UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number:

 

Big Sky Growth Partners, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (406)

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

 

S-T

non-accelerated

12b-2

12b-2

non-voting

non-affiliates

As of March 28, 2022, there were 

 

shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share and

 

 

shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, issued and outstanding.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTAIN TERMS

10-K

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

10-K

10-K

10-K

SUMMARY OF THE MATERIAL RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR BUSINESS

 

Big Sky is a newly organized blank check company established by Mark Vadon, Paul Ferris and Lauren Neiswender. We founded the company to leverage the deep expertise that our team has investing in, partnering with and growing digitally native Internet Retail and companies. While we may choose to partner with a company in any sector, we intend to focus our search on these sectors or technologies that power these sectors. We aim to partner with a business that demonstrates rapid growth fueled by its consumer value proposition and persistent relationship with customers. Today’s consumers are looking for product and service innovation as well as brand authenticity. We believe that businesses that are purpose-driven, environmentally sustainable and customer-focused demonstrate characteristics that are critical for differentiation and long-term persistent growth in our target sectors.

We seek to capitalize on our management team’s experience as founders, entrepreneurs, operators, advisors and active investors in our focus sectors to both source differentiated opportunities and collaborate with a potential target business. We draw on Mark Vadon’s experience as the of both Zulily and Blue Nile and as the Chairman of the board of Chewy as well as his long track record of private and public investments. Our management team has an extensive network of founder, entrepreneur, board, and venture investor relationships from which to source opportunities, and we believe that the experience and capabilities of our management team will make us an attractive partner. We expect to continue to be active investors and advisors following the potential business combination and plan to draw upon our management team’s expertise to add significant value to a partner through close strategic and board level collaboration.

We were incorporated in Delaware on February 11, 2021 with the purpose to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses.

To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities as well as activities related to our initial public offering and search for a potential target business. We have generated no operating revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial business combination.

While we may pursue acquisitions in any sector or industry, we will focus our search for opportunities to create value in the sectors where our management team have significant experience and leading edge expertise.

On May 3, 2021, the Company consummated its Initial Public Offering of 30,000,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $300.0 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $17.3 million, inclusive of $10.5 million in deferred underwriting commissions.

Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment.

The Company granted the underwriters a option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 4,500,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Initial Public Offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The option to purchase additional units expired unexercised on June 14, 2021.

 

1

Upon the consummation of the Initial Public Offering and the private placement, a total of $300.0 million was deposited in a U.S.-based trust account, maintained by Continental Stock Transfer and Trust Company, acting as trustee. Transaction costs of the Initial Public Offering amounted to approximately $17.3 million, of which approximately $10.5 million was for offering costs allocated to derivative warrant liabilities. Funds held in the trust account have been invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of one hundred and eighty-five (185) days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), which invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds in the trust account that may be released to us to pay income taxes, if any, the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account (1) to us until the completion of its initial business combination or (2) to our public stockholders, until the earliest of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A common stock that such stockholders properly elect to redeem, subject to certain limitations, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a (i) stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of its obligation to provide holders of its Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with its initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights of holders of our Class A common stock or business combination activity and (c) the redemption of all of our public shares if we have not completed our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, subject to applicable law.

We aim to collaborate closely with a business partner and will focus on partners that:

 

 

Our management team is led by Mark Vadon, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Vadon Zulily, a consumer internet retailer of products targeting moms, babies and children, and served as Chairman of the board from 2009 until September 2015. We believe that Zulily’s revenue growth was one of the fastest in the internet retail sector at that time, achieving over $1 billion in annual revenues less than five years from inception. Mr. Vadon also Blue Nile, a consumer internet retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry, and served as Chairman of the board from 1999 to 2013 and Chief Executive Officer from 1999 to 2008. From its inception until it was acquired by Bain Capital in 2017, Blue Nile generated approximately $5 billion in revenue. Prior to Blue Nile, Mr. Vadon was a consultant for Bain & Company, a management consulting firm, which he joined in 1992.

 

2

Mr. Vadon has been actively investing in and advising consumer internet businesses since 2007. Mr. Vadon served as Chairman of the board of Chewy from 2014 to 2017, and advised and invested in private rounds of companies such as Allbirds, Crowd Cow, FlyHomes, Outdoor Voices, The Pill Club Medical Group, Rad Power Bikes, Sweetgreen, Thrive Market, Trupanion, Course Hero New Engen and Wine.com. In addition to his privately held company boards, Mr. Vadon has served on the board of Qurate Retail Group (formerly Liberty Interactive Corporation) since 2015 and previously served on the board of The Home Depot from 2012 to 2019. Mr. Vadon holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies from Harvard University.

Paul Ferris serves as our President and a director. Mr. Ferris is a founding General Partner with Azure, an early stage technology focused venture capital firm based in San Francisco, CA. Mr. Ferris has over 25 years of experience working with high growth disruptive technology companies, with the past 20 years investing directly in consumer, digitally native vertical and cloud enabling technologies for Azure. During his career, Mr. Ferris has played an active role in driving the growth of his portfolio companies by providing investment and strategic guidance, including stage-specific executive team recruitment, financial forecasting discipline, business model refinement, data-driven efficient customer acquisition strategies, critical business development partnerships and growth capital relationships. Over his 20 years as a venture capital investor, Mr. Ferris has built a strong and close network of entrepreneurs, board members, experienced executives and venture and growth-stage investors.

Prior to founding Azure in 2000, Mr. Ferris was a strategic adviser with several investment banks, including Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley, where he focused on emerging technology companies. He has played a key role in over 30 successful venture-backed outcomes, both as an investor and adviser. Mr. Ferris has served on both public and private boards and currently sits on the private boards of The Bouqs, Ranovus and Glydways. He is also a board member and board observer on a number of earlier stage portfolio companies. Mr. Ferris received Bachelor of Arts degrees in Computer Science and English from Amherst College.

Lauren Neiswender serves as our Chief Financial Officer, Chief Legal Officer and a director. Ms. Neiswender served as General Counsel of Blue Nile from its initial public offering in 2004 to 2020 and served as Corporate Secretary from 2010 to 2020. Prior to Blue Nile, Ms. Neiswender was an attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC. Ms. Neiswender has deep experience across a vast variety of financial and legal matters including, initial public offerings, going private transactions, debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, responsible sourcing, risk management, cybersecurity, privacy, intellectual property, import and export regulations, litigation, international expansion, human resources, tax, marketing and real estate. Ms. Neiswender holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Emory University.

Our management team’s efforts to seek and collaborate with a suitable partner will be complemented by the extensive operating experience and network of our board of directors. Our board of directors will utilize their industry expertise, experience building companies with significant scale and broad network to assist us in identifying potential partners as well as advise our partner management team.

