shares (as defined below) prior to the Initial Public Offering (the “initial shareholders”) agreed not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (a) that would modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or June 4, 2022 (the “Combination Period”), or (b) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’
rights or pre-initial Business Combination
activity, unless the Company provides the Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares in conjunction with any such amendment.
 
F-8
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but 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 (less taxes payable and up to $
100,000
of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete its initial Business Combination within the Combination Period.
The Sponsor and each member of the Company’s management team has agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsor or members of the Company’s management team acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within in the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be less than $10.10 per share initially held in the Trust Account. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution in the Trust Account will be less than the $10.10 per share initially held in the Trust Account. In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.10 per Public Share and (ii) the actual amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.10 per share due to reductions in the value of the Trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay the Company’s tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
 
F-9
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2020, the Company had approximately $1.6 million in due from related party and working capital of approximately $2.1 million.
The Company’s liquidity needs to date have been satisfied through a contribution of $25,000 from the Sponsor to cover certain of the Company’s expenses in exchange for the issuance of the Founder Shares, the loan of approximately $89,000 from the Sponsor under the Note (see Note 5), and the proceeds from the consummation of the Private Placement not held in the Trust Account. The Company repaid approximately $64,000 of the Note balance on December 10, 2020, and the remaining $25,000 of the Note balance was outstanding as of December 31, 2020. In addition, 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, provide the Company Working Capital Loans (see Note 5). As of December 31, 2020, there was no amounts outstanding under Working Capital Loans.
Based on the foregoing, management believes that the Company will have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity from the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors to meet its needs through the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination or one year from this filing. Over this time period, the Company will be using these funds for paying existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective initial Business Combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination.
Risk and Uncertainties
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) announced a global health emergency because of a new strain of coronavirus (the
“COVID-19
outbreak”). In March 2020, the WHO classified the
COVID-19
outbreak as a pandemic, based on the rapid increase in exposure globally. The full impact of the
COVID-19
outbreak continues to evolve. The impact of the
COVID-19
outbreak on the Company’s results of operations, financial position and cash flows will depend on future developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak and related advisories and restrictions. These developments and the impact of the
COVID-19
outbreak on the financial markets and the overall economy are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. If the financial markets and/or the overall economy are impacted for an extended period, the Company’s results of operations, financial position and cash flows may be materially adversely affected. Additionally, the Company’s ability to complete an Initial Business Combination may be materially adversely affected due to significant governmental measures being implemented to contain the
COVID-19
outbreak or treat its impact, including travel restrictions, the shutdown of businesses and quarantines, among others, which may limit the Company’s ability to have meetings with potential investors or affect the ability of a potential target company’s personnel, vendors and service providers to negotiate and consummate an Initial Business Combination in a timely manner. The Company’s ability to consummate an Initial Business Combination may also be dependent on the ability to raise additional equity and debt financing, which may be impacted by the
COVID-19
outbreak and the resulting market downturn. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Note 2 —Restatement Of Previously Issued Financial Statements
In connection with the change in presentation of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, the Company concluded it should restate its previously filed financial statements to classify all Class A ordinary
 
F-10
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
shares subject to possible redemption in temporary equity. In accordance with ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of the Company require ordinary shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. The Company had previously classified a portion of its Class A ordinary shares in permanent equity, or total shareholders’ equity. Although the Company did not specify a maximum redemption threshold, its charter currently provides 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.
Previously, the Company did not consider redeemable shares classified as temporary equity as part of net tangible assets. Effective with its financial statements for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, the Company revised this interpretation to include temporary equity in net tangible assets. In addition, in connection with the change in presentation for the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, 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.
In accordance with SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 99, “Materiality,” and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 108, “Considering the Effects of Prior Year Misstatements when Quantifying Misstatements in Current Year Financial Statements,” the Company evaluated the corrections and has determined that the related impact was material to the previously filed financial statements that contained the error. Therefore, the Company, in consultation with its audit committee, concluded that the following financial statements should be restated: (i) audited balance sheet as of December 4, 2020 (the “Post IPO Balance Sheet”), as previously revised 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 June 9, 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 Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on June 21, 2021; and (iv) 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 16, 2021 (collectively, the “Affected Periods”), should be restated to report all Public Shares as temporary equity 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. The unaudited condensed financial statements for the periods ended March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will be amended in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q/A for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, to be filed with the SEC (the “Q3 2021 Form 10-Q”).
The restatement does not have an impact on the Company’s cash position and cash held in the trust account established in connection with the IPO (the “Trust Account”). This restatement also resulted in changes to the disclosures provided in Notes 3, 8 and 9 of these financial statements.
 
