424B4 1 d117159d424b4.htm 424B4 424B4
Table of Contents

Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4)
Registration No. 333-253895

 

PROSPECTUS

$200,000,000

Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp.

20,000,000 Units

 

 

Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp. is a blank check company whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to herein as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. Although we may pursue an investment opportunity in any business or industry, we intend to pursue business combinations with companies in the climate and sustainability spaces (collectively, “Climate and Sustainability”) which facilitate the Circular Economy, progress via the energy transition away from fossil fuels, enhance food chain continuity, recycling and alternative sourcing, as well as mitigate greenhouse gases and reduce plastic waste in the environment.

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of our Class A common stock and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. Only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and 12 months from the closing of this offering, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or our liquidation, as described in this prospectus. We refer to these warrants throughout this prospectus as the public warrants. The underwriters have a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any. We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of our Class A common stock, or public shares, upon the completion of our initial business combination, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account described below as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as further described herein.

Our sponsor, LOCC Sponsor, LLC, has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 4,666,666 warrants (or 5,000,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.50 per warrant ($7,000,000 in the aggregate, or $7,500,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering.

Our initial stockholders own an aggregate of 5,750,000 shares of our Class B common stock (up to 750,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised), which will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein.

Certain investment funds and accounts managed by Atalaya Capital Management LP (each of which is a member of our sponsor), which we refer to collectively as our “anchor investor” throughout this prospectus, have expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of $19,800,000 of units in this offering (or $22,770,000 of units in the event the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), which amounts may be reduced on a pro rata basis if less than 20,000,000 units (or 23,000,000 in the event the over-allotment option is exercised in full) are sold in this offering. We have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to our anchor investor such number of units. For a discussion of certain additional arrangements with our anchor investor, please see “Summary—The Offering—Expressions of Interest.”. Up to two, one and nine qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors which are not affiliated with us, our sponsor, our directors or any member of our management, and which we refer to as the 9.9% anchor investors, 9.0% anchor investor and 4.95% anchor investors, respectively, and which we collectively refer to as the additional anchor investors throughout this prospectus, have each expressed to us an interest in purchasing up to 1,980,000 units, in the case of each 9.9% anchor investor, 1,800,000 units, in the case of the 9.0% anchor investor, and 990,000 units, in the case of each 4.95% anchor investor, in this offering at the offering price of $10.00 per unit, and such allocations to each additional anchor investor will be determined by the underwriters. If all of the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units that they have expressed an interest in purchasing, the additional anchor investors would purchase an aggregate of 14,670,000, or 73.3% (or 63.8% in the event the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), of the units in this offering. There can be no assurance that the additional anchor investors will acquire any units in this offering, or as to the amount of such units the additional anchor investors will acquire or retain, if any, prior to or upon the consummation of our initial business combination. There is also no guarantee that all 12 additional anchor investors will participate in this offering. Subject to each additional anchor investor purchasing 100% of the units allocated to it, in connection with the closing of this offering our sponsor will sell 125,000 founder shares to each 9.9% anchor investor, 113,636 founder shares to the 9.0% anchor investor, and 62,500 founder shares to each 4.95% anchor investor, or an aggregate of 926,136 founder shares if each additional anchor investor purchases its allocated amount of units, in each case at their original purchase price of approximately $0.003 per founder share. Since our sponsor is selling founder shares held by it to the additional anchor investors and we are not issuing any new shares of Class B common stock, there will be no dilutive impact on the other investors in this offering. For a discussion of certain additional arrangements with the additional anchor investors, please see “Summary—The Offering—Expressions of Interest.”

Currently, there is no public market for our units, Class A common stock or public warrants. Our units have been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange, or the NYSE, under the symbol “LOCC.U” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We expect the Class A common stock and public warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Jefferies LLC and BofA Securities, Inc., the representatives of the underwriters, inform us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our satisfaction of certain conditions as described further herein. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A common stock and public warrants will be listed on the NYSE under the symbols “LOCC” and “LOCC WS,” respectively.

We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 40 for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.

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

 

 

 

     PER UNIT      TOTAL  

Public offering price

   $ 10.00      $ 200,000,000  

Underwriting discounts and commissions (1)

   $ 0.55      $ 11,000,000  

Proceeds, before expenses, to Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp.

   $ 9.45      $ 189,000,000  

 

(1)

Approximately $0.20 per unit, or $3,600,000 in the aggregate (or $4,140,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), is payable upon the closing of this offering net of certain adjustments described elsewhere in this prospectus. Includes approximately $0.35 per unit, or $6,300,000 (or up to $7,245,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein and net of certain adjustments described elsewhere in this prospectus. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Underwriting” beginning on page 160 for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters.

Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $200.0 million or $230.0 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit in either case) will be deposited into a trust account in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $3.4 million (or $3.36 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be available to pay fees and expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following the closing of this offering.

The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. The underwriters expect to deliver the units to the purchasers on or about September 27, 2021.

Book-Running Managers

 

Jefferies   BofA Securities

September 22, 2021


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

     PAGE  

SUMMARY

     1  

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY

     39  

RISK FACTORS

     40  

USE OF PROCEEDS

     74  

DIVIDEND POLICY

     78  

DILUTION

     79  

CAPITALIZATION

     81  

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

     82  

PROPOSED BUSINESS

     90  

MANAGEMENT

     123  

PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

     136  

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

     140  

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

     144  

MATERIAL UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

     158  

UNDERWRITING

     168  

LEGAL MATTERS

     177  

EXPERTS

     177  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

     177  

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     F-1  

 

 

We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and neither we nor the underwriters take responsibility for any other information others may give to you. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.


Table of Contents

SUMMARY

This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing. Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus, or the context otherwise requires, references to:

 

   

“4.95% anchor investors” are to the up to nine qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors which are not affiliated with us, our sponsor, our directors or any member of our management and that have each expressed to us an interest in purchasing up to 990,000 units in this offering and, subject in each case to each 4.95% anchor investor purchasing 100% of the units allocated to it by the underwriters, as further described herein, each 4.95% anchor investor will purchase from our sponsor 62,500 founder shares, or an aggregate of 562,500 founder shares if each 4.95% anchor investor purchases its allocated amount of units, in each case at their original purchase price of approximately $0.003 per founder share;

 

   

“9.0% anchor investor” are to the qualified institutional buyer or institutional accredited investor which is not affiliated with us, our sponsor, our directors or any member of our management and that has expressed to us an interest in purchasing up to 1,800,000 units in this offering and, subject to the 9.0% anchor investor purchasing 100% of the units allocated to it by the underwriters, as further described herein, the 9.0% anchor investor will purchase from our sponsor 113,636 founder shares at their original purchase price of approximately $0.003 per founder share;

 

   

“9.9% anchor investors” are to the up to two qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors which are not affiliated with us, our sponsor, our directors or any member of our management and that have each expressed to us an interest in purchasing up to 1,980,000 units in this offering and, subject in each case to each 9.9% anchor investor purchasing 100% of the units allocated to it by the underwriter, as further described herein, each 9.9% anchor investor will purchase from our sponsor 125,000 founder shares, or an aggregate of 250,000 founder shares if each 9.9% anchor investor purchases its allocated amount of units, in each case at their original purchase price of approximately $0.003 per founder share;

 

   

“additional anchor investors” are to, collectively, the 4.95% anchor investors, the 9.0% anchor investor and the 9.9% anchor investors;

 

   

“anchor investor” are to certain investment funds and accounts managed by Atalaya Capital Management LP (each of which is a member of our sponsor), which have expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of $19,800,000 of units in this offering (or $22,770,000 of units in the event the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full);

 

   

“BofA” are to BofA Securities, Inc., a book-running manager of this offering;

 

   

“common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock, collectively;

 

   

“Crestview” are to Crestview Advisors, L.L.C. Crestview LOCC Investors, LLC, an affiliate of Crestview that is under common control with Crestview, is a managing member of our sponsor;

 

   

“founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock held by our initial stockholders prior to this offering, and held by our initial stockholders and our additional anchor investors after this offering to the extent the additional anchor investors purchase any shares of our Class B common stock from our sponsor, and, in each case, the shares of our Class A common stock issued upon the conversion thereof as provided herein;

 

   

“initial stockholders” are to our sponsor and any other holders of our founder shares prior to this offering (or their permitted transferees) (other than the additional anchor investors);

 

   

“Jefferies” are to Jefferies LLC, a book-running manager of this offering;

 

   

“management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors;


 

1


Table of Contents
   

“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering and to any warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans;

 

   

“public shares” are to shares of our Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market);

 

   

“public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial stockholders, additional anchor investors and members of our management team to the extent our initial stockholders, additional anchor investors and/or members of our management team purchase public shares; provided that each initial stockholder’s, additional anchor investor’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;

 

   

“public warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market);

 

   

“Senior Advisor” is to Mona Sutphen, who will assist us in sourcing and evaluating transaction opportunities;

 

   

“sponsor” are to LOCC Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. Our sponsor is controlled by its managing members, Live Oak Merchant Partners and an affiliate of Crestview, and owned by members of our management, other members of our board of directors, Atalaya Capital Management LP and other individuals and institutions;

 

   

“trust account” are to the trust account in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, into which we will deposit certain proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants;

 

   

“warrants” are to the public warrants as well as the private placement warrants; and

 

   

“we,” “us,” “Company” or “our company” are to Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp.

Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option.

General

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation, Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp., (also referred to as “Live Oak Crestview Climate” or “LOCC”), whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to herein as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us.

Our management team and board bring together the investment and sector expertise of Live Oak Merchant Partners (also referred to as “LOMP”) with the financial acumen and deal flow of Crestview. The relationship between Crestview and LOMP CEO, Richard Hendrix, spans more than a decade and Mr. Hendrix currently serves as an operating executive to Crestview and as chairman of one of its portfolio companies.

Live Oak Merchant Partners is an investment firm founded in 2019 which pursues three primary strategies. LOMP seeks to make direct investments in companies where its partners’ management experience, corporate finance expertise, and capital can aid these companies in growing or transitioning businesses to generate outsized value for shareholders. In addition, Live Oak Merchant Partners is an active sponsor of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies. This segment of the business seeks to capitalize on its partners’ deep capital markets expertise and experience in helping companies achieve a public listing through means other than a traditional IPO. LOMP frequently partners with like-minded investors in its sponsorship activities in order create the strongest possible team to source, structure, diligence, and support its SPAC merger partner. LOMP will also provide strategic advisory services in select circumstances where its experience will assist a client in


 

2


Table of Contents

achieving significant growth, transformational change, and a successful outcome for its owners, customers, and employees.

Crestview is a private equity firm focused on the middle market. Founded in 2004 and based in New York, the firm manages funds with over $9 billion of aggregate capital commitments. Crestview’s funds have invested approximately $7.7 billion in over 50 investments through December 31, 2020. The firm has approximately 45 employees, 23 of whom are investment professionals, and is led by a group of 10 partners with an average of over 25 years of experience.

Crestview has invested across various sectors that include industrials, energy, financial services and media forming long-term partnerships with highly experienced executives, leveraging industry expertise in conjunction with deep investment and operating experience to source and execute proprietary investment opportunities. Crestview’s ability to source over 70% of its investments through prior relationships with business owners and management teams highlights its strong connectivity to acquisition targets and is critical for sourcing opportunities in the fast moving environmental and sustainability sectors.

We may pursue an acquisition opportunity that falls outside the investment objectives of Crestview’s funds in any business industry, sector or location. We intend to capitalize on the ability of Live Oak Merchant Partners, Crestview and our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business in the climate value chain that we believe will provide an opportunity for attractive risk-adjusted returns, with a particular focus on opportunities aligned with energy transition and sustainability themes. We will seek to capitalize on Live Oak Merchant Partners’ and Crestview’s Climate and Sustainability domain expertise, as well as their industry relationships, to source and complete an initial business combination.

In addition to this investing experience, Live Oak Merchant Partners and Crestview are dedicated to Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) issues, believing that effective management enables better investment decisions and enhanced results. Live Oak Merchant Partners and Crestview are committed to improving their investments, supporting their employees and having a positive impact on the many communities in which they operate. Adam Klein, a member of our board of directors, chairs Crestview’s ESG Committee, which oversees the firm’s ESG initiatives and draws on recommendations from a diverse team of Crestview professionals. Mr. Klein also leads Crestview’s investment activities focused on Climate and Sustainability across multiple industry verticals. Crestview has endorsed the American Investment Council’s Guidelines for Responsible Investing.

We will seek to capitalize on the operational and investment experience of our management team and the extensive experience of certain members of our board of directors in our target sectors and focus on companies that we believe have significant growth prospects with the potential to generate attractive returns for our stockholders. We expect to focus on identifying potential target companies with above-industry-average growth, substantial free cash flow generation, and a defensible market position with an enterprise value of $500 million to $2.0 billion where we believe that the combined experience of our management and members of our board of directors can assist in maximizing value.

We intend to pursue business combinations with companies that are fundamentally aligned with environmental sustainability and seek to improve the trajectory of climate change (mitigation) or bolster society’s resilience to its effects (adaptation). Mitigation and adaptation are investment themes that are supported by durable tailwinds, as the effects of climate change are already present and accelerating, and therefore governments, businesses and consumers are increasingly focused on climate solutions. Mitigation and adaptation also span a broad range of industries including, but not limited to, renewable energy, infrastructure resilience and energy efficiency, utility services, air pollution control, water infrastructure, agriculture, aquaculture, industrial materials and environmental solutions, software, technologies and services (such as waste management, automation and recycling). As such, we believe the universe of sustainability-oriented companies is a large and growing market offering the potential to generate attractive risk-adjusted investment returns while also serving a worthy purpose.


 

3


Table of Contents

The sectors described below are non-exhaustive examples of compelling opportunity sets we may pursue:

 

   

Infrastructure Resilience and Energy Efficiency: There is a massive and growing need to fund improvements to aging infrastructure, estimated at $12 trillion in the U.S. and $94 trillion globally through 2040, according to a study by Global Infrastructure Hub. This presents a challenge, as these needs are underfunded by an estimated $4 trillion in the U.S. and $15 trillion globally; however, it also presents an opportunity, as these investments, if appropriately designed, could substantially improve the energy efficiency and resilience of our physical infrastructure. The private sector is playing an increasing role in financing and implementing infrastructure improvements through evolving business models including sustainable building products and industrial materials, energy-focused building automation, Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service companies. Other targets could include environmentally focused engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies and infrastructure data analytics providers.

 

   

Agriculture: Agriculture accounts for approximately 19% of global greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously being one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate disruption, according to a study by Breakthrough Energy. Meeting the caloric demands of a rapidly growing global population while minimizing the sector’s impact on the climate and improving its resilience to extreme weather events will require substantial technological and business model evolutions. Controlled-environment agriculture (CEA), also known as indoor or vertical farming, is one example of a target subsector that helps solves challenges in the food supply chain and stands to benefit from industry trends.

 

   

Environmental Solutions: Due to rapid population growth and urbanization, global cities are expected to produce approximately 3.4 billion tons of waste by 2050, up nearly 70% from 2016, according to a study by The World Bank in 2019. Recycling is a central solution to managing the impact of increased waste on the environment as it helps conserve natural resources and prevent pollution. Metals and plastic recycling are both large and attractive opportunities: (1) metals recycling is an established, profitable market that benefits from the feature that metals can be recycled indefinitely and (2) plastic recycling or adaptation is an increasing imperative as plastics adoption has rapidly outpaced the capacity to handle and dispose of waste volumes. We also have substantial need for technological improvements such as recycling automation.

Within the sustainability strategy described above, we will seek businesses with some or all the following characteristics, which we believe will drive long-term shareholder value creation: high growth potential, defensible market position, technological ingenuity, large addressable markets, high barriers to entry, strong secular tailwinds, and compelling scale.

Our Management Team, Board of Directors and Senior Advisor

We are led by an experienced team of managers, operators and investors who have played important roles in helping build and grow profitable public and private businesses, both organically and through acquisitions, to create value for stockholders. Our team has experience operating and investing in a wide range of industries, bringing us a diversity of experiences as well as valuable expertise and perspective.

John P. Amboian, our chairman, has over 30 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital management, product development, branding and distribution for public and private companies across multiple industries. From May 2020 to December 2020, Mr. Amboian served as a director of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOAK), a blank check company that announced on December 29, 2020 that it had consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. Upon the closing of the transaction, LOAK was renamed Danimer Scientific, Inc., and its Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the NYSE under the symbols “DNMR” and “DNMR WS”, respectively. Mr. Amboian continues to serve as a director of Danimer Scientific, Inc. From December 2020 to the present, Mr. Amboian has served as the chairman of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in December 2020. LOKB is currently seeking to consummate an initial business combination. LOKB announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas Semiconductor (“Navitas”),


 

4


Table of Contents

the industry leader in gallium nitride (“GaN”) power integrated circuits (“ICs”), which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. In addition, Mr. Amboian currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp., a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020 (“LOKM”). Mr. Amboian spent over twenty years of his career at Nuveen Investments, Inc., or Nuveen (formerly NYSE: JNC), where he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for almost a decade. Prior to this, he served as Nuveen’s president for eight years, after joining Nuveen in 1995 as Chief Financial Officer. During his time at Nuveen, Mr. Amboian guided Nuveen through 12 acquisitions or merger transactions aggregating to more than $13 billion and numerous capital markets transactions, playing key roles in Nuveen’s 2014 sale to TIAA (Teacher’s Insurance and Annuity Association) for a total enterprise value of $6.25 billion and Nuveen’s leveraged buyout transaction in 2007. Nuveen’s assets under management grew from approximately $29 billion to over $231 billion in 2014, which is the last year of publicly available information. Mr. Amboian also served on the Nuveen Mutual Funds Board and Nuveen Investment’s public board. Prior to Nuveen, Mr. Amboian was the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Strategy of the Miller Brewing Company. He began his career in Corporate and International Finance at Kraft Foods, Inc., where he ended his tenure as Treasurer. Mr. Amboian also serves at Madison Dearborn Partners as an industry advisor and is an Independent Director of the general partnership of Adams Street Partners, a private-market investment management firm with approximately $40 billion of asset under management. Additionally, Mr. Amboian is Chairman of Evanston Capital, a hedge fund alternative investment manager, and a senior advisor to Estancia Capital, a middle market private equity fund with a focus on financial services. He chairs the board of North Square Investments, a boutique asset management firm and is on the advisory board of Cresset Capital Management, a wealth management firm. He advises several small businesses on organic and inorganic growth initiatives through JA Capital Advisors, LLC.

Our Chief Executive Officer and Director, Richard J. Hendrix, has significant experience in executive leadership, corporate strategy, M&A, capital markets, and corporate finance for public companies. From January 2020 to December 2020, Mr. Hendrix served as an officer and director of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOAK), a blank check company that announced on December 29, 2020 that it had consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. Upon the closing of the transaction, LOAK was renamed Danimer Scientific, Inc., and its Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the NYSE under the symbols “DNMR” and “DNMR WS”, respectively. Mr. Hendrix continues to serve as a director of Danimer Scientific, Inc. From August 2020 to the present, Mr. Hendrix has served as the chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. From January 2021 to the present, Mr. Hendrix has served as the chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp (NYSE: LOKM), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020. LOKM is currently seeking to consummate an initial business combination. Over the course of his career, Mr. Hendrix has worked extensively with issuers and investors focused on companies in the financial services, real estate, energy, industrial, and business and consumer services sectors. He has led dozens of initial equity offerings, raising funds for founder-led and sponsor-backed companies primarily within the banking, insurance, and real estate sectors. Additionally, Mr. Hendrix has considerable experience advising chief executives, boards of directors, and large shareholders regarding strategy, capital structure, and capital access. He has significant leadership experience in the financial industry, having served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of FBR & Co., or FBR (formerly NASDAQ: FBRC), a capital markets firm. Mr. Hendrix helped FBR grow into a leading bookrunner for initial common stock offerings for middle market U.S. companies. Mr. Hendrix oversaw numerous strategic transactions while in his role as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at FBR, ultimately executing a merger with B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: RILY) in 2017. Following the merger, Mr. Hendrix also served as director of B. Riley Financial. Prior to his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of FBR, Mr. Hendrix served as Arlington Asset Investment Corp.’s, or Arlington (NYSE: AAIC), President and Chief Operating Officer as well as its Chief


 

5


Table of Contents

Investment Officer. Arlington reached a peak market capitalization of approximately $4.5 billion during his tenure, and he oversaw FBR’s carveout from Arlington. Previously, he was the President and Chief Operating Officer of FBR Asset Investment Corporation and concurrently headed the Real Estate and Diversified Industrials Investment Banking groups of FBR. Prior to FBR, Mr. Hendrix was a Managing Director in PNC Capital Markets’ investment banking group and headed PNC’s asset-backed securities business. Mr. Hendrix is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Live Oak Merchant Partners, a merchant bank providing capital and advisory services to middle market companies across several industries. Mr. Hendrix also currently serves as a Crestview operating executive, and is currently the Chairman of PMC Consolidated Holdings LLC, the parent company of Protect My Car, a Crestview portfolio company that provides extended auto warranty plans to consumers. His relationship with Crestview began with Crestview’s investment in FBR. Mr. Hendrix is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RJH Management Co, a privately held investment management business.

Ashton Hudson, a member of our board of directors, is a Partner in Value Acquisition Fund, an acquisition, development and asset management company. Prior to beginning his investment career, Hudson practiced law with the firm of Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs LLP, where his legal practice was primarily focused on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, general corporate law and securities law. Mr. Hudson previously served as a director of Forestar Group, Inc. (NYSE: FOR), where he sat on the Audit, Compensation and Corporate Governance Committees, and a director of the Jacksonville Electric Authority, one of the largest municipally owned utilities in the United States, where he chaired the Audit and Finance Committees and served a two-year term as Chairman of the Board. He currently serves on the Florida board of directors of Fifth Third Bank. Until its sale to Anticimex in February 2018, Hudson was the majority owner and Executive Chairman of Turner Pest Control, one of the largest and fastest growing pest control providers in the United States. Mr. Hudson earned his B.S., cum laude, in business and accountancy, from Wake Forest University in 1994. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, in 1997 from the Wake Forest University School of Law, where he was a Cooke Foundation Scholar, Articles Editor of the Law Review, member of the Moot Court Board and Order of the Coif.

Adam Klein, a member of our board of directors, is a Partner at Crestview, a member of its investment committee and leads the firm’s efforts in Climate and Sustainability. Mr. Klein joined Crestview in 2007 and leads investments that span industry capabilities within energy and financial services, with a focus on climate adaptation. Prior to joining Crestview in 2007, Mr. Klein worked as an investment professional at Centennial Ventures, Inc., where he invested in early- to mid-stage companies across multiple industries. Before joining Centennial Ventures, Mr. Klein worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Compass Partners from 2001 to 2003, advising corporations and private equity firms on a wide range of transactions. Previously, Mr. Klein worked in the Media & Telecom group at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and then Credit Suisse from 2000 through 2001. Mr. Klein received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an A.B., cum laude, in Economics from Harvard College. Mr. Klein has served on the board of directors of Upwell Water HoldCo, LLC, a specialty finance company focused on providing capital markets solutions to small and medium sized water infrastructure assets since July 2019. He has served as a director of U.S. Well Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: USWS) since November 2018 and currently serves as the Chairman of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a member of its Compensation Committee. He has also served as a director of CP Energy Holdings, LLC a crude oil marketing and logistics business since May 2013, and W Energy Partners II LLC, a non-operated E&P company since December 2018. He previously served on the board of directors of public companies Select Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE: WTTR) from November 2016 to May 2020 and FBR & Co. (formerly NASDAQ: FBRC) from February 2010 to June 2014, in addition to several private company and non-profit boards.

Bhakti Mirchandani, a member of our board of directors, is Director of Responsible Investing at Trinity Church Wall Street, a thriving Episcopal community in lower Manhattan. Previously, Ms. Mirchandani was Managing Director at FCLTGlobal from 2018 to 2020 and ESG advisor to Corbin Capital from 2019 to 2020. Prior to these roles, Ms. Mirchandani was a Senior Vice President at One William Street Capital Management from 2013 to 2018, Global Relationship Director for Global Development Organizations and Microfinance Specialist at Barclays Capital/Lehman Brothers (during 2004, from 2005 to 2008, and from 2011 to 2013,


 

6


Table of Contents

respectively), Vice President at Bangalore-based Unitus Capital from 2009 to 2011, founder of what is now the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards from 2004 to 2005, micropension consultant to Women’s World Banking from 2001 to 2003, and equity research analyst at Salomon Smith Barney from 2000 to 2001. Ms. Mirchandani advises or serves on the investment committees or boards of a number of sustainable investing organizations. Her sustainable investing work has been featured in the NYTimes, the Financial Times, Institutional Investor, and CNBC. Ms. Mirchandani teaches an impact finance class in Columbia’s Masters in Sustainability Management Program, serves on the Board of Commissioners for the New York State Insurance Fund, contributes monthly sustainable investing articles to Forbes.com, and is a Life Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. She holds an AB, cum laude, from Harvard College, an MBA and the Dean’s Award from Harvard Business School, and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School.