Darrell Cavens serves on our board of directors. Mr. Cavens Zulily and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2018 and a director from October 2009 to October 2015. After Zulily, Mr. Cavens served as the President of New Ventures for Qurate Retail Group until his retirement. In this role, Mr. Cavens led the team responsible for driving innovative retail concepts and looking beyond Qurate Retail Group’s current business for additional growth opportunities, through internal innovation, strategic partnerships, joint ventures and acquisitions. Prior to Zulily, in 2009, Mr. Cavens spent a year at Microsoft Corporation leading the BizTalk Server business and almost a decade at Blue Nile from 1999 to 2008, where he most recently served as the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Technology. Prior to Blue Nile, he was at Starwave, a Seattle-based internet company, working on large web properties, including ESPN.com and ABCNews.com. Mr. Cavens currently serves on the public board of Tapestry since July 2018, and on several privately held company boards, including Rad Power Bikes. He serves as an advisory board member to Brooks Running and previously served on the boards of Offerup, Plated and Deliveroo.

 

3

Joseph Zwillinger serves on our board of directors. Mr. Zwillinger Allbirds in 2015 and has served as the Executive Officer and a director of Allbirds since its inception. Allbirds, a publicly traded retail company, makes shoes and apparel from natural materials and sells these products via a mix of digital and retail all over the world. Mr. Zwillinger regularly invests in early stage private companies as a General Partner in Good Friends, a venture capital fund. Prior to Allbirds, Mr. Zwillinger was the Vice President of Industrial Products at TerraVia (formerly Solazyme), a biotechnology company harnessing the power of microalgae to replace petroleum in fuels, chemicals, food, and cosmetics. Prior to TerraVia, Mr. Zwillinger worked in advisory and investment roles at Industry Ventures, Deloitte Consulting and the Goldman Sachs Group. Mr. Zwillinger earned a Master of Business Administration degree with Honors from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research from the University of California, Berkeley.

Michael Smith serves on our board of directors. Mr. Smith is General Partner and co-founder at Footwork, an early stage venture capital firm. Mr. Smith is a member of several public company boards, including Stitch Fix since December 2020, Ulta Beauty since September 2019 and Herman Miller since January 2019. He is also a member of the boards of several privately held companies, including Food52, Mayvenn, Via and Heard. From 2012 to January 2021, Mr. Smith held various executive positions at Stitch Fix, an online apparel retailer and personal styling service, including most recently serving as its President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Smith also served as its interim Chief Financial Officer and General Manager of Stitch Fix Men, a new product line for the business. Prior to Stitch Fix, Mr. Smith served in a variety of capacities at Walmart.com, an online retail company, including Chief Operating Officer from 2010 to 2012 and Vice President from 2008 to 2010. Before turning to operations, Mr. Smith worked at Accenture and Morgan Stanley. Mr. Smith holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Virginia. 

Consistent with our strategic focus, we have identified the following general criteria that we believe are important in evaluating prospective partners, although we may decide to enter into a business combination with a partner that does not meet these criteria and guidelines.

 

 

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

These criteria and guidelines are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of an initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general criteria and guidelines as well as other considerations, factors, and criteria that our team may determine to be relevant.

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with members of the target business’s management and other employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspections of facilities and a review of financial and other information about the target business and its industry.

Members of our management team directly or indirectly own shares of our common stock and/or private placement warrants and, accordingly, 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 directors and officers 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. 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 opportunity to such entity. 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.

 

5

Our officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing a target business, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates. However, we do not currently expect that any such other blank check company would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence.

Nasdaq rules and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation require that we complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of signing the agreement to enter into the initial business combination and that a majority of our independent directors approve such initial business combination(s). If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, or we are considering an initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), or an independent valuation or accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our stockholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion, nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. While we consider it unlikely that our board will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of a target business or businesses, it may be unable to do so if the board is less familiar or experienced with the target business’s sector or operations, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the company’s assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the target business meets the 80% of net assets threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our stockholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to stockholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed transaction will include such opinion.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders 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 prior owners of the target business, the target business’s management team or its stockholders 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 business or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target business, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target business and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target business. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target business. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If 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 and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholders approval, as applicable.

 

6

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with any Investment Entity or our sponsor, founders, officers or directors, or a company in which any of the foregoing may have a direct or indirect interest. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with an Investment Entity, our sponsor or any of our founders, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent valuation or accounting firm that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

Certain Investment Entities and members of our board of directors directly or indirectly own founder shares and private placement warrants and, accordingly, 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 or directors were to be included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

The Investment Entities currently manage multiple investment vehicles and may raise additional funds successor funds or other investment vehicles or accounts in the future, which may be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. The Investment Entities may be seeking investments or acquisition opportunities and related financing at any time. We may compete with any one or more of them on any given acquisition opportunity.

In addition, our sponsor and each of our officers or directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures, including, without limitation, forming investment funds or other vehicles whose strategies may conflict with or otherwise be competitive with us during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments, including without limitation investment funds or other vehicles, may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination.

Each of the Investment Entities, our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary, contractual or other obligations to other entities pursuant to which the Investment Entities or such persons is or will be required to present to such other entities a business opportunity that may conflict with or otherwise be competitive with us during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Accordingly, if an Investment Entity or any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business opportunity for an entity to which such Investment Entity or such person has then-current fiduciary, contractual or other obligations to present such opportunity to such entity that may be a suitable business combination opportunity for us, such Investment Entity or such person will honor such fiduciary, contractual or other obligations to present such business opportunity to such other entity, in which case such business combination opportunity may not be made available to us. Further, each of the Investment Entities and our officers and directors have duties and obligations with respect to confidentiality to other entities and may in the future agree to additional such duties or obligations, which may prevent such Investment Entities or such officers and directors from disclosing such information to us. Each of the Investment Entities and our officers and directors will comply with such duties and obligations of confidentiality to such other entities, in which case, we may not have access to such information. In addition, we may, at our option, pursue an Affiliated Joint Acquisition opportunity with an entity to which the Investment Entities, our sponsor or any of our officers or directors currently has, or may in the future have, a fiduciary or contractual obligation. Any such entity may with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the business combination by making a specified future issuance to any such entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal, contractual or other obligation.

 

7

In addition, none of our founders, officers or directors are required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. Moreover, our founders, officers and directors have, and will have in the future, time and attention requirements for current and future businesses, including the Investment Entities. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between, on the one hand, us and, on the other hand, any Investment Entity (including, without limitation, arising as a result of certain of our founders, officers and directors being required to offer investment or acquisition opportunities to such Investment Entity), such Investment Entity, its affiliates and our founders, officers and directors will resolve such conflicts of interest in their sole discretion in accordance with their then existing fiduciary, contractual, and other duties, and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor.

Any past experience and performance of any Investment Entity or our management team is not a guarantee either: (1) that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (2) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of any Investment Entity or our management team’s performance as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. An investment in us is not an investment in any Investment Entity. None of our sponsor, officers or directors has had experience with forming a blank check company or special purpose acquisition company in the past.

Our executive offices are located at 1201 Western Avenue, Suite 406, Seattle, Washington 98101.

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 advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder 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 May 3, 2026, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in debt during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.

 

8

We filed a Registration Statement on Form with the SEC on April 5, 2021 to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. As a result, we are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock in the target business for our shares of Class A common stock (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our shares of Class A common stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to become a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.

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

While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek stockholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following May 3, 2026, (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 shares of Class A common stock that is held by exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in debt during the prior three-year period.

With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $289,500,000, after payment of the expenses of our initial public offering and $10,500,000 of deferred underwriting fees and not including approximately $1,000,000 of operating cash held outside the Trust Account as of December 31, 2021, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.