F-11
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
The table below presents the effect of the financial statement adjustments related to the restatement discussed above of the Company’s previously reported balance sheet as of December 31, 2020:
 
As of December 31, 2020
  
As Reported As Previously

Restated in

10-K/A

Amendment

No. 1
 
  
Adjustment
 
  
As Restated
 
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption
     192,994,340        39,305,660        232,300,000  
Class A ordinary shares
     389        (389 )       —    
Class B ordinary shares
     575        —          575  
Additional paid-in capital
     11,184,146        (11,184,146 )       —    
Accumulated deficit
     (6,185,101 )       (28,121,125 )       (34,306,226 ) 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)
  
$
5,000,009
    
$
(39,305,660
)
  		  
$
(34,305,651
)
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
The Company’s statement of shareholders’ equity (deficit) has been restated to reflect the changes to the impacted shareholders’ equity accounts described above.
The table below presents the effect of the financial statement adjustments related to the restatement discussed above of the Company’s previously reported statement of cash flows for the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020:
 
For the Period From September 25, 2020 (Inception) Through December 31, 2020
 
       
    
As Reported As Previously

Restated in

10-K/A

Amendment

No. 1
    
Adjustment
    
As Restated
 
Supplemental Disclosure of Noncash Financing Activities:
                          
Value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption
   $ 195,869,928      $ (195,869,928 )     $ —    
Change in value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption
   $ (2,875,588 )     $ 2,875,588      $ —    
 
F-12
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
The impact to the reported amounts of weighted average shares outstanding and basic and diluted earnings per share is presented below for the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020:
 
    
Earnings (Loss) Per Share
 
    
As Reported As Previously

Restated in

10-K/A

Amendment

No. 1
    
Adjustment
    
As Restated
 
For the Period From September 25, 2020 (Inception) Through December 31, 2020
                          
Net loss
   $ (6,185,101 )     $ —        $ (6,185,101 ) 
Weighted average shares outstanding - Class A ordinary shares

     23,000,000        (16,221,053 )       6,778,947  
Basic and diluted loss per share - Class A ordinary shares
   $ —        $ (0.52 )     $ (0.52 ) 
Weighted average shares outstanding - Class B ordinary shares
     5,213,158        7,895        5,221,053  
Basic and diluted loss per share - Class B ordinary shares
   $ (1.19 )     $ 0.67        (0.52 ) 
The table below presents the effect of the financial statement adjustments related to the restatement discussed above of the Company’s previously reported balance sheet as of December 4, 2020:
 
    
As Reported As Previously

Restated in

10-K/A

Amendment

No. 1
    
Adjustment
    
As Restated
 
As of December 4, 2020
                          
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption
     195,869,928        36,430,072        232,300,000  
Class A ordinary shares
     336        (336 )       —    
Class B ordinary shares
     575        —          575  
Additional paid-in capital
     5,816,611        (5,816,611 )       —    
Accumulated deficit
     (817,516 )       (30,613,125 )      (31,430,641 ) 
Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)
  
$
5,000,006
 
  
$
(36,430,072
) 
  
$
(31,430,066
) 
Going Concern
In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” management has determined that the mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after June 4, 2022. The financial statements do not include any adjustment that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern. The Company intends to complete its initial business combination before the mandatory liquidation date; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to consummate any business combination by June 4, 2022.
 
F-13
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
Note 3—Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The Company’s financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
As described in Note 2—Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements, the Company’s financial statements for the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 (the “Affected Period”), are restated in this Annual Report on Form
10-K/A
(Amendment No. 1) (this “Annual Report”) to correct the misapplication of accounting guidance related to the Company’s warrants in the Company’s previously issued audited financial statements for such periods. The restated financial statements are indicated as “Restated” in the audited financial statements and accompanying notes, as applicable. See Note 2—Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements for further discussion.
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth 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. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard.
This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could
 
F-14
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. One of the more significant accounting estimates included in these financial
statements
is the determination of the fair value of the warrant liability. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company had no cash equivalents as of December 31, 2020.
Investments Held in Trust Account
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, the Company was required to place net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement in a Trust Account, which may be invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with 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, as determined by management of the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account. Investments held in Trust Account are classified as trading securities, which are presented on the balance sheet at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of investments held in Trust Account are included in gain on marketable securities, dividends and interest held in Trust Account in the accompanying statement of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in Trust Account are determined using available market information, other than for investments in open-ended money market funds with published daily net asset values (“NAV”), in which case the Company uses NAV as a practical expedient to fair value. The NAV on these investments is typically held constant at $1.00 per unit.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000, and investments held in Trust Account. At December 31, 2020, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such accounts.
Fair Value Measurement
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. U.S. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value.
The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
 