Mona Sutphen, our Senior Advisor, has over 20 years’ experience advising multinational corporate, philanthropic and institutional investors on the intersection of geopolitics, policy and markets. She is currently a Senior Advisor at The Vistria Group, a Chicago-based private equity firm, and is a venture advisor and co-founder of several start-ups. Previously, she was a Partner at Macro Advisory Partners (MAP), where she led the firm’s US practice advising clients on emerging risks and opportunities across a range of sectors including energy/environment, technology and financial services. Prior to joining MAP, Ms. Sutphen was Managing Director at UBS AG, where she developed new tools for political risk evaluation impacting capital markets. From 2009 to 2011, she served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy for President Obama, where she advanced the policy and regulatory agenda on a range of issues including, technology/telecom, trade, energy, small business and housing / GSE reform. Previously, Ms. Sutphen was Managing Director at Stonebridge International, and earlier led regulatory strategy for Currenex, the first Internet-based institutional foreign exchange trading platform. From 1991 to 2000 she was a career diplomat, serving on the staff of the National Security Council during the Clinton Administration and the U.S. Mission to the UN, among other posts. She also served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board from 2013 to 2016. Ms. Sutphen serves on the boards of directors of Spotify (NYSE: SPOT), renewable energy company Pattern Energy and Unitek Learning, and is a Trustee for Putnam Mutual Funds. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Boards of the International Rescue Committee and Human Rights First, and on the advisory boards of the Warner Music Social Justice Fund and the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Ms. Sutphen is a Trustee of Mount Holyoke College, and co-author of The Next American Century. She holds BA from Mount Holyoke College and an MSc from the London School of Economics.

Gary K. Wunderlich, Jr., our President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Director, is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Live Oak Merchant Partners, a merchant bank providing capital and advisory services to middle market companies across a wide range of industries. From January 2020 to December 2020, Mr. Wunderlich served as an officer of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOAK), a blank check company that announced on December 29, 2020 that it had consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. From August 2020 to the present, Mr. Wunderlich has served as an officer of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. From January 2021 to the present, Mr. Wunderlich has served as the president and chief financial officer and a member of the board of directors of Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020. Prior to co-founding Live Oak Merchant Partners, Mr. Wunderlich was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wunderlich Securities, Inc., a full-service investment banking and brokerage firm. Under his leadership Wunderlich Securities, Inc. grew from a virtual start-up into a full-service investment banking firm with over 400 employees and over $10 billion of client assets under management. In 2017, Mr. Wunderlich helped lead the merger of Wunderlich Securities, Inc. into B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: RILY). Following the merger Mr. Wunderlich served as a director of B. Riley Financial, Inc. and as Chief Executive Officer of Wunderlich Securities, Inc (rebranded B. Riley Wealth). For two years, Mr. Wunderlich was a member of the Securities Industry and


 

7


Table of Contents

Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”) National Board of Directors. He was also a founding board member of the American Securities Association, a trade association of regional financial services firms. He also served in various capacities with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), including serving on the National Advisory Board, the District 5 Committee as both a Chairman and member, and on the National Membership Council as a member. Mr. Wunderlich has for 15 years been a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and participates in the Family Business, Family Office, Financial Services and Entrepreneurship and Innovation Networks. Mr. Wunderlich was also inducted into the Society of Entrepreneurs, an organization of leading Memphis area business owners and executives, where he serves as a Director. He is also the Managing Member of Eighty Park Avenue Partners LLC, a family investment vehicle.

Adam J. Fishman, our Chief Operating Officer, is currently a Managing Partner at Live Oak Merchant Partners, a merchant bank providing capital and advisory services to middle market companies across several industries. From 2020 to the present, Mr. Fishman has served as an officer of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. From January 2021 to the present, Mr. Fishman has served as the chief operating officer of Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020. Mr. Fishman joined Live Oak Merchant Partners from Jefferies LLC, where he was a Managing Director and Head of the Permanent Capital Group, Distribution. Mr. Fishman originated and executed blank check company transactions, including the initial public offering assisting management in evaluating targets for merger consideration, and structuring and executing PIPE investments to support mergers. He was also responsible for originating and marketing Pre-IPO private placements for companies across all industries. Prior to joining Jefferies, Mr. Fishman was an Executive Vice President and Head of Institutional Brokerage at FBR & Co. FBR was a publicly traded middle market investment bank, specializing in capital raising and securities trading across seven industry groups. Mr. Fishman joined FBR in 2004, steadily expanding his role throughout a 13-year tenure. As a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Mr. Fishman was a key contributor to the firm’s strategic vision and execution. Mr. Fishman also served on FBR’s Commitment Committee, where he was responsible for analyzing, structuring and selling all public and private investment offerings. Mr. Fishman began his career as an Associate Director in the New York office of CIBC World Markets. Mr. Fishman received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Brandeis University.

Experience with Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicles

Both our Chief Executive Officer, Richard Hendrix, and our President, Gary Wunderlich, were members of the management team of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOAK), which we refer to herein as LOAK, a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $200,000,000 in May 2020. On December 29, 2020, LOAK consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. Upon the closing of the transaction, LOAK was renamed Danimer Scientific, Inc., and its Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the NYSE under the symbols “DNMR” and “DNMR WS”, respectively.

Each of our Chief Executive Officer, Richard Hendrix, our President, Gary Wunderlich, our management team and our Chief Operating Officer, Adam Fishman, is a member of the management team of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), which we refer to herein as LOKB, a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in December 2020 and Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), which we refer to herein as LOKM, a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020. LOKB and LOKM are currently seeking to consummate an initial business combination. LOKB announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. We believe that we have further benefited from the valuable experience gained by our management team during the launch and operation of both LOKB and LOKM.


 

8


Table of Contents

We believe that potential sellers of target businesses will view the fact that our management team has successfully negotiated a business combination as a positive factor in considering whether or not to enter into a business combination with us. However, the past performance of our management team, or their respective affiliates, LOAK, LOKB or LOKM is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team, or their respective affiliates, LOAK, LOKB, LOKM, our board of directors or our Senior Advisor as indicative of our future performance.

Our officers and directors may become an officer or director of another special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities intended to be registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, even before we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination. For more information, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest.”

Business Strategy

Our business strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company that can benefit from (i) the managerial and operational experience of our management team (ii) additional capital and (iii) access to public securities markets. Our acquisition selection process will leverage our management team’s network of potential transaction sources, ranging from owners and directors of private and public companies, private equity funds, investment bankers, lenders, attorneys, accountants and other trusted advisors across various sectors. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships that we believe will serve as a useful source of acquisition opportunities. We plan to utilize the network and industry experience of our management team in seeking an initial business combination and employing our business combination strategy. This network has been developed through our management team’s:

 

   

extensive experience in both investing in and operating in a variety of industries;

 

   

managerial experience marketing and growing businesses;

 

   

experience in sourcing, structuring, acquiring, operating, developing, growing, financing and selling businesses;

 

   

relationships with sellers, financing providers and target management teams; and

 

   

experience in executing transactions in a variety of industries under varying economic and financial market conditions.

We expect these networks will provide our management team with a robust flow of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, family offices, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Upon completion of this offering, members of our management team will communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target company and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potentially interesting leads.

Acquisition Criteria

Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to seek candidates with an enterprise value of between $500 million and $2.0 billion, and we intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:

 

   

have a defensible market position, with demonstrated advantages when compared to their competitors and which create barriers to entry against new competitors;

 

   

are at an inflection point or are able to take advantage of public currency in order to drive improved financial performance;


 

9


Table of Contents
   

have a diversified customer base better positioned to endure economic downturns and changes in the industry landscape;

 

   

have strong, experienced management teams, or a platform that will allow us to assemble an effective management team with a track record of driving growth and profitability;

 

   

provide a scalable platform for add-on acquisitions, which we believe will be an opportunity for our management team to deliver incremental stockholder value post-acquisition;

 

   

generate attractive returns on capital and have a compelling use for capital to achieve their growth strategy;

 

   

exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics that we believe have been overlooked by the marketplace based on our analysis and due diligence review; and

 

   

can benefit from being publicly-traded, are prepared to be a publicly-traded company, are capable of generating consistent returns in excess of cost of capital, and can effectively utilize access to the capital markets.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the SEC.

Acquisition Process

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

We are not prohibited from pursuing our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers or from making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, directors, officers or their affiliates. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

Each of our directors and officers will, directly or indirectly, own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following this offering 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, such directors and officers may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such directors and officers was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

Certain of our directors and officers currently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity subject to his or her fiduciary duties. If any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-existing 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.

No members of our management team have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware, unless presented to such member specifically in his or her


 

10


Table of Contents

capacity as an officer or a director of the company. Members of our management team may be required to present potential business combinations to other entities to whom they have fiduciary duties before they present such opportunities to us. Any knowledge or presentation of such opportunities may therefore present conflicts of interest.

In addition, members of our management team or their affiliates may sponsor other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination, and members of our management team may participate in such blank check companies. In particular, certain members of our management team are currently sponsoring two other blank check companies, LOKB and LOKM. Each of LOKB and LOKM may seek to complete a business combination in any industry or location. Further, John P. Amboian, our chairman, also serves as the Chairman of LOKB and LOKM. Richard J. Hendrix, our Chief Executive Officer and Director, serves as an officer and director of each of LOKB and LOKM, and Gary K. Wunderlich, Jr., our President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Director, serves as an officer of LOKB and as an officer and director of LOKM. Adam J. Fishman, our Chief Operating Officer, also serves as an officer of each of LOKB and LOKM. These relationships may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide 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.

Initial Business Combination

NYSE rules require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commissions). Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects.

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 for the post-acquisition company to meet certain objectives of the target management team or 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 or otherwise acquires an interest in the target or assets sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial


 

11


Table of Contents

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 initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for the purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants released to us from the trust account upon the closing of our initial business combination may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we complete our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemption of our public shares, we may use the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account following the closing for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. In addition, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination to be used following the closing for general corporate purposes as described above. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following consummation of this offering. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise. None of our sponsors, officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. We may also obtain financing prior to the closing of our initial business combination to fund our working capital needs and transaction costs in connection with our search for and completion of our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, following this offering and prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will be prohibited from issuing additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions, unless (in connection with any such amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation) we offer our public stockholders the opportunity to redeem their public shares.

Corporate Information

Our offices are located at 40 S Main Street, #2550, Memphis, TN, 38103, and our telephone number is (901) 685-2865.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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


 

12


Table of Contents

with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

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


 

13


Table of Contents

THE OFFERING

In deciding whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section below entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 37 of this prospectus.

 

Securities offered

20,000,000(1) units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

 

   

one share of Class A common stock; and

 

   

one-third of one public warrant.

 

NYSE symbols

Units: “LOCC.U”

 

 Class A Common Stock: “LOCC”

 

  Warrants: “LOCC WS”

 

Trading commencement and separation of Class A common stock and public warrants

The units are expected to begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We expect the Class A common stock and public warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Jefferies LLC and BofA Securities, Inc. inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and public warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and public warrants. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant.

 

  In no event will the Class A common stock and public warrants be traded separately until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which closing is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

14


Table of Contents

Units:

 

Number outstanding before this offering

0

 

Number outstanding after this offering

20,000,000(1)

Common stock:

 

Number outstanding before this offering

5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock(2)

 

Number outstanding after this offering

25,000,000 shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock(1)(3)

Redeemable Warrants:

 

Number of private placement warrants to be sold in a private placement simultaneously with this offering

4,666,666(1)

 

Number of warrants to be outstanding after
this offering and the private placement

11,333,332(1)

 

Exercisability

Each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock. Only whole warrants are exercisable.

 

  No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade.

 

  We structured each unit to contain one-third of one warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for one share of Class A common stock, as compared to units issued by some other similar blank check companies that contain one whole warrant exercisable for one share, in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of our initial business combination as compared to units that each contain one warrant exercisable for one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses.

 

Exercise price

$11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities 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

 

(1)    Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the forfeiture by our sponsor of an aggregate of 750,000 founder shares.

 

(2)    Includes up to an aggregate of 750,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.

 

(3)    Comprised of 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock and 5,000,000 shares of Class B common stock. The Class B common stock is convertible into shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described herein adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights.”

 

15


Table of Contents
 

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 sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or its affiliates, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the average last reported sale price of the common stock as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the date 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 higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described adjacent to “Redemption of public warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

 

Exercise period

The warrants will become exercisable on the later of:

 

   

30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, and

 

   

12 months from the closing of this offering;

 

  provided, in each case, that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their public warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the public warrant agreement) and such shares are registered, qualified or exempt from registration under the securities, or blue sky, laws of the state of residence of the holder.

 

  We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants, to cause such registration statement to become effective and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the public warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the public warrant agreement.

 

 

If a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant-holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise


 

16


Table of Contents
 

public warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption.

 

  Notwithstanding the above, if our common stock is at the time of any exercise of a public warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.

 

  The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.

 

Expressions of Interest

Our anchor investor has expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of $19,800,000 of units in this offering (or $22,770,000 of units in the event the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), which amounts may be reduced on a pro rata basis if less than 20,000,000 units (or 23,000,000 in the event the over-allotment option is exercised in full) are sold in this offering. We have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to our anchor investor such number of units. Further, our anchor investor owns an approximate 8.3% interest in our sponsor and, therefore, will have an indirect interest in the founder shares and private placement warrants that our sponsor will own upon closing of this offering. Our anchor investor has agreed with our sponsor that, if it does not purchase the amount of units described above, or if after such purchase, it owns less than that number of units at the time of a stockholder vote in connection with our initial business combination, or redeems any shares issued as part of such units in connection with our initial business combination, or votes any shares against our initial business combination, it will forfeit all of its indirect holdings of founder shares and warrants held within our sponsor. There can be no assurance that our anchor investor will acquire any units in this offering or what amount of equity our anchor investor will retain, if any, upon the consummation of our initial business combination. As a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that our anchor investor may hold (directly or indirectly), it may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders. Our anchor investor will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust account with respect to the common stock underlying the units it may purchase in this offering as the rights afforded to our public stockholders.

 

 

The anchor investor has not been granted any material additional stockholder or other rights, and has only been issued membership interests in our sponsor with no right to control our sponsor or vote or


 

17


Table of Contents
 

dispose of its allocable founder shares or private placement warrants (which will continue to be held by our sponsor until following our initial business combination). Further, other than as described above, the anchor investor is not required to: (i) vote any shares it may own at the applicable time in favor of our initial business combination or (ii) refrain from exercising its right to redeem its public shares at the time of our initial business combination.

 

  Additionally, up to two 9.9% anchor investors, one 9.0% anchor investor and nine 4.95% anchor investors have each expressed to us an interest in purchasing up to 1,980,000 units, in the case of each 9.9% anchor investor, 1,800,000 units, in the case of the 9.0% anchor investor, and 990,000 units, in the case of each 4.95% anchor investor, in this offering at the offering price of $10.00 per unit, and such allocations to each additional anchor investor will be determined by the underwriters.

 

  The additional anchor investors have not been granted any material stockholder or other rights in addition to those afforded to our other public stockholders. Further, the additional anchor investors are not required to (i) hold any units, shares of Class A common stock or warrants they may purchase in this offering or thereafter for any amount of time, (ii) vote any shares of Class A common stock they may own at the applicable time in favor of our initial business combination or (iii) refrain from exercising their right to redeem their public shares at the time of our initial business combination. The additional anchor investors will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust account with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the units they may purchase in this offering as the rights afforded to our other public stockholders.

 

  There can be no assurance that the additional anchor investors will acquire any units in this offering, or as to the amount of such units the additional anchor investors will acquire or retain, if any, prior to or upon the consummation of our initial business combination. There is also no guarantee that all 12 additional anchor investors will participate in the offering.

 

 

The additional anchor investors have entered into separate investment agreements with us and our sponsor pursuant to which, subject to each additional anchor investor purchasing 100% of the units allocated to it in this offering by the underwriters, in connection with the closing of this offering our sponsor will sell 125,000 founder shares to each 9.9% anchor investor, 113,636 founder shares to the 9.0% anchor investor, and 62,500 founder shares to each 4.95% anchor investor, or an aggregate of 926,136 founder shares if each additional anchor investor purchases its allocated amount of units, in each case at their original purchase price of approximately $0.003 per founder share. Pursuant to the investment agreements, the additional anchor investors have agreed to (a) vote any founder shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination and (b) subject any founder shares held by them to the same lock-up restrictions as the founder shares held by


 

18


Table of Contents
 

our sponsor. Since our sponsor is selling founder shares held by it to the additional anchor investors and we are not issuing any new shares of Class B common stock, there will be no dilutive impact on the other investors in this offering.

 

 

  In the event that our anchor investor and the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units that they have expressed an interest in purchasing in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, in addition to the founder shares, no affirmative votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, the additional anchor investors are not required to vote any of their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or for or against any other matter presented for a stockholder vote.

 

  If the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, the substantial majority of units sold in this offering will be held by the additional anchor investors. The additional anchor investors may have different interests than our other public stockholders since their investments in the founder shares will generally be worthless if we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required timeframe. Because the additional anchor investors will purchase founder shares for the same nominal purchase price paid for such shares by our sponsor, the anchor investors will also have the potential to realize enhanced economic returns from their investment in us in comparison to our other public stockholders who are not purchasing founder shares from our sponsor. Accordingly, the anchor investors may be more likely to favor any proposed initial business combination transaction even if our other public stockholders do not favor the transaction.

 

Redemption of public warrants

Once the public warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding public warrants for cash:

 

   

in whole and not in part;

 

   

at a price of $0.01 per public warrant;

 

   

upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, which we refer to as the 30-day redemption period; and

 

   

if, and only if, the reported closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant-holders.

 

 

We will not redeem the public warrants unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. If and when the public warrants become redeemable by us, we may


 

19


Table of Contents
 

not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the public warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the public warrants were offered by us in this offering.

 

  If we call the public warrants for redemption as described above, we will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise such warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their public warrants on a “cashless basis,” we will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of public warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our public warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” means the 10-day average closing price as of the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants. The “10-day average closing price” means, as of any date, the average last reported sale price of the Class A common stock as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to such date. “Last reported sale price” means the last reported sale price of the shares of Class A common stock on the date prior to the date on which notice of exercise of the warrant is sent to the warrant agent. Please see “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information.

 

  None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us.

 

Founder shares

In February 2021, 7,187,500 founder shares were issued to our sponsor in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. In June 2021, our sponsor returned to us at no cost an aggregate of 1,437,500 founder shares, which we cancelled. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The additional anchor investors have entered into separate investment agreements with us and our sponsor pursuant to which, subject to each additional anchor investor purchasing 100% of the units allocated to it in this offering by the underwriters, in connection with the closing of this offering our sponsor will sell 125,000 founder shares to each 9.9% anchor investor, 113,636 founder shares to the 9.0% anchor investor, and


 

20


Table of Contents
 

62,500 founder shares to each 4.95% anchor investor, or an aggregate of 926,136 founder shares if each additional anchor investor purchases its allocated amount of units, in each case at their original purchase price of approximately $0.003 per founder share.

 

  The number of founder shares issued and outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. As such, holders of our founder shares will collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (excluding any units such holders may purchase in this offering). None of our sponsor, officers or directors have expressed an intention to purchase any units in this offering. Up to an aggregate 750,000 founder shares will be subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised so that holders of our founder shares will maintain ownership of 20% of our common stock after this offering. We will effect a stock dividend or share contribution prior to this offering should the size of the offering change, in order to maintain such ownership percentage.

 

  The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that:

 

   

the founder shares are shares of Class B common stock that automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights as described herein;

 

   

the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below;

 

   

the founder shares are entitled to registration rights;

 

   

our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to (i) redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (iii) rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame;


 

21


Table of Contents
   

the additional anchor investors will not be entitled to (i) redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (iii) rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame;

 

   

our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination; and

 

   

the additional anchor investors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination.

 

 

If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. As a result of the agreements of our sponsor, officers and directors and the additional anchor investors to vote their founder shares in favor of our initial business combination, in addition to the founder shares, we would need only (i) 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised) or (ii) 0 or 0.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted, the over-allotment option is not exercised, our anchor investor purchases $19,800,000 of units in the offering and votes its shares in favor of our initial business combination and the additional anchor investors purchase an aggregate of $146,700,000 of units in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their shares in favor of our initial business combination), of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. In the event that our anchor investor and the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units that they have expressed an interest in purchasing in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our


 

22


Table of Contents
 

initial business combination and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, in addition to the founder shares, no affirmative votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, the additional anchor investors are not required to vote any of their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or for or against any other matter presented for a stockholder vote.

 

Transfer restrictions on founder Shares

Holders of our founder shares have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the reported closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders and additional anchor investors with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.

 

Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights

The founder shares are shares of Class B common stock that will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described 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 sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of this offering, plus 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, excluding any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities 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-equivalent warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one for one basis.

 

23


Table of Contents

Voting Rights

Holders of record of the Class A common stock and holders of record of the Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, with each share of common stock entitling the holder to one vote except as required by law, provided, that the holders of Class B common stock will be entitled to vote as a separate class to increase the authorized number of shares of Class B common stock.

 

Private placement warrants

Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 4,666,666 private placement warrants (or 5,000,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.50 per warrant ($7,000,000 in the aggregate or $7,500,000 in the aggregate if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. A portion of the purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account such that, at the time of closing, $200.0 million (or $230.0 million if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full) will be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants will expire worthless.

 

  The private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us and will be exercisable on a cashless basis.

 

Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants

The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).

 

Cashless exercise of private placement warrants

If holders of private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants in exchange for a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of (A) the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants and (B) the excess of the fair market value (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean, as of any date, the average last reported sale price of the Class A common stock as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to such date. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following an initial business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability


 

24


Table of Contents
 

to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material nonpublic information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.

 

Proceeds to be held in trust account

NYSE rules provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $200,000,000, or $10.00 per unit ($230,000,000, or $10.00 per unit, if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be placed into a trust account in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $3,400,000 (or $3,360,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering.

 

  These proceeds include $6,300,000 (or $7,245,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions.

 

  Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

 

Anticipated expenses and funding sources

Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use, except the withdrawal of interest to pay our taxes and/or to redeem


 

25


Table of Contents
 

our public shares in connection with an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as described above. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government securities with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act that invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We will disclose in each quarterly and annual report filed with the SEC prior to our initial business combination whether the proceeds deposited in the trust account are invested in U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds or a combination thereof. Based upon current interest rates, we expect the trust account to generate approximately $200,000 of interest annually assuming an interest rate of 0.1% per year; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from:

 

   

the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $2,800,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $600,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and

 

   

any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided that any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender.

 

Conditions to completing our initial business combination

NYSE rules require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commissions). Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects.

 

26


Table of Contents
  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. However, we may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders, or for other reasons. However, we will only complete an initial business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our 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 taken into account for purposes of the NYSE’s 80% of net assets test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as our initial business combination for purposes of seeking stockholder approval or conducting a tender offer, as applicable.

 

Permitted purchases of public shares and public warrants by our affiliates

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, initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public 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. There is no limit on the number of shares or warrants our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and NYSE rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they


 

27


Table of Contents
 

are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to: (i) refrain from purchasing our securities during certain blackout periods when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (ii) clear all trades of company securities with a compliance officer prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. 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. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination. See “Proposed Business—Permitted Purchases of Our Securities” for a description of how our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will not make any purchases if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.

 

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

 

28


Table of Contents

Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations 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 deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our public warrants. Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering, and the additional anchor investors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them, in connection with the completion of our initial business combination or otherwise.

 

Manner of conducting redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) without a stockholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed initial 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 requirements. 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. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with the NYSE’s stockholder approval rules.

 

  The requirement that we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above will be contained in provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on the NYSE. Such provisions may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon.

 

  If we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with a stockholder meeting, we will:

 

29


Table of Contents
   

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

 

   

file proxy materials with the SEC.

 

  If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the Company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count towards this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the investment agreements, the additional anchor investors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to the founder shares, we would need only (i) 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over-allotment option is not exercised) or (ii) 0, or 0.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted, the over-allotment option is not exercised, our anchor investor purchases $19,800,000 of units in the offering and votes its shares in favor of our initial business combination and the additional anchor investors purchase an aggregate of $146,700,000 of units in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their shares in favor of our initial business combination), of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. In the event that our anchor investor and the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units that they have expressed an interest in purchasing in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, in addition to the founder shares, no affirmative votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, the additional anchor investors are not required to vote any of their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or for or against any other matter presented for a stockholder vote.

We intend to give not less than 10 days’ nor more than 60 days’ prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our


 

30


Table of Contents

initial stockholders and the additional anchor investors, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a stockholder on the record date for the stockholder meeting held to approve the proposed transaction.

 

  If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will:

 

   

conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and

 

   

file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination, which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

 

  In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

 

  Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

 

 

We intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public


 

31


Table of Contents
 

stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public stockholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed initial business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by public stockholders who elected to redeem their shares.

 

  Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will only redeem our public shares so long as such redemption would not cause our Class A common stock to be considered “penny stock” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act). This may require us to not redeem the public shares, or not close our initial business combination, if it would result in us having less than $5,000,001 in net tangible assets unless another exemption from the definition of “penny stock” is available. Additionally, a net tangible asset or cash requirement may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed initial business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed initial 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 initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

 

Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold stockholder vote

Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, 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 will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market


 

32


Table of Contents
 

price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against an initial business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with an initial business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those stockholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination.