 

9

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations other than our search for a potential target business. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering, the private placements of the private placement warrants, our equity, 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 securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our shares of Class A common stock, 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.

Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely affect a target business.

We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. We are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.

Certain members of our management team have spent significant portions of their careers working with businesses in the Internet Retail and companies industry and have developed a wide network of professional services contacts and business relationships in that industry. The members of our board of directors also have significant executive management and public company experience with Internet Retail and companies. Our process of identifying target businesses will leverage our management team’s industry experiences, demonstrated deal sourcing capabilities and broad and deep network of relationships, including executives and management teams, private equity groups and other institutional investors, large business enterprises, lenders, investment bankers and other investment market participants, restructuring advisers, consultants, attorneys and accountants, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. We expect that the collective experience, capability and network of our founders, directors and officers, combined with their individual and collective reputations in the investment community, will help to create prospective business combination opportunities.

In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and private investment funds. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this Annual Report on Form and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions.

While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of a finder’s fee is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation by the company prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). None of our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be allowed to receive any compensation, finder’s fees or consulting fees from a prospective target business in connection with a contemplated acquisition of such target business by us.

 

10

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or from making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transactions with affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth below and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking which is a member of FINRA or an independent valuation or accounting firm, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.

As more fully discussed in “Item 10—Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance,” if any of our executive officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity, including private funds under the management of any Investment Entity or its respective portfolio companies, to which he or she has fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. In addition, existing and future funds managed by any Investment Entity or its respective portfolio companies may compete with us for business combination opportunities and if such opportunities are pursued by such entities, we may be precluded from pursuing such opportunities. All of our executive officers currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us. In addition, we may pursue an Affiliated Joint Acquisition opportunity with an entity to which an officer or director has a fiduciary or contractual obligation. Any such entity may with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by issuing to such entity a class of equity or equity-linked securities. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target business, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.

The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination.

 

11

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

 

 

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

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

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

We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons.

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

 

 

 

 

12

The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which stockholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and legal reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:

 

 

 

 

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase 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. 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. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act or the tender offer rules.

In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

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

Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders (in the case of shares of Class A common stock) following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such stockholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the stockholder meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, executive officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

 

13

Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) , Rule or Rule of the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.

We will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a 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 (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Our sponsor has entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed to (i) waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and (ii) waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to consummate an initial business combination by May 3, 2023. Our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have also agreed (A) that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by May 3, 2023 or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares and (B) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. However, our sponsor and members of our management team will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares held thereby if we fail to consummate an initial business combination by May 3, 2023.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). However, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target business or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target business for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

We will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder 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 stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking stockholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote unless stockholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other legal reasons.

 

14

If we held a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

 

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

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the shares of Class A common stock voted, on an as converted basis, are voted in favor the business combination. In such case, our sponsor has agreed to vote the founder shares and any public shares purchased by our sponsor following the completion of our initial public offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our sponsor’s founder shares, we would need 11,250,001, or 37.5%, of the 30,000,000 public shares outstanding 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). Each stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have entered into agreements 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 a business combination.

If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

 

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

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 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 stockholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

 

15

If we seek stockholder 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 certificate of incorporation provides that a stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares. We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders 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 stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of our outstanding public shares 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 stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target business that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.

However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.

Public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

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

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

 

16

The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming stockholder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.

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

If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our stockholders 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 business until May 3, 2023.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will only have until May 3, 2023 to consummate an initial business combination. If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to consummate an initial business combination by May 3, 2023.

Our sponsor has entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which it has waived its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to consummate an initial business combination by May 3, 2023. However, if our sponsor or members of our management team hold public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to consummate an initial business combination by May 3, 2023.

Our sponsor has agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that it will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination by May 3, 2023 or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of taxes payable), 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 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsors, any executive officer or director or any other person.

 

17

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, 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 initial public offering and the issuance 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 redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual redemption amount received by stockholders will not be less than $10.00. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.

Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm), 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 stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. The underwriters 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 vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per 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. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per share.

 

18

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 (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm), 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 this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We had access to $1,000,000 from the proceeds of our initial public offering 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, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors.

If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. 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 stockholders 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 stockholders 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 consummate an initial business combination by May 3, 2023, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination by May 3, 2023 or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or business combination activity or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote.

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

 

19

We currently maintain our executive offices at 1201 Western Avenue, Suite 406, Seattle, Washington 98101. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

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

We have registered our units, shares of Class A common stock and warrants under the Exchange Act and we are required to file Annual Reports on Form and Quarterly Reports on Form with the SEC on a regular basis, and are required to disclose certain material events in a Current Report on Form Additionally, in accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants. Such reports and other information filed by the Company with the SEC, when available, will be available free of charge, at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, the Company will provide copies of these documents without charge upon request from us in writing at 1201 Western Avenue, Suite 406, Seattle, Washington 98101 or by telephone at (406)

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

We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

We have registered our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.

We are 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 advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder 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.

 

20

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 May 3, 2026, (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 shares of Class A common stock that are held by exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in debt during the prior three-year period.

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

 

We are a blank check company with no operating results, and our only operations until consummating our initial business combination consist of our search for potential target businesses. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning our initial business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential target businesses for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into initial business combinations, and there are still many companies preparing for an initial public offering, as well as many such companies in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive target businesses may be available to consummate an initial business combination.

 

21

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

Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, the Investment Entities is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance of the Investment Entities or our management team is not a guarantee either: (1) that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (2) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of the Investment Entities or our management team’s performance as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. An investment in us is not an investment in any Investment Entity. None of our sponsor, officers, directors or the Investment Entities has had experience with forming a blank check company or special purpose acquisition company in the past.

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning our initial business combination will be aware that we must consummate our initial business combination by May 3, 2023. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating our initial business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.

We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate an initial business combination by May 3, 2023. 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. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within such applicable time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

 

22

Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us. Further, the Investment Entities and each of our officers and directors have duties and obligations with respect to confidentiality to other entities and may in the future agree to additional such duties or obligations, which may prevent the Investment Entities and such officers and directors from disclosing such information to the company. The Investment Entities and our officers and directors will comply with such duties and obligations of confidentiality to such other entities, in which case, the company may not have access to such information.

Our ability to consummate a business combination may be dependent on our ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by current or anticipated military conflict, including between Russia and Ukraine, terrorism, sanctions, the pandemic 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. Economic uncertainty in various global markets caused by political instability may result in weakened demand for products sold by potential target businesses and difficulty in forecasting financial results on which we rely in the evaluation of potential target businesses. Global conflicts, including the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as economic sanctions implemented by the United States and European Union against Russia in response thereto, may negatively impact markets, increase energy and transportation costs and cause weaker macro-economic conditions. Political developments impacting government spending, and international trade, including inflation or raising interest rates, may also negatively impact markets and cause weaker macro-economic conditions. The effect of any or all of these events could adversely impact our ability to find a suitable business combination, as it may affect demand for potential target businesses’ products or the cost of manufacturing thereof, harm their operations and weaken their financial results.