  •  
Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets;
 
  •  
Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and
 
F-15
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
  •  
Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable.
In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
The fair value of Public Warrants was calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation model, and the fair value of Private Warrants was calculated using the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
As of December 31, 2020, the carrying values of cash, prepaid expenses, due from related party, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate their fair values due to the short-term nature of the instruments. As of December 31, 2020, the Company’s portfolio of investments held in the Trust Account is comprised entirely of investments in money market funds that invest in U.S. government securities. The Company uses NAV as a practical expedient to fair value for its investments in money market funds with published NAV.
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
Offering costs consisted of underwriting, legal, accounting, underwriting commissions and other costs incurred that were directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs are allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Initial Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs associated with warrant liabilities are expensed as incurred, presented as
non-operating
expenses in the statement of operations. Offering costs associated with the Public Shares were charged against the carrying value of the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering. The Company classifies deferred underwriting commissions as non-current liabilities as their liquidation is not reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities.
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in FASB ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2020, 23,000,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of the Company’s 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 views the end of the reporting period as if it were also the redemption date for the security.

Net Income (Loss) Per Ordinary Share
The Company has two classes of shares: 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 computed by dividing
 
F-16
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated

net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the periods. We do not consider the effect the warrants sold in the IPO and the private placement, an aggregate of
 
20,400,000
warrants, would have on diluted net income (loss) per share if exercised to purchase the Company’s Class A ordinary shares because their exercise is contingent upon future events and their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted net income (loss) per share is the same as basic net income (loss) per share for the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020. Accretion associated with the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value. The following table reflects the calculation of basic and diluted net loss per share:​​​​​​​
 
    
For The Period From September 25, 2020

(inception) through December 31, 2020
 
    
Class A
    
Class B
 
Basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share:
                 
Numerator:
                 
Allocation of net loss
   $ (3,494,039 )     $ (2,691,061 ) 
     
Denominator:
                 
Basic and diluted weighted average ordinary shares outstanding
     6,778,947        5,221,053  
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
Basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share
   $ (0.52 )     $ (0.52 ) 
    
 
 
    
 
 
 
Derivative Warrant Liabilities
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge its exposures to cash flow, market or foreign currency risks. Management evaluates all of the Company’s financial instruments, including issued warrants to purchase its Class A ordinary shares, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC
815-15.
The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is
re-assessed
at the end of each reporting period.
The Company issued 11,500,000 warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares to investors in the Company’s Initial Public Offering and simultaneously issued 8,900,000 Private Placement Warrants. All of the Company’s outstanding warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC
815-40.
Accordingly, we recognize the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The 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. The fair value of Public Warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offering was measured using a Monte Carlo simulation model at each measurement date. The fair value of the Private Placement warrants has been estimated using a Black Scholes simulation model at each measurement date. The fair value of the Public Warrants issued in connection with our Initial Public Offering will be measured based on the listed market price of such warrants, once these warrants are separately traded. Derivative warrant liabilities are classified as
non-current
liabilities as their liquidation is not reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or require the creation of current liabilities.
Income Taxes
FASB ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes” prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination
 
F-17
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated

by taxing authorities. There were
no
unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2020. The Company’s management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Company’s only major tax jurisdiction. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense.
No
amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties as of December 31, 2020. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.
There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with Cayman income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Company’s financial statements. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06,
Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’ Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’ Own Equity
(“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for the derivative scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 on January 1, 2021 using the modified retrospective method for transition. Adoption of the ASU did not impact the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. The Company’s management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the accompanying
 
financial statements.
Note 4—Initial Public Offering
On December 4, 2020, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 23,000,000 Units, including 3,000,000 Over-Allotment Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $230.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $12.5 million, inclusive of approximately $8.1 million in deferred underwriting commissions, net of reimbursement of $700,000 from the underwriters.
Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary
share and one-half of one
redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).
Note 5—Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On September 28, 2020, the Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain expenses on behalf of the Company in exchange for issuance of 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 (the “Founder Shares”). On November 16, 2020, the Sponsor forfeited 1,437,500 Class B ordinary shares for no consideration, resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share surrender. The Sponsor agreed to forfeit up to 750,000 Founder Shares to the extent that the overallotment option was not exercised in full or was reduced by the underwriters, so that the Founder Shares would represent 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. The underwriters fully exercised the over-allotment option on December 4, 2020; thus, these Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.
The Sponsor and the Company’s directors and executive officers agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion
 