 

Redemption rights in connection with proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) or applicable stock exchange rules. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to receive funds from the trust account or vote on any initial business combination or on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity. Holders of our founder shares, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock upon the closing of this offering (excluding any units such holders may purchase in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Our sponsor, executive officers, and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or


 

33


Table of Contents
 

(B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them, and the additional anchor investors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them, in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.

 

Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination

On the completion of our initial business combination, the funds held in the trust account will be used to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination.” We will use the remaining funds to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemption of our public shares, we may use the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account following the closing for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

 

Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 24-month period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’


 

34


Table of Contents
 

rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating 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 each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our public warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month time period.

 

  Holders of our founder shares will not be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to the founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders, our anchor investor or the additional anchor investors acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 24-month time period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and subsequently liquidate and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.

 

Limited payments to insiders

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

 

   

repayment of up to an aggregate of up to $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;

 

   

payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $15,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for utilities and secretarial and administrative support;

 

   

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

 

   

repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with


 

35


Table of Contents
 

respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such working capital loans by our sponsor or its affiliates, or our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans.

 

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

 

Audit Committee

We will establish and maintain an audit committee to, among other things, monitor compliance with the terms described above and the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to immediately take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Committees of the Board of Directors—Audit Committee.”

 

Indemnity

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) $10.00 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, 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.

We have agreed to indemnify our sponsor and its members (present and former), managers and affiliates and their respective present and former officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law from any claims made by us or a third party in respect of any investment opportunities sourced by them or any liability


 

36


Table of Contents

arising with respect to their activities in connection with our affairs, to the extent that such indemnification, hold harmless and exoneration obligations with respect to such matters are not expressly covered by a separate written agreement between us and any such party. Such indemnity will provide that the indemnified parties cannot access the funds held in our trust account.

RISKS

We are a blank check company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues to date. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.” You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 37 of this prospectus.


 

37


Table of Contents

SUMMARY FINANCIAL DATA

The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, so only balance sheet data is presented.

 

 

 

     JUNE 30, 2021  

Working deficit

   $ (515,486

Total assets

   $ 464,825  

Total liabilities

   $ 518,049  

Stockholder’s deficit

   $ (53,224

 

 

If no business combination is completed within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our sponsor, directors, director nominees and officers will not be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period.


 

38


Table of Contents

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY

Some of the statements contained in this prospectus may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following risks, uncertainties and other factors:

 

   

our being a company with no operating history and no revenues;

 

   

our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;

 

   

our ability to complete our initial business combination;

 

   

our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses;

 

   

our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

 

   

our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;

 

   

our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;

 

   

our pool of prospective target businesses;

 

   

our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the continued uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic;

 

   

the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities;

 

   

our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

 

   

the lack of a market for our securities;

 

   

the potential reduction in the public float for our securities as a result of the potential participation in this offering by the anchor investor and the additional anchor investors;

 

   

the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;

 

   

the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties;

 

   

our financial performance following this offering;

 

   

the potential tax consequences of investing in our securities; and

 

   

the other risks and uncertainties discussed in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

 

39


Table of Contents

RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

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

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.

We may choose not to hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the initial business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. In such case, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed initial business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Even if we seek stockholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our outstanding public shares do not approve of the initial business combination we complete. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote any shares held by them, and the additional anchor investors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them, in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.

Pursuant to a letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares, as well as any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions), in favor of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the investment agreements, the additional anchor investors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to the founder shares, we would need only (i) 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over- allotment option is not exercised) or (ii) 0, or 0.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted, the over- allotment option is not exercised and our anchor investor purchases $19,800,000 of units in the offering and votes its shares in favor of our initial business combination and the additional anchor investors purchase an aggregate of $146,700,000 of units in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their shares in favor of our initial business combination), of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. In the event that our anchor investor and the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units that they have expressed an interest in purchasing in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, in addition to the founder shares, no affirmative votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, the additional anchor investors are not required to vote any of their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or for or against any other matter presented for a stockholder vote.

Holders of our founder shares will own shares representing 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the completion of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial stockholders and the additional anchor investors to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval for such initial business combination.

 

40


Table of Contents

The additional anchor investors may have different interests than our other public stockholders.

If the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, the substantial majority of units sold in this offering will be held by the additional anchor investors. The additional anchor investors may have different interests than our other public stockholders since their investments in the founder shares will generally be worthless if we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required timeframe. Because the additional anchor investors will purchase founder shares for the same nominal purchase price paid for such shares by our sponsor, the anchor investors will also have the potential to realize enhanced economic returns from their investment in us in comparison to our other public stockholders who are not purchasing founder shares from our sponsor. Accordingly, the anchor investors may be more likely to favor any proposed initial business combination transaction even if our other public stockholders do not favor the transaction.

Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your redemption rights, unless we seek stockholder approval of the initial 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 our initial business combination. Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights in connection with the closing of our initial business combination.

The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into an agreement for an initial business combination with a target.

We may seek to enter into an initial business combination agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the initial business combination. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will only redeem our public shares so long as such redemption would not cause our Class A common stock to be considered “penny stock” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act). This may require us to not redeem the public shares, or not close our initial business combination, if it would result in us having less than $5,000,001 in net tangible assets unless another exemption from the definition of “penny stock” is available. Additionally, a net tangible asset or cash requirement may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our Class A common stock to be considered “penny stock” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act) or cause us to not satisfy a closing condition, each as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into an initial business combination agreement with us.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third-party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B common stock results in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock at the time of our business combination. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters is not required to be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by deferred underwriting commissions and after such redemptions, the

 

41


Table of Contents

per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming stockholders will reflect our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commissions.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your stock.

If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your stock in the open market; however, at such time, our stock may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your stock in the open market.

The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating an initial business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning an initial business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. Consequently, such target business may have leverage over us in negotiating an 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 complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, political considerations, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), 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 liquidating 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 each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

 

42


Table of Contents

Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the overall health of debt and equity markets.

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has and is continuing to spread throughout China and other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic”. The COVID-19 outbreak has resulted, and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result, in a widespread health crisis that has adversely affected, in the case of COVID-19, and could adversely affect, in the case of future outbreaks of infectious diseases, the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 continues to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.

In addition, our ability to consummate an initial business combination may be dependent on our ability to raise equity and debt financing, which may be adversely impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Finally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section.

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

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

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

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from public holders, which may influence a vote on a proposed initial business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants.

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, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants or a combination thereof, in privately-negotiated transactions or in the open market, either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to

 

43


Table of Contents

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. See “Proposed Business—Permitted Purchases of Our Securities” for a description of how our sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.

Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately-negotiated transactions from public 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. The price per share paid in any such transactions may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if such public stockholder elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination, or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the public warrant-holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.

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

If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for submitting or tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Submitting Stock Certificates in Connection with Redemption Rights.”

You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares or public warrants, potentially at a loss.

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended

 

44


Table of Contents

and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In addition, if our plan to redeem our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering is not completed for any reason, compliance with Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering before they receive funds from our trust account. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of public warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or public warrants, potentially at a loss.

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

Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the U.S. securities laws. However, because our Class A common stock will be approved for listing on a national securities exchange, 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 companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.”

Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on our redemption of our public shares, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

We expect to encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire, including LOKB and LOKM. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours, and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, because we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of Class A common stock which our public stockholders redeem in connection with our initial business combination, target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon our liquidation. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

 

45


Table of Contents

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months following the closing of this offering, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that, upon the closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed initial business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $2,800,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $600,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $600,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. None of our sponsor, or any affiliate of our sponsor or any of our officers and directors is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement-equivalent warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek advances or loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon our liquidation. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

Subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our stock price, and which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.

Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present within a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance

 

46


Table of Contents

the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public 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 enter into an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us, and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if our management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in our best interests under the circumstances. WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of the offering, will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.

Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement, the form of which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, 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) $10.00 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, 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. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. 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.

Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than

 

47


Table of Contents

$10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest, which may be withdrawn to pay our taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations.

While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors, in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties, may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive officers or our sponsor and its members (present and former), managers and affiliates and their respective present and former officers and directors.

We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors, and our sponsor and its members, managers and affiliates and their respective officers and directors, to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors, and our sponsor and its members, managers and affiliates and their respective officers and directors, have agreed to waive (and any other persons who may become an officer or director prior to the initial business combination will also be required to waive) any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and not to seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our indemnification obligations may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and we and our board may be exposed to claims of punitive damages.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, 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 all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, 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, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public

 

48


Table of Contents

stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 24th month from the closing of this offering in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date.

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our stockholders to elect directors.

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate a business combination (unless required by NYSE), and thus may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting of stockholders be held for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with a company’s bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to our consummation of a business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

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

Although we expect to focus our search for a suitable initial business combination with companies in the Climate and Sustainability sector which facilitate the Circular Economy, progress energy transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energies, enhance food chain continuity, recycling and alternative sourcing, as well as mitigate greenhouse gases and reduce plastic waste in the environment, we may complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector. However, we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects.

 

49


Table of Contents

To the extent we complete our 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 revenues or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

Because we intend to seek a business combination with a target business or businesses in the Climate and Sustainability sector, we expect our future operations to be subject to risks associated with this industry.

We intend to focus our search for a target business in the Climate and Sustainability sector. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business or sector, we cannot provide specific risks of any initial business combination. However, risks inherent in investments in the Climate and Sustainability sector include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

   

volatility of commodity prices;

 

   

price and availability of alternative fuels;

 

   

denial or delay of receiving requisite regulatory approvals and/or permits;

 

   

significant federal, state and local regulation, taxation and regulatory approval processes as well as changes in applicable laws and regulations;

 

   

the speculative nature of and high degree of risk involved in investments in Climate and Sustainability sector;

 

   

availability of key inputs, such as strategic consumables, raw materials and necessary equipment;

 

   

the supply of and demand for necessary services and equipment in the United States and internationally;

 

   

available transportation, storage and other transportation capacity;

 

   

changes in global supply and demand and prices for commodities;

 

   

impact of energy conservation efforts;

 

   

technological advances affecting energy production and consumption;

 

   

overall domestic and global economic conditions;

 

   

availability of, and potential disputes with, independent contractors;

 

   

natural disasters, terrorist acts and similar dislocations; and

 

   

value of U.S. dollar relative to the currencies of other countries.

We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors outside of Climate and Sustainability sector (which industries may or may not be outside of our management’s areas of expertise).

Although we intend to focus on identifying initial business combination candidates in the Climate and Sustainability sector, we will consider a business combination outside of the Climate and Sustainability sector if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company or we are unable to identify a suitable candidate in the Climate and Sustainability sector after having expended a reasonable amount of time and effort in an attempt to do so. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the Climate and Sustainability sector, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the Climate and Sustainability sector would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire.

 

50


Table of Contents

As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of 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 we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other 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 receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances as described herein, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.

We may seek business combination opportunities with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue, cash flow or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues, cash flows or earnings or difficulty in retaining key personnel.

To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model or with limited historic financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the relevant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the target(s) of our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that the price we are paying is fair to our company 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 proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

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

The federal proxy rules require that the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an initial business combination include historical and pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement

 

51


Table of Contents

disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”) depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

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

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target company with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.

We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete an initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that we will only redeem our public shares so long as such redemption would not cause our Class A common stock to be considered “penny stock” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act). This may require us to not redeem the public shares, or not close our initial business combination, if it would result in us having less than $5,000,001 in net tangible assets unless another exemption from the definition of “penny stock” is available. 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 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 initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, 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.

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our stockholders may not support.

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, changed industry focus and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or

 

52


Table of Contents

other securities. Amending our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least a majority of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of our warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, a majority of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require us to provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. To the extent any such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.

The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), including an amendment to permit us to withdraw funds from the trust account such that the per share amount investors will receive upon any redemption or liquidation is substantially reduced or eliminated, may be amended with the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-initial business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein and including to permit us to withdraw funds from the trust account such that the per share amount investors will receive upon any redemption or liquidation is substantially reduced or eliminated) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Holders of our founder shares, who will collectively beneficially own up to 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (excluding any units such holders may purchase in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which govern our pre-initial business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete an initial business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (including interest, net of taxes), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement that we have entered into with our sponsor, officers and directors. Our stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries

 

53


Table of Contents

of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.

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

We have not selected any specific business combination target but intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. As a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public stockholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our sponsor, officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, as described in the risk factor entitled “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share,” under certain circumstances our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share upon the liquidation of the trust account.

Holders of our founder shares may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.

Upon the closing of this offering, holders of our founder shares will own shares representing 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). 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 and approval of major corporate transactions. If holders of our founder shares purchase any units in this offering or if holders of our founder shares purchase any additional shares of common stock in the aftermarket or in privately-negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our initial stockholders, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the initial business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and holders of our founder shares, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, holders of our founder shares will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.

 

54


Table of Contents

Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, consultants and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons, including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.

Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements as well as reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses, if any, with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation or reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses, if any, following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.

Our key personnel may be able to remain with the combined company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the initial business combination. Additionally, they may negotiate reimbursement of any out-of-pocket expenses incurred on our behalf prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, should they choose to do so. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the initial 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 initial business combination, or as reimbursement for such out-of-pocket expenses. 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 initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company, which could, in turn, negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.

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

 

55


Table of Contents

If we effect our initial business combination with a company with locations or operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.

If we effect our initial business combination with a company with locations or operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:

 

   

higher costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with different commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets;

 

   

rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

 

   

laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;

 

   

tariffs and trade barriers;

 

   

regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

 

   

longer payment cycles and challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

 

   

tax issues, including limits on our ability to change our tax residence from the United States, complex withholding or other tax regimes which may apply in connection with our business combination or to our structure following our business combination, variations in tax laws as compared to the United States, and potential changes in the applicable tax laws in the United States and/or relevant non-U.S. jurisdictions;

 

   

currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

 

   

rates of inflation;

 

   

cultural and language differences;

 

   

employment regulations;

 

   

changes in industry, regulatory or environmental standards within the jurisdictions where we operate;

 

   

crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars;

 

   

deterioration of political relations with the United States; and

 

   

government appropriations of assets.

We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, our operations might suffer, which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

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

Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following this offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:

 

   

default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;

 

   

acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;

 

   

our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand;

 

   

our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding;

 

   

our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

 

   

using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund other general corporate purposes;

 

56


Table of Contents
   

limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

 

   

increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation;

 

   

limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and

 

   

other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

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

Of the net proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $200,000,000 (or $230,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be available to complete our initial business combination and pay related fees and expenses (which includes up to $6,300,000, or up to $7,245,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, for the payment of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account).

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

 

   

solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or

 

   

dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.

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

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

If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. We do not, however, intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.

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

In pursuing our initial business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately-held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could

 

57


Table of Contents

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 an initial business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

Our initial business combination and our structure thereafter may not be tax-efficient to our stockholders and warrant-holders. As a result of our business combination, our tax obligations may be more complex, burdensome and uncertain.

Although we will attempt to structure our initial business combination in a tax-efficient manner, tax structuring considerations are complex, the relevant facts and law are uncertain and may change, and we may prioritize commercial and other considerations over tax considerations. For example, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite stockholder approval, we may structure our business combination in a manner that requires stockholders and/or warrant-holders to recognize gain or income for tax purposes. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to stockholders or warrant-holders to pay taxes in connection with our business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, a stockholder or a warrant-holder may need to satisfy any liability resulting from our initial business combination with cash from its own funds or by selling all or a portion of such holder’s shares or warrants. In addition, we may effect a business combination with a target company in another jurisdiction or reincorporate in a different jurisdiction (including, but not limited to, the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located). As a result, stockholders and warrant-holders may be subject to additional income, withholding or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after our initial business combination.

Furthermore, we may effect a business combination with a target company that has business operations outside of the United States and, possibly, business operations in multiple jurisdictions. If we effect such a business combination, we could be subject to significant income, withholding and other tax obligations in a number of jurisdictions with respect to income, operations and subsidiaries related to those jurisdictions. Due to the complexity of tax obligations and filings in many jurisdictions, we may have a heightened risk related to audits or examinations by taxing authorities. This additional complexity and risk could have an adverse effect on our after-tax profitability and financial condition.

Risks Relating to our Sponsor, Management Team and Board of Directors

Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements. In addition, the officers and directors of an initial business combination candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of an initial business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an initial business combination candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an initial business combination candidate’s management team will remain associated with the initial business combination candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an initial business combination candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

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

Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our executive officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not

 

58


Table of Contents

required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various their business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence, negotiations and other activities. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.

Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (except with respect to any public shares they may hold), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

Our sponsor is controlled by its managing members, Live Oak Merchant Partners and an affiliate of Crestview, and owned by members of our management, other members of our board of directors, Atalaya Capital Management LP and other individuals and institutions. In February 2021, 7,187,500 founder shares were issued to our sponsor in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. In June 2021, our sponsor returned to us at no cost an aggregate of 1,437,500 founder shares, which we cancelled. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. Our sponsor will forfeit up to 750,000 founder shares depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised. In addition, our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 4,666,666 (or 5,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants, each exercisable for one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, for a purchase price of $7,000,000 (or $7,500,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $1.50 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. The initial stockholders have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed initial business combination and (B) not to redeem any founder shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination or in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. 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 combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination.

Since our sponsor paid only approximately $0.003 per share for the founder shares, certain of our officers and directors could potentially make a substantial profit even if we acquire a target business that subsequently declines in value.

In February 2021, 7,187,500 founder shares were issued to our sponsor in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. In June 2021, our sponsor returned to us at no cost an aggregate of 1,437,500 founder shares, which we cancelled. Certain of our officers and directors have a significant economic interest in our sponsor. As a result, the low acquisition cost of the founder shares creates an economic incentive whereby our officers and directors could potentially make a substantial profit even if we acquire a target business that subsequently declines in value and is unprofitable for public investors.

Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

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

 

59


Table of Contents

Any negative developments involving our management team, board of directors or Senior Advisor, or companies with which they are or have been affiliated, including civil disputes, litigation, government or other investigations or other actual or alleged misconduct unrelated to our business affairs could materially impact our ability to consummate an initial business combination.

Our management team, board of directors or Senior Advisor, or companies with which they are or have been affiliated, have been, and in the future will continue to be, involved in a wide variety of business and other activities. As a result of such involvement, our management team, board of directors or Senior Advisor, or companies with which they are affiliated, may become involved in or subject to civil disputes, litigation, governmental or other investigations, actual or alleged misconduct or other negative developments relating to their affairs unrelated to our company. For example, Ms. Mona Sutphen, our Senior Advisor, previously served as a director of Pattern Energy Group, Inc. A class action lawsuit was filed in February 2020 against Pattern Energy and named its current directors and former directors—including Ms. Sutphen—as co-defendants, alleging that the defendants released a materially false and misleading proxy statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A second lawsuit was filed in May 2020 based on substantially similar factual assertions, alleging the defendants breached their fiduciary duties. The outcome of these litigation matters is uncertain given their early stage. Negative developments, including any negative publicity related thereto, may be detrimental to our reputation, may negatively affect our ability to identify and complete an initial business combination in a material manner, and may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.

Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor and officers and directors are, and may in the future become, affiliated with entities (such as operating companies or investment vehicles) that are engaged in a similar business. For example, certain of our officers and directors currently or are expected to serve in similar roles for LOKB and LOKM. John P. Amboian, our chairman, also serves as the Chairman of LOKB and LOKM. Richard J. Hendrix, our Chief Executive Officer and Director, serves as an officer and director of each of LOKB and LOKM, and Gary K. Wunderlich, Jr., our President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Director, serves as an officer of LOKB and as an officer and director of LOKM. Adam J. Fishman, our Chief Operating Officer, also serves as an officer of each of LOKB and LOKM. Each such officer and director owes or will owe fiduciary duties under the DGCL to LOKB and LOKM. Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities that may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties, including LOKB and LOKM. In addition, our officers and directors may become an officer or director of another special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities intended to be registered under the Exchange Act even before we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination.

Accordingly, our officers and directors 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 will provide 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.

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

 

60


Table of Contents

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

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into an initial business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers. 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.

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. 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.

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

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning an initial 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 an initial business combination as set forth in the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business—Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, regarding the fairness to the Company and our stockholders from a financial point of view of an initial 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 initial business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest. These risks may become more acute as the 24-month deadline for the completion of our initial business combination.

Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination.

We may structure an initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock 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

 

61


Table of Contents

of our stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.

Risks Relating to our Securities

The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we 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 pro-rata 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 per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:

 

   

restrictions on the nature of our investments; and

 

   

restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.

In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:

 

   

registration as an investment company;

 

   

adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and

 

   

reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations.

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 total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete an initial business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.

We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in U.S. “government securities,” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling

 

62


Table of Contents

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. This offering 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: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete an initial business combination or may result in our liquidation. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances described herein, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.

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 will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” 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. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

The NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

Our units have been approved for listing on the NYSE on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Following the date the shares of our Class A common stock and public warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the shares of our Class A common stock and public warrants will be separately listed on the NYSE. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NYSE listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on the NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum number of holders of our securities (400 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on NYSE. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4 per share. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time. If the NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

 

   

a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

 

63


Table of Contents
   

reduced liquidity for our securities;

 

   

a determination that our Class A common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;

 

   

a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

 

   

a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our units and eventually our Class A common stock and public warrants will be listed on the NYSE, our units, Class A common stock and public warrants will be covered securities. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the NYSE, our securities would not be covered securities and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities, including in connection with our initial business combination.

We may issue additional shares of Class A common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 250,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 230,000,000 and 15,000,000 (assuming, in each case, that the underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option) authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance, which amount does not take into account the shares of Class A common stock reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of Class B common stock. Immediately after the consummation of this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding. Shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A common stock or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination.

We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination (although our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to receive funds from the trust account or vote on any initial business combination or on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity). We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account, (ii) vote on any initial business combination or (iii) vote on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity. 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 the approval of our stockholders. However, our executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our

 

64


Table of Contents

obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.

The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:

 

   

may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering;

 

   

may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

 

   

could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and

 

   

may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or public warrants.

We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless.

We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreements, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration under the Securities Act of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrant-holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and there is no exemption available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of Class A common stock included in the units. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt

 

65


Table of Contents

from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were initially offered by us in this offering. However, there may be instances in which holders of our public warrants may be unable to exercise such public warrants but holders of our private warrants may be able to exercise such private warrants.

If you exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis,” you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.

Under the following circumstances, the exercise of the public warrants may be required or permitted to be made on a cashless basis: (i) If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant-holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption; (ii) if our common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement; and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available; and (iii) if we call the public warrants for redemption under certain circumstances described in the warrant agreement. In the event of an exercise on a cashless basis, a holder would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock calculated under the applicable provision in the warrant agreement. As a result, you would receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.

The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and the additional anchor investors may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock). The holders of at least $25 million in value of these securities are entitled to demand that we file a registration statement covering such securities and to require us to effect up to an aggregate of three underwritten offerings of such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggyback” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed and underwritten offerings subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A 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 stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the securities owned by our initial stockholders, the additional anchor investors or holders of working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered for resale.

Our letter agreement with our sponsor, director nominees, and officers may be amended without stockholder approval.

Our letter agreement with our sponsor, directors, director nominees, and officers contains provisions relating to transfer restrictions of our founder shares and sponsor warrants and indemnification of the trust account. This letter agreement may be amended without stockholder approval (although releasing the parties from the restriction not to transfer our founder shares for 180 days following the date of this prospectus will require the prior written consent of the underwriters). While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to this agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to this agreement. Any

 

66


Table of Contents

such amendments to the letter agreement would not require approval from our stockholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.

Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 for the founder shares, or approximately $0.003 per share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class B common stock to the benefit of our sponsor and certain of our directors and officers.

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the Class A common stock and none to the public warrant included) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the public warrants, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 107.1% (or $10.71 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book deficit per share of $(0.71) and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. In addition, because of the anti-dilution rights of the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A common stock and would be exacerbated to the extent the public stockholders seek redemptions from the trust account. Moreover, although we are of the view that our sponsor, directors and officers paid fair value for the founder shares, there is no assurance that a taxing authority would agree with us, and if a taxing authority were to successfully assert otherwise, we may be subject to material withholding and other tax liabilities that could adversely affect our financial condition.

We may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.

Our public warrants will be issued in registered form under a public warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The public warrant agreement provides that the terms of the public warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder of public warrants if holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

Our public warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our public warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.

Our public warrant agreement will provide that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the public warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the public warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our public warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our public warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the public warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder

 

67


Table of Contents

of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.

This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Warrant holders who are unable to bring their claims in the judicial forum of their choosing may be required to incur additional costs in pursuit of actions which are the subject of our choice-of-forum provision. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our public warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.

 

We may redeem your unexpired public warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your public warrants worthless.

We have the ability to redeem outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant; provided that the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock has been at least $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we give proper notice of such redemption to the warrant holders and provided certain other conditions are met. If and when the public warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the public warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the public warrants were initially offered by us in this offering. Redemption of the outstanding public warrants could force you (i) to exercise your public warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your public warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your public warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding public warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your public warrants.