Additionally, the outbreak has resulted, and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result, in a widespread health crisis that has affected, or could adversely affect, the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. The extent to which impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new variant strains of the underlying disease that may develop, new information which may emerge concerning the severity of and the actions to contain or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected. If the disruptions posed by or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.

Nasdaq rules and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation require that the target business or businesses that we acquire must collectively have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance of the funds in the trust account (excluding any taxes payable) at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for our initial business combination. This restriction may limit the type and number of companies that we may complete a business combination with. If we are unable to locate a target business or businesses that satisfy this fair market value test, we may be forced to liquidate and you will only be entitled to receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account, which may be less than $10.00 per share.

 

23

If a stockholder vote is not required, we may conduct redemptions via a tender offer. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our public shares do not approve the business combination.

At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of one or more target businesses. Because our board of directors may consummate our initial business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination. Accordingly, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our business combination.

Our sponsor owns, on an basis, 20% of our outstanding common stock as of the date of this Annual Report on Form Our sponsor also may from time to time purchase shares of Class A common stock prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, if we seek stockholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares voted at such meeting, including the founder shares. As a result, in addition to our sponsor’s founder shares, we would need 11,250,001, or 37.5%, of the 30,000,000 outstanding 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 ). Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our sponsor to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholders approval for such initial business combination.

We may enter into a transaction agreement with a prospective target business that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we may not be able to meet such closing condition, and as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective target businesses would be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into our initial business combination transaction with us.

 

24

In connection with the successful consummation of our business combination, we may redeem up to that number of shares of common stock that would permit us to maintain net tangible assets of $5,000,001. If our business combination requires us to use substantially all of our cash to pay the purchase price, the redemption threshold may be further limited. Alternatively, we may need to arrange third party financing to help fund our business combination in case a larger percentage of stockholders exercise their redemption rights than we expect. If the acquisition involves the issuance of our shares as consideration, we may be required to issue a higher percentage of our shares to the target business or its stockholders to make up for the failure to satisfy a minimum cash requirement. Raising additional funds to cover any shortfall may involve dilutive equity financing or incurring indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. This may limit our ability to effectuate the most attractive business combination available to us.

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. The average percentage of shares for which redemption rights have been exercised in recent business combinations by other special purpose acquisition companies increased substantially in the second half of 2021 and remains very high during 2022 If, pursuant to the terms of our proposed business combination, we are required to maintain a minimum net worth or retain a certain amount of cash in trust in order to consummate the business combination and regardless of whether we proceed with redemptions under the tender offer or proxy rules, the probability that we cannot consummate our business combination is increased. If we do not consummate our business combination, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate. 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 in our trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.

If we seek stockholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules and our redemption offer in connection with the stockholder approval of our business combination is not otherwise deemed to be a tender offer, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or equity-linked securities in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the consummation of our initial business combination. Such purchases will not be made if our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates are in possession of any material information that has not been disclosed to the selling stockholder, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, other than as expressly stated herein, 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. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. It is intended that, if Rule would apply to purchases by our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates, then such purchases will comply with Rule under the Exchange Act, to the extent it applies, which provides a safe harbor for purchases made under certain conditions, including with respect to timing, pricing and volume of purchases.

 

25

The purpose of such purchases would be to (1) increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (2) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of the business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the consummation of an initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

If our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares of common stock in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, the public “float” of our shares of common stock and the number of beneficial holders of our securities would both be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain the listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange following consummation of the business combination.

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 stockholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly redeem or tender public shares. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See “Item 1—Business—Effecting Our Initial Business Combination—Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”

Our public stockholders shall be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only in the event of a redemption to public stockholders prior to any winding up in the event we do not consummate our initial business combination or our liquidation, if they redeem their shares in connection with an initial business combination that we consummate or if we seek to amend our certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our redemption obligation to redeem all public shares if we cannot complete an initial business combination by May 3, 2023 or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or business combination activity. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to the funds in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares, potentially at a loss.

Because the net proceeds of our initial public offering are intended to be used to complete our initial business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 following the completion of our initial public offering, 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, offerings subject to Rule 419 would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us.

 

26

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, individually or together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of our outstanding public shares. Your inability to redeem more than an aggregate of 15% of the public shares will reduce your influence over our ability to consummate our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell such excess shares in open market transactions. As a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, you would be required to sell your shares in open market transaction, potentially at a loss.

The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate until at least May 3, 2023, assuming that our initial business combination is not consummated during that time. 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 provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we are unable to fund such down payments or “no shop” provisions, our ability to close a contemplated transaction could be impaired. Furthermore, if we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive a pro rata portion of the amount then in the trust account (which may be less than $10.00 per share) (whether or not the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) on our redemption, and our warrants will expire worthless.

Even if we conduct thorough due diligence on a target business with which we combine, this diligence may not surface all material issues that may be present inside a particular target business. And, regardless of how comprehensive our diligence may be, factors outside of the target business and outside of our control may arise later. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or 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 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 debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below $10.00 per share (whether or not the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full) and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine on our behalf whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations on our behalf, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

 

27

The founder shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as converted basis, 20% of the total number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of shares of Class A common stock by public stockholders). This amount will include the total number of shares of Class A common stock 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, but will exclude any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities or rights exercisable for or convertible into shares of Class A common stock 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 basis. This is different than some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies in which the initial stockholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to our initial business combination.

Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Item 10—Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.”

 

28

Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. The Investment Entities and each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary, contractual or other obligations to other entities, including the Investment Entities, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity or other business opportunities to such entity. In addition, existing and future Investment Entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities and, if such opportunities are pursued by such entities, we may be precluded from pursuing such opportunities. Further, any of the foregoing may engage in businesses that are competitive to a prospective or actual target business for the company’s initial business acquisition. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. In addition, our sponsor and each of our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures, including without limitation forming investment funds or other vehicles whose strategies may conflict with or otherwise be competitive with us, during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments, including without limitation investment funds or other vehicles, may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Item 10—Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance” “Item 10—Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Conflicts of Interest” and “Item 13—Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or executive officers or a target business in which any of the foregoing have an interest, although we do not intend to do so, or we may acquire a target business through an Affiliated Joint Acquisition with one or more affiliates of the Investment Entities and/or one or more investors in any current or future investment fund, investment vehicle, account or client. 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. As a result, there may be substantial overlap between companies that would be a suitable business combination for us and companies that would make an attractive target business for the Investment Entities’ funds. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.

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 or in determining the outcome of any conflicts of interest that may arise as a result of such personal and financial interests. 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 stockholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Delaware law and we or our stockholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our stockholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.

 

29

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or 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 as set forth in “Item 1—Business—Effecting Our Initial Business Combination—Evaluation Of A Target Business And Structuring Of Our Initial Business Combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm 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, executive 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 stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

Moreover, we may pursue an Affiliated Joint Acquisition opportunity with one or more affiliates of the Investment Entities and/or one or more investors in the Investment Entities. Any such parties may with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the business combination by issuing to such parties a class of equity or equity-linked securities. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including restrictions on the nature of our investments and restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including registration as an investment company, adoption of a specific form of corporate structure and reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations. 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 consummate our initial business combination.