F-18
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
of the initial Business Combination or earlier if, subsequent to the initial Business Combination, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share
sub-divisions,
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 initial Business Combination and (B) the date following the completion of the initial Business Combination on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Private Placement Warrants
Substantially concurrently with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the Private Placement of 8,900,000 Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant with the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $8.9 million.
Each whole Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the Private Placement Warrants was 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 Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants
will be non-redeemable
by the Company and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, subject to limited exceptions.
The Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.
Related Party Loans
On September 28, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $250,000 to cover the Company’s expenses related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan
is non-interest bearing
and payable upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering. As of December 4, 2020, the Company borrowed approximately $89,000 under the Note. The Company repaid approximately $64,000 of the Note principal balance on December 10, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, the outstanding Note balance was $25,000.
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 (“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 the 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, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1.5 million 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. To date, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.

F-19
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
Due from Related Party
As of December 31, 2020, there was approximately $1,637,000 in Due from related party. It was fully repaid by Trepont Acquisition I, LLC on March 1, 2021.
Administrative Support Agreement
Commencing on the date the Company’s securities were first listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the Company agreed to pay the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services provided to members of the management team. Upon completion of the initial Business Combination or the Company’s liquidation, the Company will cease paying these monthly fees. During the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, the Company incurred $10,000 of expenses for these services.
Note 6—Commitments and Contingencies
Registration and Shareholder Rights
The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) were entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement. These holders were entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. However, the registration and shareholder rights agreement provide that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the termination of the applicable
lock-up
period for the securities to be registered. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted the
underwriters a 45-day option from
the date of the final prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Initial Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The underwriters fully exercised the over-allotment option on December 4, 2020.
The underwriters were entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per unit, or $4.6 million in the aggregate, paid upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. In addition, $0.35 per unit, or approximately $8.1 million in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement. The underwriters had reimbursed $700,000 to the Company for certain offering costs.
Note 7—Derivative Warrant Liabilities
As of December 31, 2020, the Company had 11,500,000 and 8,900,000 Public Warrants and Private Warrants outstanding, respectively. Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination or (b) 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering; provided in each case that the Company has an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or the Company permits
 
F-20
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
holders to exercise their Public Warrants on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act). The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of the initial Business Combination, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of the 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, as specified in the warrant agreement provided that if the 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, the Company may, at its 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 the Company so elects, it will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption, but the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
The warrants have an exercise price of $11.50 per whole share, and will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the initial shareholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the initial shareholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of the initial Business Combination, and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates its 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 $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices described under “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” and “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively.
The Private Placement Warrants will be identical to the Public Warrants, except that the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination (except pursuant to certain limited exceptions to the officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with the initial purchasers of the Private Placement Warrants) and they will not be redeemable by the Company so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees. The Sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the Private Placement Warrants on a cashless basis. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by holders other than the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
 
F-21
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per Class
 A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00.
 Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except with respect to the Private Placement Warrants):
 
  •  
in whole and not in part;
 
  •  
at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
 
  •  
upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and
 
  •  
if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share
sub-divisions,
share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a
30-trading
day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (the “Reference Value”).
The Company will not redeem the warrants as described above unless an registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares is available throughout the
30-day
redemption period. If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, it may exercise its redemption right even if it is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Redemption of warrants for cash when the price per Class
 A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00.
 Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the Private Placement Warrants):
 
  •  
in whole and not in part;
 
  •  
at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption;
 provided
 that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the agreed table based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares;
 
  •  
if, and only if, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share
sub-divisions,
share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and
 
  •  
if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share
sub-divisions,
share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), the Private Placement Warrants must also concurrently be called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants, as described above.
The “fair market value” of the Class A ordinary shares for the above purpose shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares during the 10 trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. In no event will the warrants be exercisable in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
If the Company has not completed the initial Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with
 
F-22
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
Note 8—Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company’s Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of future events. As of December 31, 2020, there were 23,000,000 shares of Class A ordinary shares outstanding, which were all subject to possible redemption.
The Class A ordinary shares issued in the Initial Public Offering were recognized in Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption as follows:
 
Gross proceeds
   $ 230,000,000  
Less:
        