None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us.

Our warrants and founder shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.

We will be issuing warrants to purchase 6,666,666 shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 7,666,666 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement warrants to purchase an aggregate of 4,666,666 (or up to 5,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. Our initial stockholders currently own an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares, 750,000 of which are subject to forfeiture if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised. The founder shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors make any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

To the extent we issue shares of Class A common stock to effectuate an initial business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants and conversion rights could make us a less attractive business combination vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and reduce the value of the shares of Class A common stock issued to complete the initial business combination.

 

68


Table of Contents

Therefore, our warrants and founder shares may make it more difficult to effectuate an initial business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.

The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that (i) they will not be redeemable by us, (ii) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) the holders thereof (including with respect to shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants) are entitled to registration rights.

Because each unit contains one-third of one public warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.

Each unit contains one-third of one public warrant. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of an initial business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a public warrant to purchase one share.

A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.

Unlike some other blank check companies, if

 

  (i)

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 a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share;

 

  (ii)

the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and

 

  (iii)

the Market Value is below $9.20 per share,

then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described under “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.

The determination of the offering price of our units, the size of this offering and terms of the units is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.

Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and the underwriters. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with representatives of the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriters believed they reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A common stock and public warrants underlying the units, include:

 

   

the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies;

 

   

prior offerings of those companies;

 

69


Table of Contents
   

our prospects for acquiring an operating business;

 

   

a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;

 

   

our capital structure;

 

   

an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies;

 

   

general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and

 

   

other factors as were deemed relevant.

Although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering size, price and terms of the units is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities of an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results.

There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.

There is currently no market for our securities. Stockholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.

Potential participation in this offering by our anchor investor and the additional anchor investors could reduce the public float for our shares.

Our anchor investor has expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of $19,800,000 of units in this offering (or $22,770,000 of units in the event the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), which amounts may be reduced on a pro rata basis if less than 20,000,000 units (or 23,000,000 in the event the over-allotment option is exercised in full) are sold in this offering. We have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to our anchor investor such number of units. In addition, the additional anchor investors have expressed to us an interest in purchasing up to an aggregate of 14,670,000 units in this offering, and such allocations will be determined by the underwriters. If our anchor investor and the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, such purchases would reduce the available public float for our securities. Any such reduction in our available public float may reduce the trading volume, volatility and liquidity of our securities relative to what they would have been had such securities been purchased by other investors.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A common stock and could entrench management.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty and certain other actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will, subject to certain exceptions, be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel, which may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders for

 

70


Table of Contents

breach of fiduciary duty and certain other actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware 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), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This choice of forum provision may limit or make more costly a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision 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 harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

An investment in our securities, and certain subsequent transactions with respect to our securities, may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.

An investment in our securities, and certain subsequent transactions with respect to our securities, may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there is no authority that directly addresses the U.S. federal income tax implications of instruments similar to the units we are issuing in this offering, the allocation an investor makes of the purchase price of a unit between the share of our Class A common stock and the partial warrant to purchase Class A common stock included in each unit could be challenged by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or the courts. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of public warrants is unclear under current law. Additionally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our shares of Class A common stock suspend the running of a U.S. Holder’s holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A common stock is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be eligible for favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment. See “Material United States Federal Income Tax Considerations” below for a summary of the principal U.S. federal income tax consequences of an investment in our securities. Each prospective investor is urged to consult and rely solely upon its own tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.

The U.S. federal income tax treatment of the redemption of Class A common stock as a sale of such Class A common stock depends on a stockholder’s specific facts.

The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a redemption of Class A common stock will depend on whether the

redemption qualifies as a sale of such Class A common stock under Section 302(a) of the Code, which will depend largely on the total number of shares of common stock treated as held by the stockholder electing to redeem Class A common stock (including any shares of common stock constructively owned by the holder, including as a result of owning private placement warrants or public warrants) relative to all of the common stock outstanding before and after the redemption. If such redemption is not treated as a sale of Class A common stock for U.S. federal income

 

71


Table of Contents

tax purposes, the redemption will instead be treated as a corporate distribution. For more information about the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the redemption of Class A common stock, see the section entitled “—Material United States Federal Income Tax Considerations—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Redemption or Repurchase of Class A Common Stock for Cash.”

General Risk Factors

We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

We are a blank check company with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning an 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.

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

Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, LOAK, LOKB, LOKM, our management team, our board of directors and our Senior Advisor is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by LOAK, LOKB, LOKM, our management team, our board of directors and our Senior Advisor is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team, or their respective affiliates, LOAK, LOKB, LOKM, our board of directors or our Senior Advisor or businesses associated with any of them as indicative of our future performance of an investment in the Company or the returns the Company will, or is likely to, generate going forward.

Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.

We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.

Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination and results of operations.

We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly.

Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination and results of operations.

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

We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public

 

72


Table of Contents

companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.

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

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

 

73


Table of Contents

USE OF PROCEEDS

We are offering 20,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table.

 

 

 

     WITHOUT
OVER-ALLOTMENT
OPTION
    OVER-ALLOTMENT
OPTION FULLY
EXERCISED
 

Gross proceeds

    

Gross proceeds from units offered to public (1)

   $ 200,000,000     $ 230,000,000  

Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement

     7,000,000       7,500,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total gross proceeds

   $ 207,000,000     $ 237,500,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Offering expenses (2)

    

Underwriting commissions (2% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion) (3)(4)

   $ 3,600,000     $ 4,140,000  

Legal fees and expenses

     300,000       300,000  

Accounting fees and expenses

     37,500       37,500  

SEC/FINRA Expenses

     60,093       60,093  

Travel and road show

     25,000       25,000  

NYSE listing and filing fees

     85,000       85,000  

Printing and engraving expenses

     40,000       40,000  

Miscellaneous

     52,407       52,407  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total offering expenses (excluding underwriting commissions)

   $ 600,000     $ 600,000  

Proceeds after offering expenses

   $ 202,800,000     $ 232,760,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Held in trust account (3)

   $ 200,000,000     $ 230,000,000  

% of public offering size

     100     100

Not held in trust account

   $ 2,800,000     $ 2,760,000  

 

 

The following table shows the estimated use of the approximately $2,800,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option). (5)

 

 

 

     AMOUNT      % OF
TOTAL
 

Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel, and other expenses in connection with any business combination (6)

   $ 1,470,000        52.5

Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations

     125,000        4.5

Payment for utilities and secretarial and administrative support

     360,000        12.9

Director and Officer liability insurance premiums

     650,000        23.2

NYSE continued listing fees

     85,000        3.0

Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses (including taxes)

     110,000        3.9
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $ 2,800,000        100.0

 

 

(1)    Includes amounts payable to public stockholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination. Includes gross proceeds from this offering of $200,000,000 (or $230,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full).

 

(2)   

A portion of the offering expenses will be paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsor of up to an aggregate of $300,000 as described in this prospectus. To date, we have borrowed $125,500 under the promissory note with our sponsor (of up to $300,000 available to us) to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These amounts will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting

 

74


Table of Contents
  commissions). In the event that offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, they will be repaid using a portion of the $2,800,000 (or $2,760,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of proceeds not held in the trust account and set aside for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that offering expenses are less than set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses.

 

(3)    The underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination, $6,300,000, which constitutes the underwriter’s deferred commissions (or $7,245,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account, and the remaining funds, less amounts released to the trustee to pay redeeming stockholders, will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.

 

(4)    The underwriters agreed that they will not receive any underwriting discounts or commissions on 2,000,000 of the units sold in this offering (2,300,000 of the units sold in this offering if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) that may be purchased by certain investors identified by our sponsor. As a result, the underwriters will not receive $400,000 ($460,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of the 2% upfront underwriting discount and $700,000 ($805,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of the 3.5% deferred underwriting discount, in each case attributable to units sold to certain investors identified by our sponsor.

 

(5)    These expenses are estimates only and do not include interest which may be available to us from the trust account. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring our initial business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify an initial business combination target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would not be available for our expenses.

 

(6)    Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our initial business combination to fund a “no shop” provision and commitment fees for financing.

We may increase or decrease the total number of units sold to the public in this offering. If we decide to proceed with an offering that results in an increase in the total number of units sold to the public, we would have additional proceeds from the offering available to pursue an acquisition. If we proceed with an offering that results in a decrease in the total number of shares sold to the public, we would have reduced proceeds from the offering available to pursue an acquisition. Such an increase or decrease may impact the size of the initial business combination we may pursue. In addition, the proceeds held in trust would correspondingly increase or decrease such that 100% of the gross proceeds from this offering will be held in trust. The underwriter’s option to purchase additional units to cover over-allotments and the amount of private placement warrants that our sponsor will purchase will correspondingly increase or decrease. We would issue additional founder shares in the event we increase the total number of units sold in this offering and our sponsor would forfeit founder shares it holds in the event we decrease the total number of units sold in this offering so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering 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, excluding any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities 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-equivalent warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans.

Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $200,000,000 (or $230,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), including $6,300,000 (or $7,245,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will be placed in a trust account in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. We estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $200,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.1% per year; however, we can provide no assurance regarding this amount. Except with respect to interest earned on the

 

75


Table of Contents

funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law.

The net proceeds released to us from the trust account upon the closing of our initial business combination may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we complete our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemption of our public shares, we may use the balance of the cash released from the trust account following the closing for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into following consummation of this offering. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, following this offering and prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will be prohibited from issuing additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions, unless (in connection with any such amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation) we offer our public stockholders the opportunity to redeem their public shares.

We believe that amounts not held in trust will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective business combination, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of an initial business combination. However, if our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us.

Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to an aggregate of $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. To date, we have borrowed $125,500 under the promissory note with our sponsor to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of August 11, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of offering proceeds not held in the trust account.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held

 

76


Table of Contents

outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will only redeem our public shares so long as such redemption would not cause our Class A common stock to be considered “penny stock” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act). This may require us to not redeem the public shares, or not close our initial business combination, if it would result in us having less than $5,000,001 in net tangible assets unless another exemption from the definition of “penny stock” is available. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy this requirement or any net worth or cash requirement condition contained in the agreement for our business combination, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares or the initial business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.

A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months following the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. The additional anchor investors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, holders of our founder shares will not be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to the founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or affiliates or the additional anchor investors acquires public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

 

77


Table of Contents

DIVIDEND POLICY

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

 

78


Table of Contents

DILUTION

The difference between the public offering price per share of Class A common stock, assuming no value is attributed to the public warrants we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public stockholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of Class A common stock, all of which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock.

At June 30, 2021, our net tangible book deficit was $(515,486), or approximately $(0.09) per share of common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 23,000,000 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book deficit at June 30, 2021 would have been $(3,553,224), or approximately $(0.71) per share (or $(4,538,224), or $(0.79) per share if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), representing an immediate decrease in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of 20,000,000 shares of Class A common stock that may be redeemed for cash, or 23,000,000 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $0.62 per share (or $0.70 per share if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) to our initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and immediate dilution to public stockholders from this offering will be $10.71 per share (or $10.79 per share if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full).

The following table illustrates the dilution to the public stockholders on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the public warrants or the private placement warrants:

 

 

 

     WITHOUT OVER-
ALLOTMENT
    EXERCISE OF
OVER-ALLOTMENT
OPTION IN FULL
 

Public offering price

   $ 10.00     $ 10.00  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net tangible book deficit before this offering

   $ (0.09   $ (0.09

Decrease attributable to public stockholders

   $ (0.62   $ (0.70
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Pro forma net tangible book deficit after this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants

   $ (0.71   $ (0.79
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Dilution to public stockholders

   $ 10.71     $ 10.79  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Percentage of dilution to public stockholders

     107.1     107.9

 

 

For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) by $200,000,000 because holders of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or stockholders’ meeting, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes), divided by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering.

 

79


Table of Contents

The following table sets forth information with respect to our initial stockholders and the public stockholders:

 

 

 

     SHARES PURCHASED     TOTAL CONSIDERATION     AVERAGE PRICE
PER SHARE
 
     NUMBER      PERCENTAGE     AMOUNT      PERCENTAGE  

Initial Stockholders (1)

     5,000,000        20.000   $ 25,000        .01   $ 0.005  

Public Stockholders

     20,000,000        80.000     200,000,000        99.99   $ 10.000  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 
     25,000,000        100.000   $ 200,025,000        100.00  

 

 

(1)    Assumes (i) no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of an aggregate of 750,000 shares of Class B common stock held by our sponsor, (ii) that none of the additional anchor investors purchases 100% of the units that may be allocated to it by the underwriters, and (iii) conversion of Class B common stock into Class A common stock on a one for-one basis. The dilution to public stockholders would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the Class B common shares result in the issuance of Class A common shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon such conversion.

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

 

 

 

     WITHOUT OVER-
ALLOTMENT
    WITH OVER-
ALLOTMENT
 

Numerator:

    

Net tangible book deficit before this offering

   $ (515,486   $ (515,486

Net proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement warrants (1)

     202,800,000       232,760,000  

Plus: Offering costs accrued for or paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value before this offering

     462,262       462,262  

Less: Deferred underwriting commissions

     (6,300,000     (7,245,000

Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to redemption (2)

     (200,000,000     (230,000,000
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
   $ (3,553,224   $ (4,538,224
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Denominator:

    

Class B common stock outstanding prior to this offering

     5,750,000       5,750,000  

Class B common stock forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised

     (750,000      

Class A common stock included in the units offered

     20,000,000       23,000,000  

Less: Shares subject to redemption

     (20,000,000     (23,000,000
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
     5,000,000       5,750,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

(1)    Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of $600,000 and underwriting commissions of $3,600,000 (or $4,140,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting fees). See “Use of Proceeds.”

 

(2)    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, initial stockholders, 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. In the event of any such purchases of our shares prior to the completion of our initial business combination, the number of shares of Class A common stock subject to redemption will be reduced by the amount of any such purchases, increasing the pro forma net tangible book value per share. See “Proposed Business—Effecting Our Initial Business Combination” and “Proposed Business—Permitted Purchases of Our Securities.”

 

80


Table of Contents

CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization at June 30, 2021, and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of our units in this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities, assuming no exercise by the underwriters of its over-allotment option:

 

 

 

     JUNE 30, 2021  
     ACTUAL     AS ADJUSTED  

Note payable to related party (1)

   $ 90,500     $  

Deferred underwriting commissions

           6,300,000  

Class A common stock subject to possible redemption; 200,000,000 and 250,000,000 shares authorized, actual and as adjusted, respectively; -0- and 20,000,000 shares, actual and as adjusted, respectively (2)

           200,000,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted

            

Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, 20,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 and 5,000,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual and as adjusted, respectively (3)

     575       500  

Additional paid-in capital

     24,425        

Accumulated deficit

     (78,224     (3,553,724
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)

   $ (53,224   $ (3,553,224
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total capitalization

   $ 37,276     $ 202,746,776  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

(1)    Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to an aggregate of $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the repayment of any loans made under this note out of the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. To date, we have borrowed $125,500 under the promissory note with our sponsor to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering.

 

(2)    Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, subject to the limitations described herein whereby redemptions cannot cause our Class A common stock to be considered “penny stock” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act) and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed initial business combination.

 

(3)    Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares by our sponsor and as adjusted amount assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

81


Table of Contents

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL

CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Overview

We are a blank check company whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing.

The issuance of additional shares in connection with an initial business combination to the owners of the target or other investors:

 

   

may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B common stock resulted in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock;

 

   

may subordinate the rights of holders of our common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

 

   

could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors;

 

   

may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and

 

   

may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A common stock and/or public warrants.

Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant debt to bank or other lenders or the owners of a target, it could result in:

 

   

default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;

 

   

acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;

 

   

our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand;

 

   

our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding;

 

   

our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

 

   

using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund other general corporate purposes;

 

   

limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

 

   

increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation;

 

   

limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and

 

   

other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

 

82


Table of Contents

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at June 30, 2021, we had $25,000 in cash, and will rely on loans from our sponsor for operating costs until the close of this offering. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial business combination plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.

Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as expenses as we conduct due diligence on prospective business combination candidates. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our liquidity needs will be satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through up to an aggregate of $300,000 in loans available from our sponsor under an unsecured promissory note. To date, we have borrowed $125,500 under such promissory note. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $600,000, underwriting commissions of $3,600,000 ($4,140,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $6,300,000 (or $7,245,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full)), and (ii) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $7,000,000 (or $7,500,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $202,800,000 (or $232,760,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $200,000,000 (or $230,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes $6,300,000 (or $7,245,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions. The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. The remaining approximately $2,800,000 (or $2,760,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $600,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $600,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (less taxes paid and deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay taxes. We estimate our annual franchise tax obligations, based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding after the completion of this offering, to be $200,000, which is the maximum amount of annual franchise taxes payable by us as a Delaware corporation per annum, which we may pay from funds from this offering held outside of the trust account or from interest earned on the funds held in our trust account and released to us for this purpose. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our taxes. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.

Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us the approximately $2,800,000 (or $2,760,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds to, among other expenditures described herein, identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices,

 

83


Table of Contents

plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete an initial business combination.

In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts, but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our sponsor, officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $1,470,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $360,000 for utilities and secretarial and administrative support; $650,000 for director and officer liability insurance premiums; $85,000 for NYSE continued listing fees; $125,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; and approximately $110,000 for working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves.

These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed initial business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so.

If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.

We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. In addition, we intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemptions by public stockholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We may also obtain financing prior to the closing of our initial business combination to fund our working capital needs and transaction costs in connection with our search for and completion of our initial business combination. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following consummation of this offering. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. If we

 

84


Table of Contents

are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, following this offering and prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will be prohibited from issuing additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions, unless (in connection with any such amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation) we offer our public stockholders the opportunity to redeem their public shares.

Controls and Procedures

We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer and no longer an emerging growth company would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend 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 independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.

Prior to the closing of this offering, we have not completed an assessment, nor has our independent registered public accounting firm tested our systems, of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Many small and mid-sized target businesses we may consider for our initial business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:

 

   

staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties;

 

   

reconciliation of accounts;

 

   

proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate;

 

   

evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;

 

   

documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and

 

   

documentation of accounting policies and procedures.

Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a target business, we may incur significant expense in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.

Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent registered public accounting firm to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The independent registered public accounting firm may identify additional issues concerning a target business’s internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government

 

85


Table of Contents

treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

Related Party Transactions

In February 2021, 7,187,500 founder shares were issued to our sponsor in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. The per share purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the Company by the aggregate number of founder shares issued. In June 2021, our sponsor returned to us at no cost an aggregate of 1,437,500 founder shares, which we cancelled. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 750,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.

Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

Our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

Prior to the consummation of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to an aggregate of $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. To date, we have borrowed $95,000 under such promissory note. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of August 11, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $2,800,000 (or $2,760,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of proceeds not held in the trust account and allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) and working capital.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

We have agreed to indemnify our sponsor and its members (present and former), managers and affiliates and their respective present and former officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law from any claims made by us or a third party in respect of any investment opportunities sourced by them or any liability arising with respect to their activities in connection with our affairs, to the extent that such indemnification, hold harmless and exoneration obligations with respect to such matters are not expressly covered by a separate written agreement between us and any such party. Such indemnity will provide that the indemnified parties cannot access the funds held in our trust account.

 

86


Table of Contents

Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 4,666,666 private placement warrants (or 5,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $1.50 per warrant ($7,000,000 in the aggregate or $7,500,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. Our sponsor will be permitted to transfer the private placement warrants held by it to certain permitted transferees, including our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to them, but the transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as our sponsor. Otherwise, these warrants will not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable. The private placement warrants may also be exercised by our sponsor and its permitted transferees for cash or on a cashless basis. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

Our anchor investor has expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of $19,800,000 of units in this offering (or $22,770,000 of units in the event the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), which amounts may be reduced on a pro-rata basis if less than 20,000,000 units (or 23,000,000 in the event the over-allotment option is exercised in full) are sold in this offering. We have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to our anchor investor such number of units. Further, our anchor investor owns an approximate 8.3% interest in our sponsor and, therefore, will have an indirect interest in the founder shares and private placement warrants that our sponsor will own upon closing of this offering. Our anchor investor has agreed with our sponsor that, if it does not purchase the amount of units described above, or if after such purchase, it owns less than that number of units at the time of a stockholder vote in connection with our initial business combination, or redeems any shares issued as part of such units in connection with our initial business combination, or votes any shares against our initial business combination, it will forfeit all of its indirect holdings of founder shares and warrants held within our sponsor. There can be no assurance that our anchor investor will acquire any units in this offering or what amount of equity our anchor investor will retain, if any, upon the consummation of our initial business combination. As a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that our anchor investor may hold (directly or indirectly), it may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders.

Our anchor investor will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust account with respect to the common stock underlying the units it may purchase in this offering as the rights afforded to our public stockholders. The anchor investor has not been granted any material additional stockholder or other rights, and has only been issued membership interests in our sponsor with no right to control our sponsor or vote or dispose of its allocable founder shares or private placement warrants (which will continue to be held by our sponsor until following our initial business combination). Further, other than as described above, the anchor investor is not required to: (i) vote any shares it may own at the applicable time in favor of our initial business combination or (ii) refrain from exercising its right to redeem its public shares at the time of our initial business combination.

Additionally, up to two 9.9% anchor investors, one 9.0% anchor investor and nine 4.95% anchor investors have each expressed to us an interest in purchasing up to 1,980,000 units, in the case of each 9.9% anchor investor, 1,800,000 units, in the case of the 9.0% anchor investor, and 990,000 units, in the case of each 4.95% anchor investor, in this offering at the offering price of $10.00 per unit, and such allocations to each additional anchor investor will be determined by the underwriters.

The additional anchor investors have not been granted any material stockholder or other rights in addition to those afforded to our other public stockholders. Further, the additional anchor investors are not required to (i) hold any units, shares of Class A common stock or warrants they may purchase in this offering or thereafter for any amount of time, (ii) vote any shares of Class A common stock they may own at the applicable time in favor of our initial business combination or (iii) refrain from exercising their right to redeem their public shares at the time of our initial business combination. The additional anchor investors will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust account with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the units they may purchase in this offering as the rights afforded to our other public stockholders.

 

87


Table of Contents

There can be no assurance that the additional anchor investors will acquire any units in this offering, or as to the amount of such units the additional anchor investors will acquire or retain, if any, prior to or upon the consummation of our initial business combination. There is also no guarantee that all 12 additional anchor investors will participate in the offering.

The additional anchor investors have entered into separate investment agreements with us and our sponsor pursuant to which, subject to each additional anchor investor purchasing 100% of the units allocated to it in this offering by the underwriters, in connection with the closing of this offering our sponsor will sell 125,000 founder shares to each 9.9% anchor investor, 113,636 founder shares to the 9.0% anchor investor, and 62,500 founder shares to each 4.95% anchor investor, or an aggregate of 926,136 founder shares if each additional anchor investor purchases its allocated amount of units, in each case at their original purchase price of approximately $0.003 per founder share.

Pursuant to the investment agreements, the additional anchor investors have agreed to (a) vote any founder shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination and (b) subject any founder shares held by them to the same lock-up restrictions as the founder shares held by our sponsor. Since our sponsor is selling founder shares held by it to the additional anchor investors and we are not issuing any new shares of Class B common stock, there will be no dilutive impact on the other investors in this offering.

In the event that our anchor investor and the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units that they have expressed an interest in purchasing in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, in addition to the founder shares, no affirmative votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, the additional anchor investors are not required to vote any of their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or for or against any other matter presented for a stockholder vote.

If the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, the substantial majority of units sold in this offering will be held by the additional anchor investors. The additional anchor investors may have different interests than our other public stockholders since their investments in the founder shares will generally be worthless if we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required timeframe. Because the additional anchor investors will purchase founder shares for the same nominal purchase price paid for such shares by our sponsor, the anchor investors will also have the potential to realize enhanced economic returns from their investment in us in comparison to our other public stockholders who are not purchasing founder shares from our sponsor. Accordingly, the anchor investors may be more likely to favor any proposed initial business combination transaction even if our other public stockholders do not favor the transaction.

The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock). The holders of at least $25 million in value of these securities are entitled to demand that we file a registration statement covering such securities and to require us to effect up to an aggregate of three underwritten offerings of such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggyback” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed and underwritten offerings subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results

As of June 30, 2021, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus, as we have conducted no operations to date.

JOBS Act

On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth

 

88


Table of Contents

company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly-traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our 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 independent registered public accounting firm’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the report of independent registered public accounting firm 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 this offering or until we are no longer an emerging growth company, whichever is earlier.

 

89


Table of Contents

PROPOSED BUSINESS

Overview

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation, Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp., (also referred to as “Live Oak Crestview Climate” or “LOCC”), whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to herein as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us.

Our management team and board bring together the investment and sector expertise of Live Oak Merchant Partners (also referred to as “LOMP”) with the financial acumen and deal flow of Crestview. The relationship between Crestview and LOMP CEO, Richard Hendrix, spans more than a decade and Mr. Hendrix currently serves as an operating executive to Crestview and as chairman of one of its portfolio companies.