In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading in securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our 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-business combination 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 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. An investment in our public shares is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of shares of our Class A common stock the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by May 3, 2023 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of shares of our Class A common stock, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business by May 3, 2023, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. 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 do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

30

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target business 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 stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder 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 shares of Class A common stock 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 in connection with such initial business combination, all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.

Unlike most blank check companies, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock 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 share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our initial stockholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial stockholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance including any transfer or reissuance of such shares) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 50% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination, and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our shares of Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day after the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the Market Value, and $10.00 and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices of the warrants 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 are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments, in particular, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. 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 also may 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 and results of operations.

 

31

If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by May 3, 2023, we will, as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than five business days thereafter (subject to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and applicable law), distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (net of taxes payable), pro rata to our public stockholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up of our affairs by way of a voluntary liquidation, as further described herein. Any redemption of public stockholders from the trust account shall be effected as required by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prior to our commencing any voluntary liquidation. Except as otherwise described herein, we have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of any redemption required as a result of our failure to consummate our initial business combination within the period described above or our liquidation, unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their shares of common stock. Only upon any such redemption of public shares as we are required to effect, or any liquidation, will public stockholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination.

Pursuant to an agreement entered into in connection with the closing of our initial public offering, our sponsor (and/or our sponsor’s designees) and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the founder shares, the private placement warrants, the underlying securities and any securities issued upon conversion of working capital loans. 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 shares of common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholder 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 shares of common stock that is expected to occur when the securities owned by our sponsor, holders of our private units or their respective permitted transferees are registered.

We may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business industry or sector, but we intend to initially focus on those industries or sectors that complement our management team’s background. Except for the limitations that a target business have a fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the trust account (excluding any taxes payable) and that we are not permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations, we will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective acquisition candidate. Because we have not yet identified or approached any specific target business with respect to our initial business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’ operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we consummate 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 may not 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 thus leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. In addition, investors will be relying on the business judgment of our board of directors, which will have significant discretion in choosing the standard used to establish the fair market value of a particular target business. An investment in our units may not ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a target business.

 

32

There is no limitation on the industry or business sector we may consider when contemplating our initial business combination. We may therefore be presented with a business combination candidate in an industry unfamiliar to our management team, but determine that such candidate offers an attractive investment opportunity for our company. In the event we elect to pursue an investment outside of our management’s expertise, our management’s experience may not be directly applicable to the target business or their evaluation of its operations.

Although we have identified specific 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 consummate our initial business combination with a target business 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 our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders 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 stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or the Nasdaq, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder 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 stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share or even less (whether or not the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) on our redemption, and our warrants will expire worthless.

Subject to the requirements in Nasdaq rules and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the trust account (excluding any taxes payable) at the time of the agreement to enter into such initial business combination, we will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective acquisition candidate. Investors will be relying on management’s ability to identify business combinations, evaluate their merits, conduct or monitor diligence and conduct negotiations. Management’s flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective acquisition candidate, along with management’s financial interest in consummating our initial business combination, may lead management to enter into an acquisition agreement that is not in the best interest of our stockholders, which would be the case if the trading price of our shares of common stock after giving effect to such business combination was less than the trust liquidation value that our stockholders would have received if we had dissolved without consummating our initial business combination.

Unless we consummate our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that the price we are paying is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

 

33

We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting, and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents, and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others.

If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to consummate 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 stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share or even less (whether or not the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) on our redemption, and our warrants will expire worthless.

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 consummated our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or 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.

The role of such persons in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of such persons 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, our assessment of these individuals may not 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.

Members of our management team may be able to remain with the company after the completion of our business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty that any members of our management team will remain with us after the completion of our business combination. We cannot assure you that any members of our management team will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any members of our management team will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

 

34

When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’ 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.

The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the consummation 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 some members of the management team of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.

Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. For a complete discussion of our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Item 10—Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.”

Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. The Investment Entities and our sponsor and officers and directors are, and may in the future become, affiliated with entities (such as operating companies or investment vehicles) that are engaged in a similar business. Our sponsor and directors and officers are also not prohibited from sponsoring, or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies prior to us completing our initial business combination. Moreover, certain of our directors and officers have time and attention requirements for investment funds of which affiliates of our sponsor are the investment managers.

 

35

The Investment Entities and our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities in the future to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see the sections of this Annual Report on Form entitled “Item 10—Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance,” “Item 10—Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Conflicts of Interest” and “Item 13—Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”

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 (subject to certain approvals and consents), 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. We do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under the section of this Annual Report on Form entitled “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 business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in the section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K entitled “Item 1—Business—Effecting Our Initial Business Combination—Sources of Target Businesses” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

 

36

On February 19, 2021, our sponsor paid $25,000 to cover for certain expenses and offering costs on behalf of the company in exchange for issuance of 8,625,000 founder shares. By April 23, 2021, our sponsor transferred an aggregate of 150,000 founder shares to certain of our board members. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after our initial public offering. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,733,333 private placement warrants, each exercisable for one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments as described herein, for a purchase price of $8,600,000, or $1.50 per whole warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete a business combination. Our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any founder shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsor, affiliates of our sponsor or an officer or director. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination.

Our sponsor has agreed to (i) waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and (ii) waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to consummate an initial business combination by May 3, 2023. Our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares they hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. However, if our sponsor, directors or executive officers hold any public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to consummate an initial business combination by May 3, 2023. Accordingly, the founder shares will be worthless if we do not consummate our initial business combination. Any warrants they hold, like those held by the public, will also be worthless if we do not consummate an initial business combination. 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 stockholders’ best interest.

Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. If we incur any indebtedness without a waiver from the lender of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

37

 

 

 

The net proceeds from our initial public offering together with the funds we received from the sale of the private warrants (excluding $1,000,000 of net proceeds that are not held in the trust account) provides us with approximately $289,500,000 assuming no redemptions that we may use to complete our initial business combination, after payment of the deferred underwriting discount of $10,500,000.

We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously. 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 consummating 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 or services. This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments, 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.

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 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 are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their prorate share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of taxes paid or payable (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $100,000 of interest). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

 

38

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 (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective partner 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 stockholders, 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 founders will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if our founding team believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.

Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by our founding team to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where our founding team is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not consummated an initial business combination by May 3, 2023 or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per share redemption amount received by public stockholder could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement entered into in connection with our initial public offering, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.20 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 $10.20 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

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 the 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.

 

39

In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. By definition, very little public information 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 our initial business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

We may structure our initial business combination to acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only consummate such business combination if we will become the majority stockholder of the target business (or control the target business through contractual arrangements in limited circumstances for regulatory compliance purposes) or are otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act or to the extent permitted by law we may acquire interests in a variable interest entity, in which we may have less than a majority of the voting rights in such entity, but in which we are the primary beneficiary. Even though we may own a majority interest in the target business, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target business and us in the business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target business. In this case, we acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target business. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that we will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.

If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time period and we liquidate the funds held in the trust account, the warrants will expire and holders will not receive any of such proceeds with respect to the warrants. The foregoing may provide a financial incentive to public stockholders to vote in favor of any proposed initial business combination as each of their warrants would entitle the holder to receive or purchase additional shares of common stock, resulting in an increase in their overall economic stake in us. If a business combination is not approved, the warrants will expire and will be worthless.