Fair value of Public Warrants at issuance
     (14,145,000 ) 
Offering costs allocated to Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption
     (11,700,550 ) 
Plus:
        
Accretion of carrying value to redemption value
     28,145,550  
    
 
 
 
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption
   $ 232,300,000  
    
 
 
 
Note 9—Shareholders’ Equity (Deficit)
Class
 A Ordinary Shares
—The Company is authorized to issue 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2020, there were 23,000,000 Class A ordinary shares issued or outstanding, all of which were subject to possible redemption and classified in temporary equity (see Note 8).
Class
 B Ordinary Shares
—The Company is authorized to issue 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. On September 28, 2020, the Company issued 7,187,500 Class B ordinary shares to the Sponsor. On November 16, 2020, the Sponsor forfeited 1,437,500 Class B ordinary shares for no consideration, resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share surrender. Of the 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding, up to 750,000 shares were subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ overallotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the holders of our Founder Shares prior to the Initial Public Offering would collectively own approximately 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding ordinary shares (See Note 5). The underwriters fully exercised the over-allotment option on December 4, 2020; thus, these Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.
Ordinary shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders. Holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the shareholders except as required by law.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of the initial Business Combination on a
one-for-one
basis, subject to adjustment for share
sub-divisions,
share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial Business Combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Founder Shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by Public Shareholders), including 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
 
F-23
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
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, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial Business Combination and any private placement warrants issued to the Sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of Working Capital Loans; provided that such conversion of Founder Shares will never occur on a less than
one-for-one
basis.
Preference Shares
—The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 preference shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share, with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of December 31, 2020, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.
Note 10—Fair Value Measurements
The following
table presents information about the Company’s financial assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2020 by level within the fair value hierarchy:
 
   
Fair Value Measured as of December 31, 2020
 
   
Level 1
   
Level 2
   
Level 3
   
Total
 
Assets:
                               
Investments held in Trust Account
  $ 232,300,970     $             —       $ —       $ —    
Liabilities:
                               
Stock warrant liabilities-Public warrants
    —         —         15,870,000       15,870,000  
Stock warrant liabilities-Private warrants
    —         —         12,460,000       12,460,000  
   
 
 
   
 
 
   
 
 
   
 
 
 
Total fair value
  $ 232,300,970     $ —       $ 28,330,000     $ 28,330,000  
   
 
 
   
 
 
   
 
 
   
 
 
 
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2, and 3 are recognized at the end of the reporting period. There were no transfers between levels of the hierarchy during the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
The fair value of the Public Warrants issued in connection with the Public Offering was initially and subsequently measured using a Monte Carlo simulation model at each measurement date. The fair value of Private Warrants was calculated using the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model. For the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, the Company recognized a charge to the statement of operations resulting from an increase in the fair value of liabilities of approximately $5.3 million presented as change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities on the accompanying statement of operations.
The estimated fair value of the Private Placement Warrants, and the Public Warrants prior to being separately listed and traded, is determined using Level 3 inputs. Inherent in Monte Carlo and Black-Scholes Option Pricing Models are assumptions related to expected stock-price volatility, expected life, risk-free interest rate and dividend yield. The Company estimates the volatility of its Class A ordinary shares warrants based on implied volatility from the Company’s traded warrants and from historical volatility of select peer company’s Class A ordinary shares that matches the expected remaining life of the warrants. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury
zero-coupon
yield curve on the grant date for a maturity similar to the expected remaining life of the warrants. The expected life of the warrants is assumed to be equivalent to their remaining contractual term.
 
F-24
TREPONT ACQUISITION CORP I
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
As Restated
 
The dividend rate is based on the historical rate, which the Company anticipates remaining
at zero.
Information regarding Level 3 fair value measurements inputs at their measurement:
 
    
As of
December 4,
2020
   
As of
December 31,
2020
 
Stock Price
     9.38       9.68  
Option term (in years)
     5.75       5.67  
Volatility
     23.0 %      23.2 % 
Risk-free interest rate
     0.52 %      0.46 % 
Dividend yield
     0 %      0 % 
The change in the fair value of the derivative warrant liabilities measured with Level 3 inputs for the period from September 25, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 is summarized as follows:
 
Derivative warrant liabilities as of December 4, 2020
   $ 25,537,000  
Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities
     2,793,000  
    
 
 
 
Derivative warrant liabilities as of December 31, 2020
   $ 28,330,000  
    
 
 
 
Note 11—Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, other than
 as
described in Note 2 with respect to the restatements, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
 
F-25
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