Live Oak Merchant Partners is an investment firm founded in 2019 which pursues three primary strategies. LOMP seeks to make direct investments in companies where its partners’ management experience, corporate finance expertise, and capital can aid these companies in growing or transitioning businesses to generate outsized value for shareholders. In addition, Live Oak Merchant Partners is an active sponsor of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies. This segment of the business seeks to capitalize on its partners’ deep capital markets expertise and experience in helping companies achieve a public listing through means other than a traditional IPO. LOMP frequently partners with like-minded investors in its sponsorship activities in order create the strongest possible team to source, structure, diligence, and support its SPAC merger partner. LOMP will also provide strategic advisory services in select circumstances where its experience will assist a client in achieving significant growth, transformational change, and a successful outcome for its owners, customers, and employees.

Crestview is a private equity firm focused on the middle market. Founded in 2004 and based in New York, the firm manages funds with over $9 billion of aggregate capital commitments. Crestview’s funds have invested approximately $7.7 billion in over 50 investments through December 31, 2020. The firm has approximately 45 employees, 23 of whom are investment professionals, and is led by a group of 10 partners with an average of over 25 years of experience.

Crestview has invested across various sectors that include industrials, energy, financial services and media forming long-term partnerships with highly experienced executives, leveraging industry expertise in conjunction with deep investment and operating experience to source and execute proprietary investment opportunities. Crestview’s ability to source over 70% of its investments through prior relationships with business owners and management teams highlights its strong connectivity to acquisition targets and is critical for sourcing opportunities in the fast moving environmental and sustainability sectors.

We may pursue an acquisition opportunity that falls outside the investment objectives of Crestview’s funds in any business industry, sector or location. We intend to capitalize on the ability of Live Oak Merchant Partners, Crestview and our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business in the climate value chain that we believe will provide an opportunity for attractive risk-adjusted returns, with a particular focus on opportunities aligned with energy transition and sustainability themes. We will seek to capitalize on Live Oak Merchant Partners’ and Crestview’s Climate and Sustainability domain expertise, as well as their industry relationships, to source and complete an initial business combination.

In addition to this investing experience, Live Oak Merchant Partners and Crestview are dedicated to Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) issues, believing that effective management enables better investment decisions and enhanced results. Live Oak Merchant Partners and Crestview are committed to improving their investments, supporting their employees and having a positive impact on the many communities in which they operate. Adam Klein, a member of our board of directors, chairs Crestview’s ESG Committee, which oversees the firm’s ESG initiatives and draws on recommendations from a diverse team of Crestview professionals. Mr. Klein also leads Crestview’s investment activities focused on Climate and Sustainability across multiple industry verticals. Crestview has endorsed the American Investment Council’s Guidelines for Responsible Investing.

 

90


Table of Contents

We will seek to capitalize on the operational and investment experience of our management team and the extensive experience of certain members of our board of directors in our target sectors and focus on companies that we believe have significant growth prospects with the potential to generate attractive returns for our stockholders. We expect to focus on identifying potential target companies with above-industry-average growth, substantial free cash flow generation, and a defensible market position with an enterprise value of $500 million to $2.0 billion where we believe that the combined experience of our management and members of our board of directors can assist in maximizing value.

We intend to pursue business combinations with companies that are fundamentally aligned with environmental sustainability and seek to improve the trajectory of climate change (mitigation) or bolster society’s resilience to its effects (adaptation). Mitigation and adaptation are investment themes that are supported by durable tailwinds, as the effects of climate change are already present and accelerating, and therefore governments, businesses and consumers are increasingly focused on climate solutions. Mitigation and adaptation also span a broad range of industries including, but not limited to, renewable energy, infrastructure resilience and energy efficiency, utility services, air pollution control, water infrastructure, agriculture, aquaculture, industrial materials and environmental solutions, software, technologies and services (such as waste management, automation and recycling). As such, we believe the universe of sustainability-oriented companies is a large and growing market offering the potential to generate attractive risk-adjusted investment returns while also serving a worthy purpose.

The sectors described below are non-exhaustive examples of compelling opportunity sets we may pursue:

 

   

Infrastructure Resilience and Energy Efficiency: There is a massive and growing need to fund improvements to aging infrastructure, estimated at $12 trillion in the U.S. and $94 trillion globally through 2040, according to a study by Global Infrastructure Hub. This presents a challenge, as these needs are underfunded by an estimated $4 trillion in the U.S. and $15 trillion globally; however, it also presents an opportunity, as these investments, if appropriately designed, could substantially improve the energy efficiency and resilience of our physical infrastructure. The private sector is playing an increasing role in financing and implementing infrastructure improvements through evolving business models including sustainable building products and industrial materials, energy-focused building automation, Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service companies. Other targets could include environmentally focused engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies and infrastructure data analytics providers.

 

   

Agriculture: Agriculture accounts for approximately 19% of global greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously being one of the most vulnerable sectors to climate disruption, according to a study by Breakthrough Energy. Meeting the caloric demands of a rapidly growing global population while minimizing the sector’s impact on the climate and improving its resilience to extreme weather events will require substantial technological and business model evolutions. Controlled-environment agriculture (CEA), also known as indoor or vertical farming, is one example of a target subsector that helps solves challenges in the food supply chain and stands to benefit from industry trends.

 

   

Environmental Solutions: Due to rapid population growth and urbanization, global cities are expected to produce approximately 3.4 billion tons of waste by 2050, up nearly 70% from 2016, according to a study by The World Bank in 2019. Recycling is a central solution to managing the impact of increased waste on the environment as it helps conserve natural resources and prevent pollution. Metals and plastic recycling are both large and attractive opportunities: (1) metals recycling is an established, profitable market that benefits from the feature that metals can be recycled indefinitely and (2) plastic recycling or adaptation is an increasing imperative as plastics adoption has rapidly outpaced the capacity to handle and dispose of waste volumes. We also have substantial need for technological improvements such as recycling automation.

Within the sustainability strategy described above, we will seek businesses with some or all the following characteristics, which we believe will drive long-term shareholder value creation: high growth potential, defensible market position, technological ingenuity, large addressable markets, high barriers to entry, strong secular tailwinds, and compelling scale.

 

91


Table of Contents

Our Management Team, Board of Directors and Senior Advisor

We are led by an experienced team of managers, operators and investors who have played important roles in helping build and grow profitable public and private businesses, both organically and through acquisitions, to create value for stockholders. Our team has experience operating and investing in a wide range of industries, bringing us a diversity of experiences as well as valuable expertise and perspective.

John P. Amboian, our chairman, has over 30 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital management, product development, branding and distribution for public and private companies across multiple industries. From May 2020 to December 2020, Mr. Amboian served as a director of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOAK), a blank check company that announced on December 29, 2020 that it had consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. Upon the closing of the transaction, LOAK was renamed Danimer Scientific, Inc., and its Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the NYSE under the symbols “DNMR” and “DNMR WS”, respectively. Mr. Amboian continues to serve as a director of Danimer Scientific, Inc. From December 2020 to the present, Mr. Amboian has served as the chairman of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. In addition, Mr. Amboian currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020. Mr. Amboian spent over twenty years of his career at Nuveen Investments, Inc., or Nuveen (formerly NYSE: JNC), where he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for almost a decade. Prior to this, he served as Nuveen’s president for eight years, after joining Nuveen in 1995 as Chief Financial Officer. During his time at Nuveen, Mr. Amboian guided Nuveen through 12 acquisitions or merger transactions aggregating to more than $13 billion and numerous capital markets transactions, playing key roles in Nuveen’s 2014 sale to TIAA (Teacher’s Insurance and Annuity Association) for a total enterprise value of $6.25 billion and Nuveen’s leveraged buyout transaction in 2007. Nuveen’s assets under management grew from approximately $29 billion to over $231 billion in 2014, which is the last year of publicly available information. Mr. Amboian also served on the Nuveen Mutual Funds Board and Nuveen Investment’s public board. Prior to Nuveen, Mr. Amboian was the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Strategy of the Miller Brewing Company. He began his career in Corporate and International Finance at Kraft Foods, Inc., where he ended his tenure as Treasurer. Mr. Amboian also serves at Madison Dearborn Partners as an industry advisor and is an Independent Director of the general partnership of Adams Street Partners, a private-market investment management firm with approximately $40 billion of asset under management. Additionally, Mr. Amboian is Chairman of Evanston Capital, a hedge fund alternative investment manager, and a senior advisor to Estancia Capital, a middle market private equity fund with a focus on financial services. He chairs the board of North Square Investments, a boutique asset management firm and is on the advisory board of Cresset Capital Management, a wealth management firm. He advises several small businesses on organic and inorganic growth initiatives through JA Capital Advisors, LLC.

Our Chief Executive Officer and Director, Richard J. Hendrix, has significant experience in executive leadership, corporate strategy, M&A, capital markets, and corporate finance for public companies. From January 2020 to December 2020, Mr. Hendrix served as an officer and director of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOAK), a blank check company that announced on December 29, 2020 that it had consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. Upon the closing of the transaction, LOAK was renamed Danimer Scientific, Inc., and its Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the NYSE under the symbols “DNMR” and “DNMR WS”, respectively. Mr. Hendrix continues to serve as a director of Danimer Scientific, Inc. From August 2020 to the present, Mr. Hendrix has served as the chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. From January 2021 to the present, Mr. Hendrix has served as the chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp (NYSE: LOKM), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020. LOKM is currently seeking to consummate an initial business combination. Over the course of his career, Mr. Hendrix has worked extensively with issuers and investors focused on companies in the

 

92


Table of Contents

financial services, real estate, energy, industrial, and business and consumer services sectors. He has led dozens of initial equity offerings, raising funds for founder-led and sponsor-backed companies primarily within the banking, insurance, and real estate sectors. Additionally, Mr. Hendrix has considerable experience advising chief executives, boards of directors, and large shareholders regarding strategy, capital structure, and capital access. He has significant leadership experience in the financial industry, having served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of FBR & Co., or FBR (formerly NASDAQ: FBRC), a capital markets firm. Mr. Hendrix helped FBR grow into a leading bookrunner for initial common stock offerings for middle market U.S. companies. Mr. Hendrix oversaw numerous strategic transactions while in his role as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at FBR, ultimately executing a merger with B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: RILY) in 2017. Following the merger, Mr. Hendrix also served as director of B. Riley Financial. Prior to his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of FBR, Mr. Hendrix served as Arlington Asset Investment Corp.’s, or Arlington (NYSE: AAIC), President and Chief Operating Officer as well as its Chief Investment Officer. Arlington reached a peak market capitalization of approximately $4.5 billion during his tenure, and he oversaw FBR’s carveout from Arlington. Previously, he was the President and Chief Operating Officer of FBR Asset Investment Corporation and concurrently headed the Real Estate and Diversified Industrials Investment Banking groups of FBR. Prior to FBR, Mr. Hendrix was a Managing Director in PNC Capital Markets’ investment banking group and headed PNC’s asset-backed securities business. Mr. Hendrix is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Live Oak Merchant Partners, a merchant bank providing capital and advisory services to middle market companies across several industries. Mr. Hendrix also currently serves as a Crestview operating executive, and is currently the Chairman of PMC Consolidated Holdings LLC, the parent company of Protect My Car, a Crestview portfolio company that provides extended auto warranty plans to consumers. His relationship with Crestview began with Crestview’s investment in FBR. Mr. Hendrix is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RJH Management Co, a privately held investment management business.

Ashton Hudson, a member of our board of directors, is a Partner in Value Acquisition Fund, an acquisition, development and asset management company. Prior to beginning his investment career, Hudson practiced law with the firm of Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs LLP, where his legal practice was primarily focused on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, general corporate law and securities law. Mr. Hudson previously served as a director of Forestar Group, Inc. (NYSE: FOR), where he sat on the Audit, Compensation and Corporate Governance Committees, and a director of the Jacksonville Electric Authority, one of the largest municipally owned utilities in the United States, where he chaired the Audit and Finance Committees and served a two-year term as Chairman of the Board. He currently serves on the Florida board of directors of Fifth Third Bank. Until its sale to Anticimex in February 2018, Hudson was the majority owner and Executive Chairman of Turner Pest Control, one of the largest and fastest growing pest control providers in the United States. Mr. Hudson earned his B.S., cum laude, in business and accountancy, from Wake Forest University in 1994. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, in 1997 from the Wake Forest University School of Law, where he was a Cooke Foundation Scholar, Articles Editor of the Law Review, member of the Moot Court Board and Order of the Coif.

Adam Klein, a member of our board of directors, is a Partner at Crestview, a member of its investment committee and leads the firm’s efforts in Climate and Sustainability. Mr. Klein joined Crestview in 2007 and leads investments that span industry capabilities within energy and financial services, with a focus on climate adaptation. Prior to joining Crestview in 2007, Mr. Klein worked as an investment professional at Centennial Ventures, Inc., where he invested in early- to mid-stage companies across multiple industries. Before joining Centennial Ventures, Mr. Klein worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Compass Partners from 2001 to 2003, advising corporations and private equity firms on a wide range of transactions. Previously, Mr. Klein worked in the Media & Telecom group at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and then Credit Suisse from 2000 through 2001. Mr. Klein received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an A.B., cum laude, in Economics from Harvard College. Mr. Klein has served on the board of directors of Upwell Water HoldCo, LLC, a specialty finance company focused on providing capital markets solutions to small and medium sized water infrastructure assets since July 2019. He has served as a director of U.S. Well Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: USWS) since November 2018 and currently serves as the Chairman of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a member of its Compensation Committee. He has also served as a director of CP Energy Holdings, LLC a crude oil marketing and logistics business since May 2013, and W Energy Partners II LLC, a non-operated E&P company since December 2018. He previously served on the board of directors of public companies Select Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE: WTTR) from November 2016 to May 2020 and FBR & Co. (formerly NASDAQ: FBRC) from February 2010 to June 2014, in addition to several private company and non-profit boards.

 

93


Table of Contents

Bhakti Mirchandani, a member of our board of directors, is Director of Responsible Investing at Trinity Church Wall Street, a thriving Episcopal community in lower Manhattan. Previously, Ms. Mirchandani was Managing Director at FCLTGlobal from 2018 to 2020 and ESG advisor to Corbin Capital from 2019 to 2020. Prior to these roles, Ms. Mirchandani was a Senior Vice President at One William Street Capital Management from 2013 to 2018, Global Relationship Director for Global Development Organizations and Microfinance Specialist at Barclays Capital/Lehman Brothers (during 2004, from 2005 to 2008, and from 2011 to 2013, respectively), Vice President at Bangalore-based Unitus Capital from 2009 to 2011, founder of what is now the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards from 2004 to 2005, micropension consultant to Women’s World Banking from 2001 to 2003, and equity research analyst at Salomon Smith Barney from 2000 to 2001. Ms. Mirchandani advises or serves on the investment committees or boards of a number of sustainable investing organizations. Her sustainable investing work has been featured in the NYTimes, the Financial Times, Institutional Investor, and CNBC. Ms. Mirchandani teaches an impact finance class in Columbia’s Masters in Sustainability Management Program, serves on the Board of Commissioners for the New York State Insurance Fund, contributes monthly sustainable investing articles to Forbes.com, and is a Life Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. She holds an AB, cum laude, from Harvard College, an MBA and the Dean’s Award from Harvard Business School, and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School.

Mona Sutphen, our Senior Advisor, has over 20 years’ experience advising multinational corporate, philanthropic and institutional investors on the intersection of geopolitics, policy and markets. She is currently a Senior Advisor at The Vistria Group, a Chicago-based private equity firm, and is a venture advisor and co-founder of several start-ups. Previously, she was a Partner at Macro Advisory Partners (MAP), where she led the firm’s US practice advising clients on emerging risks and opportunities across a range of sectors including energy/environment, technology and financial services. Prior to joining MAP, Ms. Sutphen was Managing Director at UBS AG, where she developed new tools for political risk evaluation impacting capital markets. From 2009 to 2011, she served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy for President Obama, where she advanced the policy and regulatory agenda on a range of issues including, technology/telecom, trade, energy, small business and housing / GSE reform. Previously, Ms. Sutphen was Managing Director at Stonebridge International, and earlier led regulatory strategy for Currenex, the first Internet-based institutional foreign exchange trading platform. From 1991 to 2000 she was a career diplomat, serving on the staff of the National Security Council during the Clinton Administration and the U.S. Mission to the UN, among other posts. She also served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board from 2013 to 2016. Ms. Sutphen serves on the boards of directors of Spotify (NYSE: SPOT), renewable energy company Pattern Energy and Unitek Learning, and is a Trustee for Putnam Mutual Funds. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Boards of the International Rescue Committee and Human Rights First, and on the advisory boards of the Warner Music Social Justice Fund and the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Ms. Sutphen is a Trustee of Mount Holyoke College, and co-author of The Next American Century. She holds BA from Mount Holyoke College and an MSc from the London School of Economics.

Gary K. Wunderlich, Jr., our President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Director, is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Live Oak Merchant Partners, a merchant bank providing capital and advisory services to middle market companies across a wide range of industries. From January 2020 to December 2020, Mr. Wunderlich served as an officer of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOAK), a blank check company that announced on December 29, 2020 that it had consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. From August 2020 to the present, Mr. Wunderlich has served as an officer of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. From January 2021 to the present, Mr. Wunderlich has served as the president and chief financial officer and a member of the board of directors of Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020. Prior to co-founding Live Oak Merchant Partners, Mr. Wunderlich was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wunderlich Securities, Inc., a full-service investment banking and brokerage firm. Under his leadership Wunderlich Securities, Inc. grew from a virtual start-up into a full-service investment banking firm with over 400 employees and over $10 billion of client assets under management. In 2017, Mr. Wunderlich helped lead the merger of Wunderlich Securities, Inc. into B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: RILY). Following the merger Mr. Wunderlich served as a director of B. Riley Financial, Inc. and as Chief Executive Officer of Wunderlich Securities, Inc (rebranded B. Riley

 

94


Table of Contents

Wealth). For two years, Mr. Wunderlich was a member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”) National Board of Directors. He was also a founding board member of the American Securities Association, a trade association of regional financial services firms. He also served in various capacities with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), including serving on the National Advisory Board, the District 5 Committee as both a Chairman and member, and on the National Membership Council as a member. Mr. Wunderlich has for 15 years been a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and participates in the Family Business, Family Office, Financial Services and Entrepreneurship and Innovation Networks. Mr. Wunderlich was also inducted into the Society of Entrepreneurs, an organization of leading Memphis area business owners and executives, where he serves as a Director. He is also the Managing Member of Eighty Park Avenue Partners LLC, a family investment vehicle.

Adam J. Fishman, our Chief Operating Officer, is currently a Managing Partner at Live Oak Merchant Partners, a merchant bank providing capital and advisory services to middle market companies across several industries. From 2020 to the present, Mr. Fishman has served as an officer of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. From January 2021 to the present, Mr. Fishman has served as the chief operating officer of Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020. Mr. Fishman joined Live Oak Merchant Partners from Jefferies LLC, where he was a Managing Director and Head of the Permanent Capital Group, Distribution. Mr. Fishman originated and executed blank check company transactions, including the initial public offering assisting management in evaluating targets for merger consideration, and structuring and executing PIPE investments to support mergers. He was also responsible for originating and marketing Pre-IPO private placements for companies across all industries. Prior to joining Jefferies, Mr. Fishman was an Executive Vice President and Head of Institutional Brokerage at FBR & Co. FBR was a publicly traded middle market investment bank, specializing in capital raising and securities trading across seven industry groups. Mr. Fishman joined FBR in 2004, steadily expanding his role throughout a 13-year tenure. As a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Mr. Fishman was a key contributor to the firm’s strategic vision and execution. Mr. Fishman also served on FBR’s Commitment Committee, where he was responsible for analyzing, structuring and selling all public and private investment offerings. Mr. Fishman began his career as an Associate Director in the New York office of CIBC World Markets. Mr. Fishman received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Brandeis University.

Experience with Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicles

Both our Chief Executive Officer, Richard Hendrix, and our President, Gary Wunderlich, were members of the management team of LOAK, a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $200,000,000 in May 2020. On December 29, 2020, LOAK consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. Upon the closing of the transaction, LOAK was renamed Danimer Scientific, Inc., and its Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the NYSE under the symbols “DNMR” and “DNMR WS”, respectively.

Each of our Chief Executive Officer, Richard Hendrix, our President, Gary Wunderlich, our management team and our Chief Operating Officer, Adam Fishman, is a member of the management team of LOKB, a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in December 2020 and Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), which we refer to herein as LOKM, a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020. LOKB and LOKM are currently seeking to consummate an initial business combination. LOKB announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. We believe that we have further benefited from the valuable experience gained by our management team during the launch and operation of both LOKB and LOKM.

We believe that potential sellers of target businesses will view the fact that our management team has successfully negotiated a business combination as a positive factor in considering whether or not to enter into a business combination with us. However, the past performance of our management team, or their respective affiliates, LOAK, LOKB, LOKM or our board of directors is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team, or their respective affiliates, LOAK, LOKB, LOKM, our board of directors or our Senior Advisor as indicative of our future performance.

 

95


Table of Contents

Our officers and directors may become an officer or director of another special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities intended to be registered under the Exchange Act, even before we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination. For more information, see the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest.”

Business Strategy

Our business strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination with a company that can benefit from (i) the managerial and operational experience of our management team (ii) additional capital and (iii) access to public securities markets. Our acquisition selection process will leverage our management team’s network of potential transaction sources, ranging from owners and directors of private and public companies, private equity funds, investment bankers, lenders, attorneys, accountants and other trusted advisors across various sectors. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships that we believe will serve as a useful source of acquisition opportunities. We plan to utilize the network and industry experience of our management team in seeking an initial business combination and employing our business combination strategy. This network has been developed through our management team’s:

 

   

extensive experience in both investing in and operating in a variety of industries;

 

   

managerial experience marketing and growing businesses;

 

   

experience in sourcing, structuring, acquiring, operating, developing, growing, financing and selling businesses;

 

   

relationships with sellers, financing providers and target management teams; and

 

   

experience in executing transactions in a variety of industries under varying economic and financial market conditions.

We expect these networks will provide our management team with a robust flow of acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, family offices, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Upon completion of this offering, members of our management team will communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target company and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potentially interesting leads.

Acquisition Criteria

Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to seek candidates with an enterprise value of between $500 million and $2.0 billion, and we intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:

 

   

have a defensible market position, with demonstrated advantages when compared to their competitors and which create barriers to entry against new competitors;

 

   

are at an inflection point or are able to take advantage of public currency in order to drive improved financial performance;

 

   

have a diversified customer base better positioned to endure economic downturns and changes in the industry landscape;

 

   

have strong, experienced management teams, or a platform that will allow us to assemble an effective management team with a track record of driving growth and profitability;

 

   

provide a scalable platform for add-on acquisitions, which we believe will be an opportunity for our management team to deliver incremental stockholder value post-acquisition;

 

   

generate attractive returns on capital and have a compelling use for capital to achieve their growth strategy;

 

   

exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics that we believe have been overlooked by the marketplace based on our analysis and due diligence review; and

 

96


Table of Contents
   

can benefit from being publicly-traded, are prepared to be a publicly-traded company, are capable of generating consistent returns in excess of cost of capital, and can effectively utilize access to the capital markets.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the SEC.

Sourcing of Potential Initial Business Combination Targets

Our management team and sponsor has developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships. This network has been developed through their experience in sourcing, acquiring, operating, developing, growing, financing and selling businesses; reputations for integrity and fair dealing with sellers, capital providers and target management teams; and experience in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. This network has provided our management team and sponsor with a flow of referrals that have resulted in numerous transactions. We believe that the network of contacts and relationships of our management team and sponsor will provide us with an important source of business combination opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment banking firms, private equity firms, consultants, accounting firms and other business enterprises.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or completing the initial business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, executive officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a target 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 firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, stating that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

As more fully discussed in “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our executive officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-existing 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. Certain of our executive officers currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us. We believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers and directors will not materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Initial Business Combination

NYSE rules require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commissions). If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects.

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 in such a way so 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

 

97


Table of Contents

objectives of the target management team or stockholders, or for other reasons. However, we will only complete an initial business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our 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 taken into account for purposes of the NYSE’s 80% of net assets test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as our initial business combination for purposes of seeking stockholder approval or conducting a tender offer, as applicable.

The net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants released to us from the trust account upon the closing of our initial business combination may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we complete our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemption of our public shares, we may use the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account following the closing for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. In addition, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination to be used following the closing for general corporate purposes as described above. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following consummation of this offering. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise. None of our sponsor, officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. We may also obtain financing prior to the closing of our initial business combination to fund our working capital needs and transaction costs in connection with our search for and completion of our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, following this offering and prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will be prohibited from issuing additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions, unless (in connection with any such amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation) we offer our public stockholders the opportunity to redeem their public shares.

Our Business Combination Process

In evaluating prospective business combinations, we expect to conduct a due diligence review process that will encompass, among other things, a review of historical and projected financial and operating data, meetings with management and their advisors and, as applicable, on-site inspection of facilities and assets, discussion with customers and suppliers, legal reviews and other reviews as we deem appropriate. We will also utilize the expertise of our management team and board of directors in analyzing companies and evaluating operating projections, financial projections and determining the appropriate return expectations given the risk profile of the target business.