If we do not maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants at the time that holders wish to exercise such warrants, they will only be able to exercise them on a “cashless basis” provided that an exemption from registration is available. As a result, the number of shares of common stock that a holder will receive upon exercise of its public warrants will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised its warrant for cash. Further, if an exemption from registration is not available, holders would not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis and would only be able to exercise their warrants for cash if a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is available. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our commercially reasonable efforts to meet these conditions and to maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so. If we are unable to do so, the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in us may be reduced or the warrants may expire worthless. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the private placement warrants may be exercisable for unregistered shares of common stock for cash even if the prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not current and effective.

 

40

No public warrants will be exercisable for cash and we will not be obligated to issue shares of common stock unless the shares of common stock issuable upon such exercise have been registered or qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants. At the time that the warrants become exercisable, we expect to continue to be listed on a national securities exchange, which would provide an exemption from registration in every state. However, we cannot assure you of this fact. If the common shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the warrants reside, the warrants may be deprived of any value, the market for the warrants may be limited and they may expire worthless if they cannot be sold.

If we call our public warrants for redemption when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 after the criteria for such redemption as described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K have been satisfied, our management will have the option to require any holders that wishes to exercise their warrant (including any warrants held by our sponsor and/or its permitted transferees) to do so on a “cashless basis.” If our management chooses to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, the number of shares of common stock received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised their warrant for cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company.

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

As of the date of this Annual Report on Form we have 13,233,333 warrants outstanding (comprised of the 7,500,000 warrants included in the units and the 5,733,333 private placement warrants). We currently expect to account for these warrants as a warrant liability, which means that we will record them at fair value upon issuance with any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities. In addition, potential target businesses may seek a business combination partner that does not have warrants that are accounted for as a warrant liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.

In no event will we have any obligation to net cash settle the warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.

 

41

We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, if, among other things, the reported closing price of the common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and for certain issuances of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination as described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form for any 20 trading days within a day period ending three business days before we send to the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. Please see in the section entitled “Warrants—Redemptions of Public Stockholders’ Warrants for When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $18.00” in Exhibit 4.5 to this Annual Report on Form We will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the redemption period. 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.

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 stock splits, stock 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 shares of our Class A common stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A common stock. Please see the section entitled “Warrants—Redemptions of Public Stockholders’ Warrants for When the Price per Share of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $10.00” in Exhibit 4.5 to this Annual Report on Form 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 common stock received is capped at 0.361 shares of our Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants. We will not redeem the warrants unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the redemption period, except if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the Market Value of your warrants. Except as otherwise described in this Annual Report on Form none of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us for cash so long as they are held by their initial purchasers or their permitted transferees.

If our initial business combination requires us to use substantially all of our cash to pay the purchase price, because we will not know how many public stockholders may exercise redemption rights, we may either need to reserve part of the trust account for possible payment upon such redemption, or we may need to arrange third party financing to help fund our initial business combination. In the event that the acquisition involves the issuance of our stock as consideration, we may be required to issue a higher percentage of our stock to make up for a shortfall in funds. Raising additional funds to cover any shortfall may involve dilutive equity financing or incurring indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. This may limit our ability to effectuate the most attractive business combination available to us.

 

42

In connection with any meeting held to approve an initial business combination, we will offer each public stockholder (but not our sponsor, officers or directors) the right to have their shares of common stock redeemed for cash (subject to the limitations described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form ) regardless of whether such stockholder votes for or against such proposed business combination; provided that a stockholder must in fact vote for or against a proposed business combination in order to have their shares of common stock redeemed for cash. If a stockholder fails to vote for or against a proposed business combination, that stockholder would not be able to have their shares of common stock so redeemed. We will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation and a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. This is different than other similarly structured blank check companies where stockholders are offered the right to redeem their shares only when they vote against a proposed business combination. This threshold and the ability to seek redemption while voting in favor of a proposed business combination may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.

We will require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either (i) tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the expiration date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or in the event we distribute proxy materials, up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination or amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our redemption obligation to redeem all public shares if we cannot complete an initial business combination or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or business combination activity, or (ii) deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. In order to obtain a physical stock certificate, a stockholder’s broker and/or clearing broker, DTC and our transfer agent will need to act to facilitate this request. It is our understanding that stockholders should generally allot at least two weeks to obtain physical certificates from the transfer agent. However, because we do not have any control over this process or over the brokers or DTC, it may take significantly longer than two weeks to obtain a physical stock certificate. While we have been advised that it takes a short time to deliver shares through the DWAC System, this may not be the case. Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we are required to provide at least 10 days advance notice of any stockholder meeting, which would be the minimum amount of time a stockholder would have to determine whether to exercise redemption rights. Accordingly, if it takes longer than we anticipate for stockholders to deliver their shares, stockholders who wish to redeem may be unable to meet the deadline for exercising their redemption rights and thus may be unable to redeem their shares.

We will require public stockholders who wish to redeem their shares of common stock in connection with any proposed business combination to comply with the delivery requirements discussed above for redemption. If such proposed business combination is not consummated, we will promptly return such certificates to the tendering public stockholders. Accordingly, investors who attempted to redeem their shares in such a circumstance will be unable to sell their securities after the failed acquisition until we have returned their securities to them. The market price for our shares of common stock may decline during this time and you may not be able to sell your securities when you wish, even while other stockholders that did not seek redemption may be able to sell their securities.

 

43

We expect to encounter intense competition from entities other than blank check companies having a business objective similar to ours, including investment funds and operating businesses competing for acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. Therefore, our ability to compete in acquiring certain sizable target businesses may be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, seeking stockholder approval of our initial business combination may delay the consummation of a transaction. Additionally, our rights, and the future dilution they represent (entitling the holders to receive shares of common stock on consummation of our initial business combination), may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Any of the foregoing may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating our initial business combination.

Although we believe that the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to consummate our initial business combination, because we have not yet identified any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction or our costs to identify and consummate a transaction and to operate the target business. If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient for one or more reasons including the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination, or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. Financing may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment may make it especially difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to consummate our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular initial business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share or even less (whether or not the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) on our redemption, and the warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to consummate 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 stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.

As of the date of this Annual Report on Form our sponsor (and its transferees/designees, if any) collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If we or our sponsor purchase any additional shares of common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, has any current intention to purchase additional securities. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our shares of common stock.

 

44

The price of our securities may fluctuate significantly due to general market and economic conditions. An active trading market for our securities may not be sustained. In addition, the price of our securities can vary due to general economic conditions and forecasts, our general business condition and the release of our financial reports. Additionally, if our securities become delisted from the Nasdaq for any reason, the liquidity and price of our securities may be more limited than if we were quoted or listed on Nasdaq or another national securities exchange. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established or sustained.

We cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on Nasdaq in the future. Additionally, in connection with our business combination, Nasdaq may require us to file a new initial listing application and meet its initial listing requirements as opposed to its more lenient continued listing requirements. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time. If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

 

 

 

 

 

The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards, or IFRS, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board or the IASB, depending on the circumstances. Historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. We will include substantially the same financial statement disclosure in connection with any tender offer documents we use, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses with which we consummate our initial business combination, because some target businesses may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules, and hence we may be unable to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

 

45

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form for the year ending December 31, 2021. 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 all 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 controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

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.

We identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the accounting for certain complex financial instruments related to the improper classification of our common stock subject to possible redemption at the closing of our initial public offering and the restatement of our earnings per share calculation. As a result of this material weakness, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2021. This material weakness resulted in a material misstatement of the initial carrying value of the common stock subject to possible redemption and the restatement of our earnings per share calculation for the affected periods.

To respond to this material weakness, we have devoted, and plan to continue to devote, significant effort and resources to the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements, we plan to enhance these processes to better evaluate our research and understanding of the nuances of the complex accounting standards that apply to our financial statements. The elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects. For a discussion of management’s consideration of the material weakness we identified, see Item 9a—Controls and Procedures included in this Annual Report on Form

Any failure to maintain such internal control could adversely impact our ability to report our financial position and results from operations on a timely and accurate basis. If our financial statements are not accurate, investors may not have a complete understanding of our operations. 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 common stock is listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. In either case, there could result a material adverse effect on our business. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock.

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 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.

 

46

.

After consultation with management and our audit committee, we concluded that there was a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting.

As a result of such material weakness and other matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, we face potential for litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the restatement and material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements. As of the date of this report, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or our ability to complete a business combination.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. We will remain an “emerging growth company” for up to five years. However, if either our debt issued within a three-year period, or our revenues exceed $1.07 billion, or the market value of our shares of common stock that are held by exceeds $700 million on the last day of the second fiscal quarter of any given fiscal year, we would cease to be an emerging growth company as of the following fiscal year. As an emerging growth company, we (i) are not required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and (iii) are exempt from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and obtaining stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

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

We cannot predict if investors will find our shares less attractive because we may rely on these provisions. If some investors find our shares less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our shares and our share price may be more volatile.

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

 

 

 

47

We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq, subject to applicable rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for: (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (b) any action asserting a claim of breach of fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or to our stockholders; (c) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporate Law, or the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our bylaws; or (d) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, except for, as to each of (a) through (d) above, any claim as to which the Court of Chancery determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, or for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. These exclusive forum provisions would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act, which provides for exclusive jurisdiction of the federal courts. It could apply, however, to a suit that falls within one or more of the categories enumerated in the exclusive forum provision and asserts claims under the Securities Act, inasmuch as Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder; provided, that with respect to claims under the Securities Act, our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. These exclusive forum provisions may limit the ability of our stockholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum that such stockholders find favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, and employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.

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

 

 

 

 

 

48

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Political events in another country, current or anticipated military conflict, including between Russia and Ukraine, terrorism, sanctions or other geopolitical events globally, may significantly affect our business, assets or operations. Social unrest, acts of terrorism, regime changes, changes in laws and regulations, political upheaval, pandemics and policy changes or enactments could negatively impact our business in a particular country.

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

Rules and regulations in many countries are often ambiguous or open to differing interpretation by responsible individuals and agencies at the municipal, state, regional and federal levels. The attitudes and actions of such individuals and agencies are often difficult to predict and inconsistent.

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

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

 

49

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 our laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues, which may adversely affect our operations.

In the event we acquire a target business, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, 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 businesses’ 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.

Foreign law could govern our material agreements. The target business may not be able to enforce any of its material agreements and remedies may not be available outside of such foreign jurisdiction’s legal system. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws and contracts in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The judiciaries in certain foreign countries may be relatively inexperienced in enforcing corporate and commercial law, leading to a higher than usual degree of uncertainty as to the outcome of any litigation. Any such jurisdictions may not favor outsiders or could be corrupt. As a result, the inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business and business opportunities.

 

None.

 

We currently maintain a mailing address at 1201 Western Avenue, Suite 406, Seattle, Washington 98101. Our executive officers perform their duties remotely. We consider this arrangement adequate for our current operations.

 

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

 

Not applicable.

 

50

PART II

(a) Market Information

(b) Holders

(c) Dividends

(d) Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

(e) Performance Graph

(f) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings

Sales of Unregistered Securities

Use of Proceeds

(g) Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

References to the “Company,” “Big Sky,” “our,” “us,” or “we” refer to Big Sky Growth Partners, Inc. The following discussion and analysis of the company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form

Overview

Results of Operations

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Contractual Obligations

Registration Rights and Shareholder Rights

Underwriting Agreement

Risks and Uncertainties

Critical Accounting Policies

Derivative Warrant Liabilities

Distinguishing Liabilities From Equity

, Derivatives and Hedging

, paragraph 15 Embedded Derivatives

Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption

480-10-S99,

Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity

Off-Balance

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 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 growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the 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 Initial Public Offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.

 

We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.

 

Reference is made to Pages through comprising a portion of this Annual Report on Form

 

None.

 

As of December 31, 2021, as required by Rules and under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules and under the Exchange Act) were not effective as of December 31, 2021 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 financial instruments issued by us was not effectively designed or maintained. In light of this material weakness, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented.

 

56

This Annual Report on Form does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of the Company’s registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission for newly public companies.

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules and of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting except for the below.

 

57

 

As of the date of this Annual Report on Form our officers and directors are as follows:

 

Our management team is led by Mark Vadon, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Vadon Zulily, a consumer internet retailer of products targeting moms, babies and children, and served as Chairman of the board from 2009 until September 2015. We believe that Zulily’s revenue growth was one of the fastest in the internet retail sector at that time, achieving over $1 billion in annual revenues less than five years from inception. Mr. Vadon also Blue Nile, a consumer internet retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry, and served as Chairman of the board from 1999 to 2013 and Chief Executive Officer from 1999 to 2008. From its inception until it was acquired by Bain Capital in 2017, Blue Nile generated approximately $5 billion in revenue. Prior to Blue Nile, Mr. Vadon was a consultant for Bain & Company, a management consulting firm, which he joined in 1992.

Mr. Vadon has been actively investing in and advising consumer internet businesses since 2007. Mr. Vadon served as Chairman of the board of Chewy from 2014 to 2017, and advised and invested in private rounds of companies such as Allbirds, Crowd Cow, FlyHomes, Outdoor Voices, The Pill Club Medical Group, Rad Power Bikes, Sweetgreen, Thrive Market, Trupanion, Course Hero, New Engen and Wine.com. In addition to his privately held company boards, Mr. Vadon has served on the board of Qurate Retail Group since 2015 and previously served on the board of Home Depot from 2012 to 2019. Mr. Vadon holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies from Harvard University.

Mr. Vadon is responsible for Big Sky’s investment strategy and has relationships with an extensive network of founders, management teams, investors and advisors. We believe his reputation as a successful investor and track record of founding, building, advising and supporting high growth consumer companies will differentiate us as we identify, evaluate, and negotiate with potential business partners.

 

58

Paul Ferris serves as our President and a director. Mr. Ferris is a founding General Partner with Azure, an early stage technology focused venture capital firm based in San Francisco, CA. Mr. Ferris has over 25 years of experience working with high growth disruptive technology companies, with the past 20 years investing directly in consumer, digitally native vertical and cloud enabling technologies for Azure. During his career, Mr. Ferris has played an active role in his portfolio companies by providing investment and strategic guidance, including stage-specific executive team recruitment, financial forecasting discipline, business model refinement, data-driven efficient customer acquisition strategies, critical business development partnerships and growth capital relationships. Over his 20 years as a venture capital investor, Mr. Ferris has built a strong and close network of entrepreneurs, board members, experienced executives and venture and growth-stage investors.