 

98


Table of Contents

Members of our management team will directly or indirectly own our common stock and warrants following this offering, 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 was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

Our sponsor and members of our management team are, in the ordinary course of business, continuously made aware of potential acquisition or investment opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for an initial business combination. We have not, however, selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity, including LOKB and LOKM. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors become aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity, including LOKB and LOKM. We believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will not materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination, as we believe any such opportunities presented (aside from LOKB and LOKM) would be smaller than what we are interested in, in different fields than what we would be interested in, or that such fiduciary duties or contractual obligations are to entities that are not themselves in the business of engaging in business combinations. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide 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.

Our Management Team

Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any member of our management team will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the initial business combination process.

We believe our management team’s operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, our management team’s relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our management team in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Management” for a more complete description of our management team’s experience.

Status as a Public Company

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As a public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. Following an initial business combination, we believe the target business would have greater access to capital and additional means of creating management incentives that are better aligned with stockholders’ interests than it would as a private company. A target business can further benefit by augmenting its profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees. 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

 

99


Table of Contents

combination of our shares of Class A common stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers.

Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost-effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses and market and other uncertainties in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, marketing and road show efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with an initial business combination with us.

Furthermore, once a proposed initial business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or could have negative valuation consequences. Following an initial business combination, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and 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 Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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 the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

Financial Position

With funds available for an initial business combination initially in the amount of $196,500,000, after payment of $6,300,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $225,515,000 after payment of up to $7,245,000 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), in each case before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination, 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 or leverage 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

 

100


Table of Contents

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.

Effecting Our Initial Business Combination

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of this offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing. 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 redemption of our public shares, we may use the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account following the closing 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.

We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. In addition, we intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and, as a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemptions by public stockholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our proxy materials or tender offer documents disclosing the initial business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following consummation of this offering. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise. None of our sponsor, officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, following this offering and prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we will be prohibited from issuing additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months from the closing of this offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions, unless (in connection with any such amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation) we offer our public stockholders the opportunity to redeem their public shares.

Sources of Target Businesses

We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and investment professionals. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us by 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 prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as our sponsor and its affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of

 

101


Table of Contents

through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows, conferences or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors and our sponsor and their respective industry and business contacts as well as their affiliates. 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, advisory fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which our sponsor or officers are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation by the Company prior to, or in connection with any services rendered 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). Although 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 business combination target in connection with a contemplated initial business combination, we do not have a policy that prohibits our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, from negotiating for the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses by a target business. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an initial business combination candidate.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with an initial business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the initial business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with an initial business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Potential target companies with whom we may engage in discussions after the closing of the offering may have had prior discussions with other blank check companies, bankers in the industry and/or other professional advisors including blank check companies with which our executive officers or board of directors were affiliated. Subsequent to the closing of this offering, we may pursue transactions with such potential targets (i) if such other blank check companies are no longer pursuing transactions with such potential targets, (ii) if we become aware that such potential targets are interested in a potential initial business combination with us and (iii) if we believe such transactions would be attractive to our stockholders. We have not contacted any of the prospective target businesses that LOAK or LOKB has considered in connection with their searches for target businesses with which to consummate an initial business combination. However, we may contact such targets subsequent to the closing of this offering if we become aware that such targets are interested in a potential initial business combination with us and such transaction would be attractive to our stockholders.

As more fully discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of an initial business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-existing 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, including LOKB and LOKM. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination

NYSE rules require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commissions). The fair market value of our initial business combination will be determined by our board

 

102


Table of Contents

of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation, a valuation based on trading multiples of comparable public businesses or a valuation based on the financial metrics of M&A transactions of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be taken into account for purposes of the NYSE’s 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may complete our initial business combination.

To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.

In evaluating a prospective business target, we expect to conduct a due diligence review, which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent ownership, management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us.

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.

Lack of Business Diversification

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

 

   

subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination, and

 

   

cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.

Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team

Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’ management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills,

 

103


Table of Contents

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 our initial 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.

Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination

We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. 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. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.

 

 

 

TYPE OF TRANSACTION

   WHETHER
STOCKHOLDER
APPROVAL IS
REQUIRED
 

Purchase of assets

     No  

Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company

     No  

Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company

     No  

Merger of the company with a target

     Yes  

 

 

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

 

   

we issue shares of Class A common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of our Class A common stock then outstanding;

 

   

any of our directors, officers or substantial security holders (as defined by the NYSE rules) has a 5% or greater interest, directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired and if the number of shares of common stock to be issued, or if the number of shares of common stock into which the securities may be convertible or exercisable, exceeds either (a) 1% of the number of shares of common stock or 1% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any of our directors and officers or (b) 5% of the number of shares of common stock or 5% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance in the case of any substantial security holders; or

 

   

the issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control.

Permitted Purchases of Our Securities

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, initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public 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.

 

104


Table of Contents

There is no limit on the number of shares or warrants our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and NYSE rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. 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. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination.

Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to: (i) refrain from purchasing our securities during certain blackout periods when they are in possession of any material non-public information and (ii) clear all trades of company securities with a compliance officer prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.

The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant-holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of Class A common stock or 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 any of 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 tendered by stockholders 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. Such persons would select the stockholders from whom to acquire shares based on the number of shares available, the negotiated price per share and such other factors as any such person may deem relevant at the time of purchase. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will be made only to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will

 

105


Table of Contents

not make purchases of common stock if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 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 purchases are subject to such reporting requirements.

Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination

We will provide our public 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 per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. The additional anchor investors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to the founder shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.

Manner of Conducting Redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) without a stockholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed initial 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 requirements.

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. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with the NYSE’s stockholder approval rules.

The requirement that we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above will be contained in provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will apply whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on the NYSE. Such provisions may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon.

If we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with a stockholder meeting, we will:

 

   

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

 

   

file proxy materials with the SEC.

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the Company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count towards this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the investment agreements, the additional anchor investors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking

 

106


Table of Contents

approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to the founder shares, we would need only (i) 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over- allotment option is not exercised) or (ii) 0, or 0.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted, the over- allotment option is not exercised and our anchor investor purchases $19,800,000 of units in the offering and votes its shares in favor of our initial business combination and the additional anchor investors purchase an aggregate of $146,700,000 of units in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their shares in favor of our initial business combination), of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. In the event that our anchor investor and the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units that they have expressed an interest in purchasing in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, in addition to the founder shares, no affirmative votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, the additional anchor investors are not required to vote any of their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or for or against any other matter presented for a stockholder vote. We intend to give not less than 10 days’ nor more than 60 days’ prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders and the additional anchor investors, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a stockholder on the record date for the stockholder meeting held to approve the proposed transaction.

If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will:

 

   

conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers, and

 

   

file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination, which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

We intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate

 

107


Table of Contents

whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. We believe that this will allow our transfer agent to efficiently process any redemptions without the need for further communication or action from the redeeming public stockholders, which could delay redemptions and result in additional administrative cost. If the proposed initial business combination is not approved and we continue to search for a target company, we will promptly return any certificates or shares delivered by public stockholders who elected to redeem their shares.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will only redeem our public shares so long as such redemption would not cause our Class A common stock to be considered “penny stock” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act). This may require us to not redeem the public shares, or not close our initial business combination, if it would result in us having less than $5,000,001 in net tangible assets unless another exemption from the definition of “penny stock” is available. Additionally, a net tangible asset or cash requirement may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed initial business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed initial 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 initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if we Seek Stockholder Approval

Notwithstanding the foregoing, 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 will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” Such restriction shall also be applicable to our affiliates. 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 initial 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 the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us 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 an initial business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.

Delivering Stock Certificates in Connection with the Exercise of Redemption Rights

As described above, we intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination

 

108


Table of Contents

will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have up to two business days prior to the vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

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

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.

If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public 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 initial business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete an initial business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of this offering.

Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 24-month period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), 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 liquidating 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 each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month time period.

Holders of our founder shares will not be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to the founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our sponsor, officers or directors or the additional anchor investors acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 24-month time period.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from

 

109


Table of Contents

the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will only redeem our public shares so long as such redemption would not cause our Class A common stock to be considered “penny stock” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act). This may require us to not redeem the public shares, or not close our initial business combination, if it would result in us having less than $5,000,001 in net tangible assets unless another exemption from the definition of “penny stock” is available.

We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $2,800,000 (or $2,760,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. We will depend on sufficient interest being earned on the proceeds held in the trust account to pay any tax obligations we may owe. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.

If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $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 per-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.

Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public 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 enter into an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to the Company, and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if our management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the Company under the circumstances. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of the offering 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. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption

 

110


Table of Contents

amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement, the form of which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, 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) $10.00 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, 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 their 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. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties, including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay our taxes, 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 if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations, and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per public share.

We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than 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 will have access to up to approximately $2,800,000 (or $2,760,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants 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. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $600,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $600,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public

 

111


Table of Contents

stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our 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 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), 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 liquidating 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 each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 24th month and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than 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 any monies held in the trust account. As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest released to us to pay our taxes and will 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. 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.

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

 

112


Table of Contents

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, 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 upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. 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 initial 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 as 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.

Comparison of Redemption or Purchase Prices in Connection with Our Initial Business Combination and if We Fail to Complete Our Initial Business Combination

The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.

 

    

REDEMPTIONS IN
CONNECTION WITH OUR INITIAL
BUSINESS COMBINATION

  

OTHER PERMITTED PURCHASES
OF PUBLIC SHARES BY US OR
OUR AFFILIATES

  

REDEMPTIONS IF WE FAIL TO
COMPLETE AN INITIAL
BUSINESS COMBINATION

Calculation of redemption price    Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our public stockholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust    If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately-negotiated transactions or in the open market prior to or following completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit to the prices that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may pay in these transactions. Such purchases will be made only to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under    If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount, then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share including, interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses)), divided by the

 

113


Table of Contents
    

REDEMPTIONS IN
CONNECTION WITH OUR INITIAL
BUSINESS COMBINATION

  

OTHER PERMITTED PURCHASES
OF PUBLIC SHARES BY US OR
OUR AFFILIATES

  

REDEMPTIONS IF WE FAIL TO
COMPLETE AN INITIAL
BUSINESS COMBINATION

   account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place, if all of the redemptions would cause our Class A common stock to be considered “penny stock” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act) and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed initial business combination.    Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions.    number of then outstanding public shares.
Impact to remaining stockholders    The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable.    If the permitted purchases described above are made there would be no impact to our remaining stockholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us.    The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our initial stockholders, who will be our only remaining stockholders after such redemptions.

Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419

The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.

 

    

TERMS OF OUR OFFERING

  

TERMS UNDER A RULE 419 OFFERING

Escrow of offering proceeds    $200,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a trust account in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.    Approximately $170,100,000 of the offering proceeds would be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account.

 

114


Table of Contents
    

TERMS OF OUR OFFERING

  

TERMS UNDER A RULE 419 OFFERING

Investment of net proceeds    $200,000,000 of the net offering proceeds and the sale of the private placement warrants held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.    Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States.
Receipt of interest on escrowed funds    Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to redeeming stockholders is reduced by (i) any taxes paid or payable, and (ii) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $100,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation.    Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination.
Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business    NYSE rules require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commissions).    The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.
Trading of securities issued    We expect the units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and public warrants will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Jefferies LLC and BofA Securities, Inc. inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release    No trading of the units or the underlying Class A common stock and public warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account.

 

115


Table of Contents
    

TERMS OF OUR OFFERING

  

TERMS UNDER A RULE 419 OFFERING

   announcing when such separate trading will begin. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which closing is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, an additional Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the over-allotment option.   
Exercise of the warrants    The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and 12 months from the closing of this offering.    The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account.
Election to remain an investor    We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a stockholder vote. We intend to give approximately 30 days’ (but not less than 10 days’ nor more than 60 days’) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation,    A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if it elects to remain a stockholder of the company or require the return of its investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account are automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the

 

116


Table of Contents
    

TERMS OF OUR OFFERING

  

TERMS UNDER A RULE 419 OFFERING

   conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. If, however, we hold a stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting.    investors and none of the securities are issued.
Business combination deadline    If we are unable to complete 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 10 business days thereafter,    If a business combination has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of our registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors.

 

117


Table of Contents
    

TERMS OF OUR OFFERING

  

TERMS UNDER A RULE 419 OFFERING

   redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), 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 liquidating 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 to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.   
Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a stockholder vote    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 will provide that a public stockholder (including our affiliates), 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 (more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering). Our public stockholders’ inability to redeem Excess Shares will reduce their    Many blank check companies provide no restrictions on the ability of stockholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such stockholders in connection with an initial business combination.

 

118


Table of Contents
    

TERMS OF OUR OFFERING

  

TERMS UNDER A RULE 419 OFFERING

   influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and they could suffer a material loss on their investment in us if they sell any Excess Shares in open market transactions.   
Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights    We intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent or deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) system, prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. The proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have up to two business days prior to the vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, or from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, as applicable, to submit or tender its    In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, holders could vote against a proposed initial business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holders were seeking to exercise their redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the Company would contact such stockholders to arrange for them to deliver their certificate to verify ownership.

 

119


Table of Contents
    

TERMS OF OUR OFFERING

  

TERMS UNDER A RULE 419 OFFERING

   shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights.   
Release of funds    Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our tax obligations, the proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of 100% of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time frame (subject to the requirements of applicable law). On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be released to us, less amounts released to a separate account controlled by the trustee for disbursal to redeeming stockholders. We will use these funds to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business    The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

 

120


Table of Contents
    

TERMS OF OUR OFFERING

  

TERMS UNDER A RULE 419 OFFERING

   combination,” to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination.   

Competition

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

Facilities

Our executive offices are located at 40 S Main Street, #2550, Memphis, TN, 38103, and our telephone number is (901) 685-2865. Our executive offices are currently provided to us by an affiliate of certain members of our management team. Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for utilities and secretarial and administrative support. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

Employees

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

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

We will register our units, Class A common stock and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need 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 targets we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial

 

121


Table of Contents

business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP 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 business combination 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, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target company 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 business combination. We have filed a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our shares of Class A common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

Legal Proceedings

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

 

122


Table of Contents

MANAGEMENT

Officers, Directors and Director Nominees

Upon completion of this offering, our directors and officers will be as follows:

 

 

 

NAME

   AGE   

POSITION

John P. Amboian    59    Chairman
Ashton Hudson    48    Director Nominee
Adam Klein    43    Director Nominee
Bhakti Mirchandani    42    Director Nominee
Richard J. Hendrix    55    Chief Executive Officer and Director
Gary K. Wunderlich, Jr.    51    President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Director
Adam J. Fishman    40    Chief Operating Officer

 

 

John P. Amboian will be appointed as a member of our Board of Directors prior to the consummation of this offering. From May 2020 to December 2020, Mr. Amboian served as a director of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOAK), a blank check company that announced on December 29, 2020 that it had consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. Upon the closing of the transaction, LOAK was renamed Danimer Scientific, Inc., and its Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the NYSE under the symbols “DNMR” and “DNMR WS”, respectively. Mr. Amboian continues to serve as a director of Danimer Scientific, Inc. From December 2020 to the present, Mr. Amboian has served as the chairman of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. In addition, Mr. Amboian currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020.

Mr. Amboian is a business leader with over 30 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital management, product development, branding, and distribution for both privately held and public companies, across multiple industries. He served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nuveen Investments, Inc., or Nuveen (formerly NYSE: JNC), from 2007 to 2016. He was President of Nuveen from 1999 through 2007 after joining as its Chief Financial Officer from 1995 to 1999. During his time in leadership positions at Nuveen, Mr. Amboian participated in over 20 M&A and capital markets transactions, in addition to playing a leading role in Nuveen’s sale to an investment group led by Madison Dearborn, in 2007 and Nuveen’s sale process to TIAA (Teacher’s Insurance and Annuity Association of New York) in 2014. Mr. Amboian served on the Nuveen Mutual Funds board from 2007 through 2016 in addition to serving on Nuveen Investments’ public board from 1996 through 2007. Prior to Nuveen, Mr. Amboian was the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Strategy of the Miller Brewing Company. He began his career in Corporate and International Finance at Kraft Foods, Inc., where he ended his tenure as Treasurer. Since 2013, Mr. Amboian has served at Madison Dearborn Partners as an industry advisor and is an Independent Director of the general partnership of Adams Street Partners, a private-markets investment firm. Additionally, since 2017 Mr. Amboian has been a senior advisor to Estancia Capital and since 2018 chaired the board of North Square Investments, a boutique asset management firm. Since 2020, Mr. Amboian has been chairman of Evanston Capital, a hedge fund alternative investment manager, and is on the advisory board of Cresset Capital Management, a wealth management firm. He also advises several small businesses on organic and inorganic growth initiatives through JA Capital Advisors, LLC. He received both his Bachelor’s degree and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. He is well-qualified to serve on our board due to his extensive finance, investment and operational background.

Ashton Hudson will be appointed as a member of our Board of Directors prior to the consummation of this offering. Mr. Hudson is a Partner in Value Acquisition Fund, an acquisition, development and asset management company. Prior to beginning his investment career, Hudson practiced law with the firm of Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs

 

123


Table of Contents

LLP, where his legal practice was primarily focused on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, general corporate law and securities law. Mr. Hudson previously served as a director of Forestar Group, Inc. (NYSE: FOR), where he sat on the Audit, Compensation and Corporate Governance Committees, and a director of the Jacksonville Electric Authority, one of the largest municipally owned utilities in the United States, where he chaired the Audit and Finance Committees and served a two-year term as Chairman of the Board. He currently serves on the Florida board of directors of Fifth Third Bank. Until its sale to Anticimex in February 2018, Hudson was the majority owner and Executive Chairman of Turner Pest Control, one of the largest and fastest growing pest control providers in the United States. Mr. Hudson earned his B.S., cum laude, in business and accountancy, from Wake Forest University in 1994. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, in 1997 from the Wake Forest University School of Law, where he was a Cooke Foundation Scholar, Articles Editor of the Law Review, member of the Moot Court Board and Order of the Coif.

Adam Klein will be appointed as a member of our Board of Directors prior to the consummation of this offering. Mr. Klein is a Partner at Crestview, a member of its investment committee and leads the firm’s efforts in Climate and Sustainability. Mr. Klein joined Crestview in 2007 and leads investments that span industry capabilities within energy and financial services, with a focus on climate adaptation. Prior to joining Crestview in 2007, Mr. Klein worked as an investment professional at Centennial Ventures, Inc., where he invested in early- to mid-stage companies across multiple industries. Before joining Centennial Ventures, Mr. Klein worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Compass Partners from 2001 to 2003, advising corporations and private equity firms on a wide range of transactions. Previously, Mr. Klein worked in the Media & Telecom group at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and then Credit Suisse from 2000 through 2001. Mr. Klein received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an A.B., cum laude, in Economics from Harvard College. Mr. Klein has served on the board of directors of Upwell Water HoldCo, LLC, a specialty finance company focused on providing capital markets solutions to small and medium sized water infrastructure assets since July 2019. He has served as a director of U.S. Well Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: USWS) since November 2018 and currently serves as the Chairman of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a member of its Compensation Committee. He has also served as a director of CP Energy Holdings, LLC a crude oil marketing and logistics business since May 2013, and W Energy Partners II LLC, a non-operated E&P company since December 2018. He previously served on the board of directors of public companies Select Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE: WTTR) from November 2016 to May 2020 and FBR & Co. (formerly NASDAQ: FBRC) from February 2010 to June 2014, in addition to several private company and non-profit boards.

Bhakti Mirchandani will be appointed as a member of our Board of Directors prior to the consummation of this offering. Ms. Mirchandani is Director of Responsible Investing at Trinity Church Wall Street, a thriving Episcopal community in lower Manhattan. Previously, Ms. Mirchandani was Managing Director at FCLTGlobal from 2018 to 2020 and ESG advisor to Corbin Capital from 2019 to 2020. Prior to these roles, Ms. Mirchandani was a Senior Vice President at One William Street Capital Management from 2013 to 2018, Global Relationship Director for Global Development Organizations and Microfinance Specialist at Barclays Capital/Lehman Brothers (during 2004, from 2005 to 2008, and from 2011 to 2013, respectively), Vice President at Bangalore-based Unitus Capital from 2009 to 2011, founder of what is now the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards from 2004 to 2005, micropension consultant to Women’s World Banking from 2001 to 2003, and equity research analyst at Salomon Smith Barney from 2000 to 2001. Ms. Mirchandani advises or serves on the investment committees or boards of a number of sustainable investing organizations. Her sustainable investing work has been featured in the NYTimes, the Financial Times, Institutional Investor, and CNBC. Ms. Mirchandani teaches an impact finance class in Columbia’s Masters in Sustainability Management Program, serves on the Board of Commissioners for the New York State Insurance Fund, contributes monthly sustainable investing articles to Forbes.com, and is a Life Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. She holds an AB, cum laude, from Harvard College, an MBA and the Dean’s Award from Harvard Business School, and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School.

Richard J. Hendrix has been our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors since inception. From January 2020 to December 2020, Mr. Hendrix served as an officer and director of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOAK), a blank check company that announced on December 29, 2020 that it had consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. Upon the closing of the transaction, LOAK was renamed Danimer Scientific, Inc., and its Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the NYSE under the

 

124


Table of Contents

symbols “DNMR” and “DNMR WS”, respectively. Mr. Hendrix continues to serve as a director of Danimer Scientific, Inc. From August 2020 to the present, Mr. Hendrix has served as the chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. From January 2021 to the present, Mr. Hendrix has served as the chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020.

Mr. Hendrix has significant experience in executive leadership, corporate strategy, M&A, capital markets, and corporate finance for public companies. Over the course of his career, Mr. Hendrix has worked extensively with issuers and investors focused on companies in the financial services, real estate, energy, industrial, and business and consumer services sectors. He has led dozens of initial equity offerings for founder-led and sponsor-backed companies primarily within the banking, insurance, and real estate sectors. Additionally, Mr. Hendrix has considerable experience advising chief executives, boards of directors, and large shareholders regarding strategy, capital structure, and capital access. Since March 2020, Mr. Hendrix has served as a board member of America’s Lift Chair Supplier, LLC, a medical equipment supplier. He has significant leadership experience in the financial industry, having served as Chief Executive Officer of FBR & Co., or FBR (formerly NASDAQ: FBRC), a capital markets firm, from 2009 to 2017, and Chairman from 2012 to 2017. Mr. Hendrix helped FBR grow into a leading bookrunner for initial common stock offerings for middle market U.S. companies. While at FBR Mr. Hendrix oversaw the growth of the company and oversaw numerous strategic transactions while in his role as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at FBR, ultimately executing a merger with B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: RILY) in 2017. Following the merger, Mr. Hendrix served as director of B. Riley Financial until October 2017. Prior to his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of FBR, Mr. Hendrix served as Arlington Asset Investment Corp.’s (NYSE: AAIC) President and Chief Operating Officer from 2004 to 2007 and its Chief Investment Officer from 2003 to 2004. Previously, he was the President and Chief Operating Officer of FBR Asset Investment Corporation and concurrently headed the Real Estate and Diversified Industrials Investment Banking groups of FBR. Prior to FBR, Mr. Hendrix was a Managing Director in PNC Capital Markets’ investment banking group and headed PNC’s asset-backed securities business. Mr. Hendrix is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Live Oak Merchant Partners, a merchant bank providing capital and advisory services to middle market companies across several industries. Mr. Hendrix also currently serves as a Crestview operating executive, and is currently the Chairman of PMC Consolidated Holdings LLC, the parent company of Protect My Car, a Crestview portfolio company that provides extended auto warranty plans to consumers. His relationship with Crestview began with Crestview’s investment in FBR. Mr. Hendrix is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RJH Management Co, a privately held investment management business. Mr. Hendrix received his B.S.in Finance from Miami University. He is well-qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive finance, investment and advisory background.

Gary K. Wunderlich, Jr. has been our President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and a member of our board of directors since inception. From January 2020 to December 2020, Mr. Wunderlich served as an officer of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOAK), a blank check company that announced on December 29, 2020 that it had consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. From August 2020 to the present, Mr. Wunderlich has served as an officer of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. From January 2021 to the present, Mr. Wunderlich has served as the president and chief financial officer and a member of the board of directors of Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020.

Mr. Wunderlich is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Live Oak Merchant Partners, a merchant bank providing capital and advisory services to middle market companies across a wide range of industries. Prior to co-founding Live Oak in 2017, Mr. Wunderlich was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wunderlich Securities, Inc., or WSI, a full-service investment banking and brokerage firm, from 1996 until its successful merger in 2017 with B. Riley Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: RILY). Following the merger, Mr. Wunderlich served as a Director of B. Riley from 2017 to July 2018 and remained Chief Executive Officer of WSI (rebranded B Riley Wealth) until November 2018. As Chief

 

125


Table of Contents

Executive Officer of WSI, Mr. Wunderlich was involved in all aspects of company growth from a virtual start-up into a full-service investment bank. In 2011, Mr. Wunderlich, along with WSI and WSI’s Chief Compliance Officer, consented, without admitting or denying the findings therein, to the entry of an SEC order finding that, from 2007 to 2009, as WSI was converting hundreds of its existing fee-based brokerage accounts to investment advisory accounts, in response to regulatory changes affecting certain broker-dealers that provided investment advice, WSI willfully violated the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, or the Advisers Act, and its rules by failing to have adequate written policies and procedures and a code of ethics, and Mr. Wunderlich, who was then WSI’s Chief Executive Officer, willfully aided and abetted and caused such violations. The order also found that WSI willfully violated the Advisers Act and its rules by overcharging advisory clients for commissions and other transactional fees totaling approximately $120,835 in approximately 6,338 separate transactions, which the SEC stated appeared to have occurred primarily due to back-office errors, and by engaging in principal trading without providing certain required disclosures to its clients. Mr. Wunderlich has also been consistently involved in securities industry organizations throughout his career. From 2016 to 2018 Mr. Wunderlich was a member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s (“SIFMA”) National Board of Directors. He was also a founding board member of the American Securities Association from its inception in 2016 until 2018. Mr. Wunderlich also served in various capacities with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) including serving on the National Advisory Board, serving on the District 5 Committee as both a Member and Chairman, and serving as a Member of the National Membership Council. Since March 2020, Mr. Wunderlich has served as a board member of America’s Lift Chair Supplier, LLC, a medical equipment supplier. Since 2005, Mr. Wunderlich has been a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and participates in the Family Business, Family Office, Financial Services and Entrepreneurship and Innovation Networks. He was inducted into the Society of Entrepreneurs in 2014 and has served as a Director since 2016. He is also the Managing Member of Eighty Park Avenue Partners LLC, a family investment vehicle. Mr. Wunderlich received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from the University of Memphis.

Adam J. Fishman has been our Chief Operating Officer since inception. From 2020 to the present, Mr. Fishman has served as an officer of Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: LOKB), a blank check company that announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. From January 2021 to the present, Mr. Fishman has served as the chief operating officer of Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020. Mr. Fishman is currently a Managing Partner at Live Oak Merchant Partners, a merchant bank providing capital and advisory services to middle market companies across several industries. Mr. Fishman joined the firm from Jefferies LLC, where he was a Managing Director and Head of the Permanent Capital Group, Distribution. Mr. Fishman originated and executed blank check company transactions, including the initial public offering, assisting management in evaluating targets for merger consideration, and structuring and executing PIPE investments to support mergers. He was also responsible for originating and marketing Pre-IPO private placements for companies across all industries. Prior to joining Jefferies, Mr. Fishman was an Executive Vice President and Head of Institutional Brokerage at FBR & Co. FBR was a publicly traded middle market investment bank, specializing in capital raising and securities trading across seven industry groups. Mr. Fishman joined FBR in 2004, steadily expanding his role throughout a 13-year tenure. As a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Mr. Fishman was a key contributor to the firm’s strategic vision and execution. Mr. Fishman also served on FBR’s Commitment Committee, where he was responsible for analyzing, structuring and selling all public and private investment offerings. Mr. Fishman began his career as an Associate Director in the New York office of CIBC World Markets. Mr. Fishman received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Brandeis University.

Our Senior Advisor

Mona Sutphen will assist us in sourcing and evaluating transaction opportunities. Ms. Sutphen, our Senior Advisor, has over 20 years’ experience advising multinational corporate, philanthropic and institutional investors on the intersection of geopolitics, policy and markets. She is currently a Senior Advisor at The Vistria Group, a Chicago-based private equity firm, and is a venture advisor and co-founder of several start-ups. Previously, she was a Partner at Macro Advisory Partners (MAP), where she led the firm’s US practice advising clients on emerging risks and opportunities across a range of sectors including energy/environment, technology and financial services. Prior to joining MAP, Ms. Sutphen was Managing Director at UBS AG, where she developed new tools for political risk evaluation impacting capital markets. From 2009 to 2011, she served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for

 

126


Table of Contents

Policy for President Obama, where she advanced the policy and regulatory agenda on a range of issues including, technology/telecom, trade, energy, small business and housing / GSE reform. Previously, Ms. Sutphen was Managing Director at Stonebridge International, and earlier led regulatory strategy for Currenex, the first Internet-based institutional foreign exchange trading platform. From 1991 to 2000 she was a career diplomat, serving on the staff of the National Security Council during the Clinton Administration and the U.S. Mission to the UN, among other posts. She also served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board from 2013 to 2016. Ms. Sutphen serves on the Boards of Spotify (NYSE: SPOT), renewable energy company Pattern Energy and Unitek Learning, and is a Trustee for Putnam Mutual Funds. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Boards of the International Rescue Committee and Human Rights First, and on the advisory boards of the Warner Music Social Justice Fund and the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Ms. Sutphen is a Trustee of Mount Holyoke College, and co-author of The Next American Century. She holds BA from Mount Holyoke College and an MSc from the London School of Economics.

Prior Blank Check Experience

Both our Chief Executive Officer, Richard Hendrix, and our President, Gary Wunderlich, were members of the management team of LOAK, a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $200,000,000 in May 2020. On December 29, 2020, LOAK consummated an initial business combination with Meredian Holdings Group, Inc., a Georgia corporation d/b/a Danimer Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of biodegradable plastic materials. Upon the closing of the transaction, LOAK was renamed Danimer Scientific, Inc., and its Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the NYSE under the symbols “DNMR” and “DNMR WS”, respectively.

Each of our Chief Executive Officer, Richard Hendrix, our President, Gary Wunderlich, our management team and our Chief Operating Officer, Adam Fishman, is a member of the management team of LOKB, a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in December 2020 and Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: LOKM), which we refer to herein as LOKM, a blank check company that consummated its initial public offering of $253,000,000 in March 2020. LOKB is currently seeking and LOKM will be seeking to consummate an initial business combination. LOKB announced on May 7, 2021 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to consummate an initial business combination with Navitas, the industry leader in GaN power ICs, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

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

The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Bhakti Mirchandani and Ashton Hudson will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Adam Klein and John Amboian, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Richard Hendrix and Gary Wunderlich, will expire at the third annual meeting of stockholders.

Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws provide that our officers may consist of a Chairman or Co-Chairmen of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Secretaries and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.

Director Independence

NYSE listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the

 

127


Table of Contents

director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Amboian, Klein and Hudson and Ms. Mirchandani are “independent directors” as defined in the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

Officer and Director Compensation

None of our officers has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Other than the payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $15,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for utilities and secretarial and administrative support and reimbursement of expenses, no compensation of any kind, including any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee or monies in respect of any payment of a loan, will be paid by us to our officers and directors prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. We do not have a policy that prohibits our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, from negotiating for the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses by a target business. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such payments, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination.

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

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

Committees of the Board of Directors

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

Audit Committee

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish an audit committee of our board of directors. John Amboian, Ashton Hudson and Bhakti Mirchandani will serve as members of our audit committee, and Mr. Amboian will chair the audit committee.

 

128


Table of Contents

Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent. Each of Messrs. Amboian and Hudson and Ms. Mirchandani meet the independent director standard under NYSE listing standards and under Rule 10-A-3(b)(1) of the Exchange Act.

Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that John Amboian qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.

We will adopt an audit committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the audit committee, including:

 

   

the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us;

 

   

pre-approving all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures;

 

   

setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm, including but not limited to, as required by applicable laws and regulations;

 

   

setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

 

   

obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (i) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures, (ii) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues and (iii) all relationships between the independent registered public accounting firm and us to assess the independent registered public accounting firm’s independence;

 

   

reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and

 

   

reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities.

Compensation Committee

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish a compensation committee of our board of directors. John Amboian, Ashton Hudson and Adam Klein will serve as members of our compensation committee. Under the NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent. Messrs. Amboian, Klein and Hudson are independent and Mr. Hudson will chair the compensation committee.

We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

 

   

reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, if any is paid by us, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation;

 

   

reviewing and approving on an annual basis the compensation, if any is paid by us, of all of our other officers;

 

   

reviewing on an annual basis our executive compensation policies and plans;

 

   

implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;

 

   

assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;

 

   

approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees;

 

129


Table of Contents
   

if required, producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and

 

   

reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.

Other than the payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $15,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for utilities and secretarial and administrative support and reimbursement of expenses, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.

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

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish a nominating and corporate governance committee. The members of our nominating and corporate governance will be Ashton Hudson, Bhakti Mirchandani and Adam Klein. Ms. Mirchandani will serve as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee.

The primary purposes of our nominating and corporate governance committee will be to assist the board in:

 

   

identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of stockholders or to fill vacancies on the board of directors;

 

   

developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines;

 

   

coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and

 

   

reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary.

The nominating and corporate governance committee will be governed by a charter that complies with the rules of the NYSE.

Director Nominations

Our nominating and corporate governance committee will recommend to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of the stockholders. We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders.

Code of Ethics

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We will file a copy of our Code of Ethics and our audit and compensation committee charters as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. You will be able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”

 

130


Table of Contents

Corporate Governance Guidelines

Our board of directors will adopt corporate governance guidelines in accordance with the corporate governance rules of the NYSE that serve as a flexible framework within which our board of directors and its committees operate. These guidelines will cover a number of areas including board membership criteria and director qualifications, director responsibilities, board agenda, roles of the chairman of the board, chief executive officer and presiding director, meetings of independent directors, committee responsibilities and assignments, board member access to management and independent advisors, director communications with third parties, director compensation, director orientation and continuing education, evaluation of senior management and management succession planning. A copy of our corporate governance guidelines will be posted on our website.

Conflicts of Interest

Affiliates of our management team may compete with us for business combination opportunities. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within affiliates of our management team may be suitable for both us and for another entity and may be directed to such entity rather than to us. Members of our management team who are also employed by such entities have no obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware, unless presented to such member solely in his or her capacity as an officer of the company. Members of our management team, in their capacities as employees or principals of their affiliates or in their other endeavors, currently are required to present certain investment opportunities and potential business combinations to the various related entities described above, or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. 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 to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will not materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination, as we believe any such opportunities presented (aside from LOKB and LOKM) would be smaller than what we are interested in, or to entities that are not themselves in the business of engaging in business combinations. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide 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.

In addition, members of our management team or their affiliates may sponsor other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination, and members of our management team may participate in such blank check companies. In particular, certain members of our management team are currently sponsoring two other blank check companies, LOKB and LOKM. Each of LOKB and LOKM may seek to complete a business combination in any industry or location. Further, John P. Amboian, a member of our Board of Directors, also serves as the Chairman of LOKB and is expected to serve as a member of the board of directors of LOKM. Richard J. Hendrix, our Chief Executive Officer and Director, serves as an officer and director of each of LOKB and LOKM, and Gary K. Wunderlich, Jr., our President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Director, serves as an officer of LOKB and as an officer and director of LOKM. Adam J. Fishman, our Chief Operating Officer, also serves as an officer of each of LOKB and LOKM. These relationships may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:

 

   

None of our officers or directors is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities.

 

131


Table of Contents
   

In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us, as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

 

   

Our initial stockholders will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial stockholders will not be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable by our sponsor until the earlier of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the reported closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30—trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or saleable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors will directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.

 

   

Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

 

   

Our sponsor, officers or directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a business combination and financing arrangements as we may obtain loans from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or any of our officers or directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.

In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:

 

   

the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity;

 

   

the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and

 

   

it would not be fair to our company and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation.

Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors may have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide 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.

 

132


Table of Contents

Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers, directors and director nominees currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:

 

 

 

INDIVIDUAL (1)

  

ENTITY

  

ENTITY’S BUSINESS

  

AFFILIATION

John P. Amboian    Adams Street Partners (2)    Investments    Director
   North Square Investments (2)    Investments    Director
   JA Capital Advisors, LLC    Consulting    Founder
   Danimer Scientific, Inc.    Manufacturing    Director
  

Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II

  

Blank Check

   Director
   Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp.    Blank Check    Director
Ashton Hudson   

Value Acquisition Fund, LLC

   Investments    Managing Member
   Rock Creek Capital Group, Inc.    Investments    Officer and Director
   Rock Creek Advisors, Inc.    Investments    Officer and Director
   Fifth Third Bank, N.A.    Banking    Florida Board of Directors
Adam Klein    Crestview    Private Equity    Partner
   Upwell Water HoldCo, LLC    Water Infrastructure Finance    Director
   U.S. Well Services, Inc.    Energy Services    Director
   CP Energy Holdings, LLC    Energy Services    Director
   W Energy Partners II LLC    Energy    Director
Bhakti Mirchandani   

The New York State Insurance Fund

 

   Insurance    Commissioner
  

MicroVest Capital

Management Enhanced Debt Fund General Partner

   Investments    Director
Richard J. Hendrix    Live Oak Merchant Partners    Merchant Banking    Managing Partner
   Protect My Car, Inc.    Extended Warranties    Director
   RJH Management Co. (2)    Investments    Officer
   Danimer Scientific, Inc.    Manufacturing    Director
   America’s Lift Chair, LLC    Medical Equipment    Director
   Crestview Partners    Private Equity    Operating Executive
   Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II    Blank Check    Officer and Director
   Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp.    Blank Check    Officer and Director
Gary Wunderlich    Live Oak Merchant Partners    Merchant Banking    Managing Partner
   Eighty Park Avenue Partners, LLC (2)    Investments    Managing Member

 

133


Table of Contents

INDIVIDUAL (1)

  

ENTITY

  

ENTITY’S BUSINESS

  

AFFILIATION

   Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II    Blank Check    Officer
   Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp.    Blank Check    Officer and Director
   America’s Lift Chair, LLC    Medical Equipment    Director
Adam J. Fishman    Live Oak Merchant Partners    Merchant Banking    Managing Partner
   Live Oak Acquisition Corp. II    Blank Check    Officer
   Live Oak Mobility Acquisition Corp.    Blank Check    Officer

 

 

(1)    Each of the entities listed in this table has priority and preference relative to us with respect to the performance by each individual listed in this table of his obligations and the presentation by each such individual of business opportunities.

 

(2)    Such person is a director of the indicated entity and/or its portfolio companies, and may be obligated to show acquisitions to such entity or entities before we may pursue such acquisitions.

Accordingly, if any of the above executive officers, directors or director nominees becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the above entities to which he has current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he will honor his fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that any of the foregoing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with such a company, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

Our officers and directors may become an officer or director of another special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities intended to be registered under the Exchange Act, even before we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination.

In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after the offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination.

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our officers and directors will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us or our stockholders for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, unless they violated their duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived an improper personal benefit from their actions as directors.

We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also will permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We will purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment

 

134


Table of Contents

of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors. Except with respect to any public shares they may acquire in this offering or thereafter (in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination), our officers and directors have agreed to waive (and any other persons who may become an officer or director prior to the initial business combination will also be required to waive) any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and not to seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever, including with respect to such indemnification.

These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

We believe that these provisions, the directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.

 

135


Table of Contents

PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of units in this offering, by:

 

   

each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock;

 

   

each of our executive officers, directors and director nominees; and

 

   

all our executive officers, directors and director nominees as a group.

Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.

In February 2021, 7,187,500 founder shares were issued to our sponsor in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. In June 2021, our sponsor returned to us at no cost an aggregate of 1,437,500 founder shares, which we cancelled. The following table presents the number of shares and percentage of our common stock owned by our initial stockholders before and after this offering. The post-offering numbers and percentages presented assume that the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option, that none of the anchor investor or the additional anchor investors purchase any units in this offering, that our sponsor forfeits an aggregate 750,000 founder shares, and that there are 25,000,000 shares of our common stock, consisting of (i) 20,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock and (ii) 5,000,000 shares of our Class B common stock, issued and outstanding after this offering.

 

 

 

     BEFORE OFFERING     AFTER OFFERING  

NAME AND ADDRESS OF BENEFICIAL OWNER (1)

   NUMBER OF
SHARES
BENEFICIALLY
OWNED (2)
     APPROXIMATE
PERCENTAGE
OF
OUTSTANDING
COMMON
STOCK
    NUMBER OF
SHARES
BENEFICIALLY
OWNED (2)
     APPROXIMATE
PERCENTAGE
OF
OUTSTANDING
COMMON
STOCK
 

LOCC Sponsor, LLC (3)(4)

     5,750,000        100.0     5,000,000        20.0

John P. Amboian

                          

Ashton Hudson

                          

Adam Klein

                          

Bhakti Mirchandani

                          

Richard J. Hendrix

           

 
          

 

Gary K. Wunderlich, Jr

           

 
          

 

Adam J. Fishman

                          

All executive officers and directors as a group (seven individuals)

    

 
    

 
   

 
    

 

 

 

(1)    Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp., 40 S Main Street, #2550, Memphis, TN 38103.

 

(2)    Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, classified as shares of Class B common stock. Such shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities.”

 

(3)    Our sponsor is the record holder of such shares. Each of Live Oak Merchant Partners and Crestview LOCC Investors, LLC, an affiliate of Crestview that is under common control with Crestview, are the managing members of our sponsor, and as such, each has voting and investment discretion with respect to the common stock held of record by our sponsor and may be deemed to have shared beneficial ownership of the common stock held directly by our sponsor. Each of our officers and directors holds a direct or indirect interest in our sponsor. Each such person disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest they may have therein, directly or indirectly.

 

136


Table of Contents
(4)    Certain investment funds and accounts managed by Atalaya Capital Management LP are passive limited members in our sponsor.

Immediately after this offering, holders of our founder shares will beneficially own 20% of the then-issued and outstanding shares of our common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). If we increase or decrease the size of the offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital, or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Because of this ownership block, holders of our founder shares may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors, amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions, including approval of our initial business combination.

Our initial stockholders have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed initial business combination and (B) not to redeem any shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination or in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Our anchor investor has expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of $19,800,000 of units in this offering (or $22,770,000 of units in the event the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), which amounts may be reduced on a pro-rata basis if less than 20,000,000 units (or 23,000,000 in the event the over-allotment option is exercised in full) are sold in this offering. We have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to our anchor investor such number of units. Further, our anchor investor owns an approximate 8.3% interest in our sponsor and, therefore, will have an indirect interest in the founder shares and private placement warrants that our sponsor will own upon closing of this offering. Our anchor investor has agreed with our sponsor that, if it does not purchase the amount of units described above, or if after such purchase, it owns less than that number of units at the time of a stockholder vote in connection with our initial business combination, or redeems any shares issued as part of such units in connection with our initial business combination, or votes any shares against our initial business combination, it will forfeit all of its indirect holdings of founder shares and warrants held within our sponsor. There can be no assurance that our anchor investor will acquire any units in this offering or what amount of equity our anchor investor will retain, if any, upon the consummation of our initial business combination. As a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that our anchor investor may hold (directly or indirectly), it may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders.

Our anchor investor will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust account with respect to the common stock underlying the units it may purchase in this offering as the rights afforded to our public stockholders. The anchor investor has not been granted any material additional stockholder or other rights, and has only been issued membership interests in our sponsor with no right to control our sponsor or vote or dispose of its allocable founder shares or private placement warrants (which will continue to be held by our sponsor until following our initial business combination). Further, other than as described above, the anchor investor is not required to: (i) vote any shares it may own at the applicable time in favor of our initial business combination or (ii) refrain from exercising its right to redeem its public shares at the time of our initial business combination.

Additionally, up to two 9.9% anchor investors, one 9.0% anchor investor and nine 4.95% anchor investors have each expressed to us an interest in purchasing up to 1,980,000 units, in the case of each 9.9% anchor investor, 1,800,000 units, in the case of the 9.0% anchor investor, and 990,000 units, in the case of each 4.95% anchor investor, in this offering at the offering price of $10.00 per unit, and such allocations to each additional anchor investor will be determined by the underwriters.

The additional anchor investors have not been granted any material stockholder or other rights in addition to those afforded to our other public stockholders. Further, the additional anchor investors are not required to (i) hold any units, shares of Class A common stock or warrants they may purchase in this offering or thereafter for any amount of time, (ii) vote any shares of Class A common stock they may own at the applicable time in favor of our initial business combination or (iii) refrain from exercising their right to redeem their public shares at the time of our initial business combination. The additional anchor investors will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust

 

137


Table of Contents

account with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the units they may purchase in this offering as the rights afforded to our other public stockholders.

There can be no assurance that the additional anchor investors will acquire any units in this offering, or as to the amount of such units the additional anchor investors will acquire or retain, if any, prior to or upon the consummation of our initial business combination. There is also no guarantee that all 12 additional anchor investors will participate in the offering.

The additional anchor investors have entered into separate investment agreements with us and our sponsor pursuant to which, subject to each additional anchor investor purchasing 100% of the units allocated to it in this offering by the underwriters, in connection with the closing of this offering our sponsor will sell 125,000 founder shares to each 9.9% anchor investor, 113,636 founder shares to the 9.0% anchor investor, and 62,500 founder shares to each 4.95% anchor investor, or an aggregate of 926,136 founder shares if each additional anchor investor purchases its allocated amount of units, in each case at their original purchase price of approximately $0.003 per founder share. Pursuant to the investment agreements, the additional anchor investors have agreed to (a) vote any founder shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination and (b) subject any founder shares held by them to the same lock-up restrictions as the founder shares held by our sponsor. Since our sponsor is selling founder shares held by it to the additional anchor investors and we are not issuing any new shares of Class B common stock, there will be no dilutive impact on the other investors in this offering.

In the event that our anchor investor and the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units that they have expressed an interest in purchasing in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, in addition to the founder shares, no affirmative votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, the additional anchor investors are not required to vote any of their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or for or against any other matter presented for a stockholder vote.

If the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, the substantial majority of units sold in this offering will be held by the additional anchor investors. The additional anchor investors may have different interests than our other public stockholders since their investments in the founder shares will generally be worthless if we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required timeframe. Because the additional anchor investors will purchase founder shares for the same nominal purchase price paid for such shares by our sponsor, the anchor investors will also have the potential to realize enhanced economic returns from their investment in us in comparison to our other public stockholders who are not purchasing founder shares from our sponsor. Accordingly, the anchor investors may be more likely to favor any proposed initial business combination transaction even if our other public stockholders do not favor the transaction.

Our sponsor and our executive officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.

Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants

The founder shares, private placement warrants and any shares of Class A common stock issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in a letter agreement with us (other than the founder shares that may be transferred to the anchor investors, which are subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to an investment agreement) to be entered into by our sponsor, officers and directors. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (i) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the reported closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20

 

138


Table of Contents

trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor, or any affiliates of our sponsor, (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with any forward purchase agreement or similar arrangement or in connection with the consummation of an initial business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares or warrants were originally purchased; (f) in the event of our liquidation prior to the completion of our initial business combination; or (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or the organizational documents of our sponsor upon dissolution of our sponsor; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (e) or (g) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreement and by the same agreements entered into by our sponsor with respect to such securities (including provisions relating to voting, the trust account and liquidation distributions described elsewhere in this prospectus). The investment agreements provide that the founder shares held by the additional anchor investors are subject to the same lock-up restrictions as set forth in the letter agreement.

Registration Rights

The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock). The holders of at least $25 million in value of these securities are entitled to demand that we file a registration statement covering such securities and to require us to effect up to an aggregate of three underwritten offerings of such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggyback” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed and underwritten offerings subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the cost of registering these securities.

 

139


Table of Contents

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

In February 2021, 7,187,500 founder shares were issued to our sponsor in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. In June 2021, our sponsor returned to us at no cost an aggregate of 1,437,500 founder shares, which we cancelled. If we increase or decrease the size of the offering we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 750,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. The founder shares (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.

Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 4,666,666 (or 5,000,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants for a purchase price of $1.50 per warrant in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. As such, our sponsor’s interest in this transaction is valued at between $7,000,000 and $7,500,000, depending on the number of private placement warrants purchased. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.

Commencing on the date of this prospectus, we have agreed to pay Live Oak Merchant Partners, an affiliate of our sponsor, a total of $15,000 per month for utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

No compensation of any kind, including any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee or monies in respect of any payment of a loan, will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any affiliate of our sponsor or officers, prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of an initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. We do not have a policy that prohibits our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, from negotiating for the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses by a target business. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or any of their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

Our anchor investor has expressed to us an interest to purchase an aggregate of $19,800,000 of units in this offering (or $22,770,000 of units in the event the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), which amounts may be reduced on a pro-rata basis if less than 20,000,000 units (or 23,000,000 in the event the over-allotment option is exercised in full) are sold in this offering. We have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to our anchor investor such number of units. Further, our anchor investor owns an approximate 8.3% interest in our sponsor and, therefore, will have an indirect interest in the founder shares and private placement warrants that our sponsor will own upon closing of this offering. Our anchor investor has agreed with our sponsor that, if it does not purchase the amount of units described above, or if after such purchase, it owns less than that number of units at the time of a stockholder vote in connection with our initial business combination, or redeems any shares issued as part of such units in connection with our initial business combination, or votes any shares against our initial business combination, it will forfeit all of its indirect holdings of founder shares and warrants held within our sponsor. There can be no assurance that our anchor investor will acquire any units in this offering or what amount of equity our anchor investor will retain, if any, upon the consummation of our initial business combination. As a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that our anchor investor may hold (directly or indirectly), it may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders.