Prior to founding Azure in 2000, Mr. Ferris was a strategic adviser with several investment banks, including Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley, where he focused on emerging technology companies. He has played a key role in over 30 successful venture-backed outcomes, both as an investor and adviser. Mr. Ferris has served on both public and private boards and currently sits on the private boards of The Bouqs, Ranovus and Glydways. He is also a board member and board observer on a number of earlier stage portfolio companies. Mr. Ferris received Bachelor of Arts degrees in Computer Science and English from Amherst College.

We believe that Mr. Ferris’ significant experience sourcing, investing in and advising high growth companies over many years as a venture capitalist, as well has his deep financial experience, will differentiate us in our ability to source, evaluate and identify potential business partners.

Lauren Neiswender serves as our Chief Financial Officer, Chief Legal Officer and a director. Ms. Neiswender served as General Counsel of Blue Nile from its initial public offering in 2004 to 2020 and served as Corporate Secretary from 2010 to 2020. Prior to Blue Nile, Ms. Neiswender was an attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC. Ms. Neiswender has deep experience across a vast variety of financial and legal matters including, initial public offerings, going private transactions, debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, responsible sourcing, risk management, cybersecurity, privacy, intellectual property, import and export regulations, litigation, international expansion, human resources, tax, marketing and real estate. Ms. Neiswender holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Emory University.

We believe that Ms. Neiswender’s legal and financial expertise with both privately-held and public companies will differentiate us in matters of governance, financial advisory to potential target businesses, and negotiation of terms on an initial business combination with potential partners.

Our management team’s efforts to seek and collaborate with a suitable partner will be complemented by the extensive operating experience and network of our board of directors. Our board of directors will utilize their industry expertise, experience building companies with significant scale and broad network to assist us in identifying potential partners as well as advise our partner management team.

Darrell Cavens serves as one of our directors. Mr. Cavens Zulily and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2018 and a director from October 2009 to October 2015. After Zulily, Mr. Cavens served as the President of New Ventures for Qurate Retail Group until his retirement. In this role, Mr. Cavens led the team responsible for driving innovative retail concepts and looking beyond Qurate Retail Group’s current business for additional growth opportunities, through internal innovation, strategic partnerships, joint ventures and acquisitions. Prior to Zulily, in 2009, Mr. Cavens spent a year at Microsoft Corporation leading the BizTalk Server business and almost a decade at Blue Nile from 1999 to 2008, where he most recently served as the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Technology. Prior to Blue Nile, he was at Starwave, a Seattle-based internet company, working on large web properties, including ESPN.com and ABCNews.com. Mr. Cavens currently serves on the public board of Tapestry since July 2018, and on several privately held company boards, including Rad Power Bikes. He serves as an advisory board member to Brooks Running and previously served on the boards of Offerup, Plated and Deliveroo.

 

59

We believe Mr. Cavens’ significant experience with founding, leading, investing in, and growing large scale consumer businesses will differentiate us in our ability to ability to source, evaluate and identify potential business partners.

Joseph Zwillinger serves as one of our directors. Mr. Zwillinger Allbirds in 2015 and has served as the Executive Officer and a director of Allbirds since its inception. Allbirds makes shoes and apparel from natural materials and sells these products via a mix of digital and retail all over the world. Mr. Zwillinger regularly invests in early stage private companies as a General Partner in Good Friends, a venture capital fund. Prior to Allbirds, Mr. Zwillinger was the Vice President of Industrial Products at TerraVia (formerly Solazyme), a biotechnology company harnessing the power of microalgae to replace petroleum in fuels, chemicals, food, and cosmetics. Prior to TerraVia, Mr. Zwillinger worked in advisory and investment roles at Industry Ventures, Deloitte Consulting and the Goldman Sachs Group. Mr. Zwillinger earned a Master of Business Administration degree with Honors from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research from the University of California, Berkeley.

We believe Mr. Zwillinger’s significant experience with founding, leading, investing in, and growing mission driven consumer businesses will differentiate us in our ability to ability to source, evaluate and identify potential business partners.

Michael Smith serves as one of our directors. Mr. Smith is General Partner and at Footwork, an early stage venture capital firm. Mr. Smith is a member of several public company boards, including Stitch Fix since December 2020, Ulta Beauty since September 2019 and Herman Miller since January 2019. He is also a member of the boards of several privately held companies, including Food52, Mayvenn, Via and Heard. From 2012 to January 2021, Mr. Smith held various executive positions at Stitch Fix, an online apparel retailer and personal styling service, including most recently serving as its President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Smith also served as its interim Chief Financial Officer and General Manager of Stitch Fix Men, a new product line for the business. Prior to Stitch Fix, Mr. Smith served in a variety of capacities at Walmart.com, an online retail company, including Chief Operating Officer from 2010 to 2012 and Vice President from 2008 to 2010. Before turning to operations, Mr. Smith worked at Accenture and Morgan Stanley. Mr. Smith holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Virginia.

We believe Mr. Smith’s significant leadership and operational experience in mission driven, high growth consumer businesses, as well as his investment experience, will differentiate us in our ability to ability to source, evaluate and identify potential business partners.

Mary Alice Taylor serves as one of our directors. Ms. Taylor has served on numerous public company boards, including Allstate from 1996 to 2018 and Blue Nile from 1999 to 2017. Ms. Taylor also served as a member of the boards of Autodesk, a design software company, and Sabre Holdings, an Internet travel services company; DELL Computer, manufacturer of computer hardware; Perrigo, Inc, a generic drug manufacturing company. Ms. Taylor served as Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of HomeGrocer.com, an company, from September 1999 until she completed a sale of the company to Webvan Group, an company, in October 2000. Prior to HomeGrocer.com, Ms. Taylor served as Corporate Executive Vice President of Worldwide Operations and Technology for Citigroup for three years, and served as a Senior Vice President of FedEx for seventeen years. Ms. Taylor holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance & Accounting from Mississippi State University and was licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Tennessee.

 

60

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

Director Independence

Committees of the Board of Directors

Code of Ethics

Conflicts of Interest

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

out-of-pocket

out-of-pocket

one-for-one

Changes in Control

out-of-pocket

out-of-pocket

Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions

Audit Fees:

Audit-Related Fees:

Tax Fees:

All Other Fees:

Pre-Approval Policy

PART IV

SIGNATURES

 

 

F-1

To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of

Big Sky Growth Partners, Inc.

Seattle, Washington

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Big Sky Growth Partners, Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021, and the related statements of operations, changes in stockholder’s deficit, and cash flows for the period from February 11, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, and the related notes to the financial statements (collectively 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, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from February 11, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

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) (the “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 U.S. 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/ Frank, Rimerman + Co. LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.

San Francisco, California

March 30, 2022

 

F-2

 

 

F-3

 

 

F-4

 

 

F-5

 

 

F-6

 

F-7

 

 

F-8

 

 

F-9

 

 

F-10