 

140


Table of Contents

Our anchor investor will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust account with respect to the common stock underlying the units it may purchase in this offering as the rights afforded to our public stockholders. The anchor investor has not been granted any material additional stockholder or other rights, and has only been issued membership interests in our sponsor with no right to control our sponsor or vote or dispose of its allocable founder shares or private placement warrants (which will continue to be held by our sponsor until following our initial business combination). Further, other than as described above, the anchor investor is not required to: (i) vote any shares it may own at the applicable time in favor of our initial business combination or (ii) refrain from exercising its right to redeem its public shares at the time of our initial business combination.

Additionally, up to two 9.9% anchor investors, one 9.0% anchor investor and nine 4.95% anchor investors have each expressed to us an interest in purchasing up to 1,980,000 units, in the case of each 9.9% anchor investor, 1,800,000 units, in the case of the 9.0% anchor investor, and 990,000 units, in the case of each 4.95% anchor investor, in this offering at the offering price of $10.00 per unit, and such allocations to each additional anchor investor will be determined by the underwriters.

The additional anchor investors have not been granted any material stockholder or other rights in addition to those afforded to our other public stockholders. Further, the additional anchor investors are not required to (i) hold any units, shares of Class A common stock or warrants they may purchase in this offering or thereafter for any amount of time, (ii) vote any shares of Class A common stock they may own at the applicable time in favor of our initial business combination or (iii) refrain from exercising their right to redeem their public shares at the time of our initial business combination. The additional anchor investors will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust account with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the units they may purchase in this offering as the rights afforded to our other public stockholders.

There can be no assurance that the additional anchor investors will acquire any units in this offering, or as to the amount of such units the additional anchor investors will acquire or retain, if any, prior to or upon the consummation of our initial business combination. There is also no guarantee that all 12 additional anchor investors will participate in the offering.

The additional anchor investors have entered into separate investment agreements with us and our sponsor pursuant to which, subject to each additional anchor investor purchasing 100% of the units allocated to it in this offering by the underwriters, in connection with the closing of this offering our sponsor will sell 125,000 founder shares to each 9.9% anchor investor, 113,636 founder shares to the 9.0% anchor investor, and 62,500 founder shares to each 4.95% anchor investor, or an aggregate of 926,136 founder shares if each additional anchor investor purchases its allocated amount of units, in each case at their original purchase price of approximately $0.003 per founder share. Pursuant to the investment agreements, the additional anchor investors have agreed to (a) vote any founder shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination and (b) subject any founder shares held by them to the same lock-up restrictions as the founder shares held by our sponsor. Since our sponsor is selling founder shares held by it to the additional anchor investors and we are not issuing any new shares of Class B common stock, there will be no dilutive impact on the other investors in this offering.

In the event that our anchor investor and the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units that they have expressed an interest in purchasing in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, in addition to the founder shares, no affirmative votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, the additional anchor investors are not required to vote any of their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or for or against any other matter presented for a stockholder vote.

If the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units for which they have expressed an interest, the substantial majority of units sold in this offering will be held by the additional anchor investors. The additional anchor investors may have different interests than our other public stockholders since their investments in the founder shares will generally be worthless if we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required timeframe. Because the additional anchor investors will purchase founder shares for the same nominal purchase price paid for such shares by our sponsor, the anchor investors will also have the potential to realize enhanced economic returns from their investment in us in comparison to our other public stockholders who are not purchasing founder shares

 

141


Table of Contents

from our sponsor. Accordingly, the anchor investors may be more likely to favor any proposed initial business combination transaction even if our other public stockholders do not favor the transaction.

Prior to the consummation of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to an aggregate of $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. To date, we have borrowed $125,500 under such promissory note. This loan is non-interest bearing, unsecured and is due at the earlier of August 11, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $2,800,000 (or $2,760,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of proceeds not held in the trust account and allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) and working capital. The value of our sponsor’s interest in this transaction corresponds to the principal amount outstanding under any such loan.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

We have agreed to indemnify our sponsor and its members (present and former), managers and affiliates and their respective present and former officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law from any claims made by us or a third party in respect of any investment opportunities sourced by them or any liability arising with respect to their activities in connection with our affairs, to the extent that such indemnification, hold harmless and exoneration obligations with respect to such matters are not expressly covered by a separate written agreement between us and any such party. Such indemnity will provide that the indemnified parties cannot access the funds held in our trust account.

After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.

We will enter into a registration rights agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, the warrants issuable upon conversion of working capital loans (if any) and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares, which is described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Registration Rights.”

Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions

The audit committee of our board of directors will adopt a policy setting forth the policies and procedures for its review and approval or ratification of “related party transactions.” A “related party transaction” is any consummated or proposed transaction or series of transactions: (i) in which the company was or is to be a participant; (ii) the amount of which exceeds (or is reasonably expected to exceed) $120,000 in the aggregate over the duration of the transaction (without regard to profit or loss); and (iii) in which a “related party” had, has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. “Related parties” under this policy will include: (i) our directors, nominees for director or executive officers; (ii) any record or beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities; (iii) any immediate family member of any of the foregoing if the foregoing person is a natural person; and (iv) any other person who maybe a “related person” pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the policy, the audit committee will consider (i) the relevant facts and circumstances of each related party transaction, including if the transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained in arm’s-length dealings with an unrelated third party, (ii) the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction, (iii) whether

 

142


Table of Contents

the transaction contravenes our code of ethics or other policies, (iv) whether the audit committee believes the relationship underlying the transaction to be in the best interests of the company and its stockholders and (v) the effect that the transaction may have on a director’s status as an independent member of the board and on his or her eligibility to serve on the board’s committees. Management will present to the audit committee each proposed related party transaction, including all relevant facts and circumstances relating thereto. Under the policy, we may consummate related party transactions only if our audit committee approves or ratifies the transaction in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the policy. The policy will not permit any director or executive officer to participate in the discussion of, or decision concerning, a related person transaction in which he or she is the related party.

 

143


Table of Contents

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our authorized capital stock consists of 250,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value. The following description summarizes the material terms of our capital stock. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.

Units

Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one public warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Only whole warrants are exercisable. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade.

We expect the Class A common stock and public warrants will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Jefferies LLC and BofA Securities, Inc. inform us of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and public warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and public warrants.

In no event will the Class A common stock and public warrants be traded separately until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC, which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes this audited balance sheet upon the completion of this offering, which closing is anticipated to take place three business days after the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

Common Stock

Upon the closing of this offering, 25,000,000 shares of our common stock will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 750,000 founder shares by our sponsor), consisting of:

 

   

20,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock underlying the units being offered in this offering; and

 

   

5,000,000 shares of Class B common stock held by our initial stockholders.

If we increase or decrease the size of the offering we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.

Common stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Holders of record of the Class A common stock and holders of record of the Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, with each share of common stock entitling the holder to one vote except as required by law, provided, that the holders of Class B common stock will be entitled to vote as a separate class to increase the authorized number of shares of Class B common stock. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our shares of common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. Our board of directors will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the election of directors can elect all of the directors. Our stockholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.

 

144


Table of Contents

Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 250,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, if we were to enter into an initial business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such an initial business combination) be required to increase the number of shares of Class A common stock which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our stockholders vote on the initial business combination to the extent we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination.

In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first full fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws, unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

We will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them, and the additional anchor investors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them, in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) without a stockholder vote by means of a tender offer. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the Company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company entitled to vote at such meeting. If we conduct redemptions by means of a tender offer, the tender offer documents will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules.

If we seek stockholder approval, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates in privately negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days’ (but not less than 10 days’ nor more than 60 days’) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders and the additional anchor investors, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.

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 will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares of common stock sold in this offering, which we refer to as the Excess Shares. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial

 

145


Table of Contents

business combination. Our stockholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such stockholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such stockholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the initial business combination. And, as a result, such stockholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, pursuant to a letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the investment agreements, the additional anchor investors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination.

As a result, in addition to the founder shares, we would need only (i) 7,500,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted and the over- allotment option is not exercised) or (ii) 0, or 0.0% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted, the over- allotment option is not exercised, our anchor investor purchases $19,800,000 of units in the offering and votes its shares in favor of our initial business combination and the additional anchor investors purchase an aggregate of $146,700,000 of units in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their shares in favor of our initial business combination), of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. In the event that our anchor investor and the additional anchor investors purchase all of the units that they have expressed an interest in purchasing in this offering, hold all such units until prior to consummation of our initial business combination and vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination, in addition to the founder shares, no affirmative votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. However, the additional anchor investors are not required to vote any of their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or for or against any other matter presented for a stockholder vote. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they were a stockholder on the record date for the stockholder meeting held to approve the proposed transaction (subject to the limitation described in the preceding paragraph).

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we are unable to complete our 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 no more than 10 business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), 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 liquidating 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 each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering. However, if our initial stockholders acquire public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period.

In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company after an initial business combination, our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of stock, if any, having preference over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest

 

146


Table of Contents

(which will be net of taxes paid by us) upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.

Founder Shares

The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same stockholder rights as public stockholders, except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (ii) our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to (A) redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (B) redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (y) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (C) liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period, (iii) the additional anchor investors will not be entitled to (A) redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (B) redemption rights with respect to their founder shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (y) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (C) liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period, (iv) the founder shares are shares of our Class B common stock that will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights as described herein and (v) the founder shares are entitled to registration rights. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed (and its permitted transferees will agree) pursuant to the letter agreement to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination.

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 sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of this offering, plus 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, excluding any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities 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-equivalent warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one for one basis. We cannot determine at this time whether a majority of the holders of our Class B common stock at the time of any future issuance would agree to waive such adjustment to the conversion ratio. They may waive such adjustment due to (but not limited to) the following: (i) closing conditions that are part of the agreement for our initial business combination; (ii) negotiation with Class A stockholders on structuring an initial business combination; or (iii) negotiation with parties providing financing that would trigger the anti-dilution provisions of the Class B common stock. If such adjustment is not waived, the issuance would not reduce the

 

147


Table of Contents

percentage ownership of holders of our Class B common stock, but would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class A common stock. If such adjustment is waived, the issuance would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of both classes of our common stock. The term “equity-linked securities” refers to any debt or equity securities that are convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Class A common stock issued in a financing transaction in connection with our initial business combination, including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt. Securities could be “deemed issued” for purposes of the conversion rate adjustment if such shares are issuable upon the conversion or exercise of convertible securities, warrants or similar securities.

With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the reported closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (y) the date, following the completion of our initial business combination, on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Preferred Stock

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering.

Redeemable Warrants

Public Stockholders’ Warrants

Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of 12 months from the closing of this offering and 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the public warrant agreement, a warrant-holder may exercise its public warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at a given time by a warrant-holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least three units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

We will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a public warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No public warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the public warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a public warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any public warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised public warrants, the purchaser of

 

148


Table of Contents

a unit containing such warrant, if not cash settled, will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Class A common stock underlying such unit.

We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement registering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants, to cause such registration statement to become effective and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the public warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the public warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination or within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrant-holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise public warrants on a “cashless basis” pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their public warrants on a cashless basis.

Redemption of public warrants.

Once the public warrants become exercisable, we may call the public warrants for redemption for cash:

 

   

in whole and not in part;

 

   

at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

   

upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant-holder; and

 

   

if, and only if, the reported closing price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant-holders.

If and when the public warrants become redeemable by us, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our best efforts to register or qualify such shares of common stock under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the public warrants were initially offered by us in this offering.

We have established the last of the redemption criteria discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the public warrants, each warrant-holder will be entitled to exercise its public warrants prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.

If we call the public warrants for redemption as described above, we will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise its public warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their public warrants on a “cashless basis,” we will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of public warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our public warrants. If we take advantage of this option, all holders of public warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering their public warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” means the 10-day average closing price as of the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of the warrants. If we take advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Class A common stock to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number

 

149


Table of Contents

of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the warrants after our initial business combination. If we call our warrants for redemption and we do not take advantage of this option, our sponsor and its permitted transferees would still be entitled to exercise their private placement warrants for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other warrantholders would have been required to use had all warrantholders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, as described in more detail below.

Redemption Procedures

A holder of a public warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of Class A common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.

Anti-Dilution Adjustments

If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Class A common stock, or by a split-up of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each public warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Class A common stock. A rights offering to holders of Class A common stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Class A common stock at a price less than the fair market value as of the first date on which the shares of Class A common stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Class A common stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock) and (ii) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A common stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the fair market value. For these purposes (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock, in determining the price payable for Class A common stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) fair market value means the average last reported sale price of the common stock as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Class A common stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.

In addition, if we, at any time while the public warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Class A common stock on account of such shares of Class A common stock (or other shares of our capital stock into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (i) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (e) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Class A common stock in respect of such event.

If the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each public warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Class A common stock.

 

150


Table of Contents

Whenever the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the public warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.

In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the public warrants and in lieu of the shares of our Class A common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their public warrants immediately prior to such event. If less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of Class A common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the public warrant properly exercises the public warrant within 30 days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the public warrant agreement based on the Black-Scholes value (as defined in the public warrant agreement) of the warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the public warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the public warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the public warrants. This formula is to compensate the warrant holder for the loss of the option value portion of the warrant due to the requirement that the warrant holder exercise the warrant within 30 days of the event. The Black-Scholes model is an accepted pricing model for estimating fair market value where no quoted market price for an instrument is available.

The public warrants will be issued in registered form under a public warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the public warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the public warrants. The public warrant agreement provides that the terms of the public warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the public warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the public warrants and the public warrant agreement set forth in this prospectus, or to correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.

The public warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of public warrants being exercised. The warrant-holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Class A common stock or any voting rights until they exercise their public warrants and receive shares of Class A common stock. After the issuance of shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of the public warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.

No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant-holder. As a result, warrant-holders not purchasing an even number of warrants must sell any odd number of warrants in order to obtain full value from the fractional interests that will not be issued.

 

151


Table of Contents

In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the 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 higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under “—Redemption of public warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the public warrant agreement will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. See “Risk Factors—Our public warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our public warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.” This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.

Private Placement Warrants

The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor) and (except as described elsewhere in this prospectus) and they will not be redeemable by us. Except as described below, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

If holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants in exchange for a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of (A) the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants and (B) the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” means the average last reported sale price of the common stock as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the date prior to the date on which notice of exercise is sent or given to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following an initial business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could exercise their warrants sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.

In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price,

 

152


Table of Contents

exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such working capital loans by our sponsor or their affiliates, or our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans.

Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of any of these warrants) until the date that is 30 days after the date we complete our initial business combination, except that, among other limited exceptions as described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants” made to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor.

Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of an initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial conditions subsequent to completion of an initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to an initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class B common stock immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.

Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of the holders of 65% of our common stock. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:

 

   

if we are unable to complete our 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 10 business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), 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 liquidating 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 each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law;

 

   

prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account, (ii) vote on any initial business combination or (iii) vote on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity;

 

153


Table of Contents
   

although we do not intend to enter into an initial business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view;

 

   

if a stockholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination, which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act; whether or not we maintain our registration under the our Exchange Act or our listing on the NYSE, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above;

 

   

so long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the NYSE, NYSE rules require that we must consummate an initial business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commissions);

 

   

if our stockholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (A) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon such approval at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares; and

 

   

we will not effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will only redeem our public shares so long as such redemption would not cause our Class A common stock to be considered “penny stock” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act). This may require us to not redeem the public shares, or not close our initial business combination, if it would result in us having less than $5,000,001 in net tangible assets unless another exemption from the definition of “penny stock” is available.

Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

We will be subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers upon completion of this offering. This statute prevents certain Delaware corporations, under certain circumstances, from engaging in a “business combination” with:

 

   

a stockholder who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock (otherwise known as an “interested stockholder”);

 

   

an affiliate of an interested stockholder; or

 

   

an associate of an interested stockholder, for three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder.

A “business combination” includes a merger or sale of more than 10% of our assets. However, the above provisions of Section 203 do not apply if:

 

   

our board of directors approves the transaction that made the stockholder an “interested stockholder,” prior to the date of the transaction;

 

154


Table of Contents
   

after the completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, that stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, other than statutorily excluded shares of common stock; or

 

   

on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the initial business combination is approved by our board of directors and authorized at a meeting of our stockholders, and not by written consent, by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board of directors only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual meetings.

Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.

Exclusive forum for certain lawsuits

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and certain other actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware 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), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

Special meeting of stockholders

Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors, by our Chief Executive Officer or by a Co-Chairman.

Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations

Our bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders, must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice will need to be received by our secretary at our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day prior to the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the

 

155


Table of Contents

notice periods contained therein. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders.

Action by written consent

Subsequent to the consummation of the offering, any action required or permitted to be taken by our common stockholders must be effected by a duly called annual or special meeting of such stockholders and may not be effected by written consent of the stockholders other than with respect to our Class B common stock.

Classified Board of Directors

Our board of directors will initially be divided into three classes, Class I, Class II and Class III, with members of each class serving staggered three-year terms. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the board of directors. Subject to the terms of any preferred stock, any or all of the directors may be removed from office at any time, but only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. Any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors, may be filled only by vote of a majority of our directors then in office.

Class B Common Stock Consent Right

For so long as any shares of Class B common stock remain outstanding, we may not, without the prior vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B common stock then outstanding, voting separately as a single class, amend, alter or repeal any provision of our certificate of incorporation, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, if such amendment, alteration or repeal would alter or change the powers, preferences or relative, participating, optional or other or special rights of the Class B common stock. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the holders of Class B common stock may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of the outstanding Class B common stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of Class B common stock were present and voted.

Securities Eligible for Future Sale

Immediately after the consummation of this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) we will have 25,000,000 (or 28,750,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares of common stock outstanding. Of these shares, the 20,000,000 shares (or 23,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) sold in this offering will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the remaining 5,000,000 (or 5,750,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares and all 4,666,666 (or 5,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and the shares of Class B common stock and private placement warrants are subject to transfer restrictions as set forth elsewhere in this prospectus. These restricted securities will be entitled to registration rights as more fully described below under “—Registration Rights.”

Rule 144

Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities; provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.

Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to

 

156


Table of Contents

additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:

 

   

1% of the total number of shares of Class A common stock then outstanding, which will equal 200,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 230,000 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full); or

 

   

the average weekly reported trading volume of the Class A common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale.

Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.

Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies

Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:

 

   

the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company;

 

   

the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act;

 

   

the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and materials required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Current Reports on Form 8-K; and

 

   

at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company.

As a result, holders of our founder shares will be able to sell their founder shares and private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.

Registration Rights

The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock). The holders of at least $25 million in value of these securities are entitled to demand that we file a registration statement covering such securities and to require us to effect up to an aggregate of three underwritten offerings of such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggyback” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed and underwritten offerings subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the cost of registering these securities.

Listing of Securities

Our units, Class A common stock and public warrants have been approved for listing on the NYSE under the symbols “LOCC.U,” “LOCC” and “LOCC WS,” respectively. We expect that our units will be listed on the NYSE on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement. Following the date the shares of our Class A common stock and public warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the shares of our Class A common stock and public warrants will be listed separately and as a unit on the NYSE.

 

157


Table of Contents

MATERIAL UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

The following is a discussion of the material U.S. federal income tax considerations related to the acquisition, ownership and disposition by U.S. Holders (as defined below) and Non-U.S. Holders (as defined below) of our units, shares of our Class A common stock and warrants, which we refer to collectively as our securities. Although not entirely clear, we intend to treat, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the holder of a unit as the owner of two separate securities (the one share of the underlying Class A common stock and one-third of one public warrant that are the components of the unit). See “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit” below. This disclosure assumes this treatment is appropriate, in which case the discussion below with respect to actual holders of our Class A common stock and warrants should also apply to holders of units. This discussion applies only to our securities that are held as a capital asset for U.S. federal income tax purposes (generally property held for investment) and is applicable only to holders who purchased units in this offering.

This discussion is based on the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), U.S. Treasury regulations, administrative rulings and judicial decisions, all as in effect on the date hereof, and all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect. We cannot assure you that a change in law will not significantly alter the tax considerations that we describe in this summary. We have not sought any ruling from the IRS or formal written opinion from our tax advisors with respect to the positions or conclusions described in the following summary. Such statements and conclusions are not free from doubt, and there can be no assurance that your tax advisor, the IRS or a court will agree with such statements and conclusions.

This summary does not address the Medicare tax on certain investment income, U.S. federal estate or gift tax laws, any state, local or non-U.S. tax laws, any tax treaties or any other tax law. Furthermore, this discussion does not address all U.S. federal income tax considerations that may be relevant to a particular holder in light of the holder’s circumstances, or to certain categories of investors that may be subject to special rules, such as (but not limited to):

 

   

our founders, sponsor, officers or directors or other holders of our Class B common shares or private placement warrants;

 

   

banks, insurance companies or other financial institutions;

 

   

tax-exempt or governmental organizations;

 

   

“qualified foreign pension funds” as defined in Section 897(l)(2) of the Code (or any entities all of the interests of which are held by a qualified foreign pension fund);

 

   

dealers in securities or foreign currencies;

 

   

“controlled foreign corporations,” “passive foreign investment companies” and corporations that accumulate earnings to avoid U.S. federal income tax;

 

   

dealers or traders in securities that use the mark-to-market method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes;

 

   

entities or arrangements treated as a partnership or pass-through entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes or holders of interests therein;

 

   

persons deemed to sell our securities under the constructive sale provisions of the Code;

 

   

persons that acquired our securities through the exercise of employee stock options or otherwise as compensation or through a tax-qualified retirement plan;

 

   

U.S. Holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar;

 

   

persons that actually or constructively own five percent or more of any class of our shares;

 

   

certain former citizens or long-term residents of the United States; and

 

   

persons that hold our securities as part of a straddle, appreciated financial position, synthetic security, hedge, conversion transaction or other integrated investment or risk reduction transaction.

PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONSULT WITH AND RELY SOLELY UPON THEIR TAX ADVISORS WITH RESPECT TO THE APPLICATION OF THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAWS (INCLUDING ANY POTENTIAL FUTURE CHANGES THERETO) TO THEIR PARTICULAR SITUATION, AS WELL AS ANY TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE PURCHASE, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SECURITIES ARISING UNDER

 

158


Table of Contents

ANY OTHER TAX LAWS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE U.S. FEDERAL ESTATE OR GIFT TAX LAWS OR UNDER THE LAWS OF ANY STATE, LOCAL, NON-U.S. OR OTHER TAXING JURISDICTION OR UNDER ANY APPLICABLE INCOME TAX TREATY.

Personal Holding Company Status

We could be subject to additional U.S. federal income tax on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company or “PHC” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed PHC income, which generally includes our taxable income during such year, subject to certain adjustments.

A U.S. corporation generally will be classified as a PHC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a given taxable year if (i) at any time during the last half of such taxable year, five or fewer individuals (without regard to their citizenship or residency and including as individuals for this purpose certain entities such as certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts) own or are deemed to own (pursuant to certain constructive ownership rules) more than 50% of the stock of the corporation by value and (ii) at least 60% of the corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, for such taxable year consists of PHC income (which includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain royalties, annuities and, under certain circumstances, rents). Depending on the date and size of our initial business combination, at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income as discussed above. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsor and certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds and charitable trusts, more than 50% of our stock may be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by five or fewer such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, there can be no assurance that we are not and will not be a PHC in the future.

Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit

No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of our units or instruments similar to our units for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. We intend to treat, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the acquisition of a unit as the acquisition of one share of our Class A common stock and one-third of one public warrant to acquire one share of our Class A common stock and, by purchasing a unit, you will agree to adopt such treatment for U.S. federal income tax purposes. This discussion assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

As a result, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, each holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the one share of our Class A common stock and the one-third of one public warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. Under U.S. federal income tax law, each investor must make its own determination of such value based on all the relevant facts and circumstances. Therefore, each investor is strongly urged to consult with and rely solely upon its own tax advisor regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The purchase price allocated to each share of our Class A common stock and the one-third of one public warrant should be the stockholder’s tax basis in such share or one-third of one public warrant, as the case may be. In addition, any disposition of a unit should be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as a disposition of the share of our Class A common stock and one-third of one public warrant that make up the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the share of our Class A common stock and the one-third of one public warrant based on their respective relative fair market values at the time of disposition. The separation of shares of our Class A common stock and public warrants constituting units and the combination of three thirds of one public warrant into a single warrant should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

The foregoing treatment of our Class A common stock and warrants and a holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts, and because there is no authority that directly addresses the U.S. federal income tax implications of instruments that are similar to the units, there can be no assurance that your tax advisor, the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Accordingly, each prospective investor is urged to consult with and rely solely upon its own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including any potential alternative characterizations of a unit).

 

159


Table of Contents

U.S. Holder and Non-U.S. Holder Defined

A “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of our units, shares of our Class A common stock or warrants that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, is:

 

   

an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States;

 

   

a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) created or organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia;

 

   

an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source; or

 

   

a trust (A) the administration of which is subject to the primary supervision of a U.S. court and which has one or more “United States persons” (within the meaning of Section 7701(a)(30) of the Code) who have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (B) that has made a valid election under applicable U.S. Treasury regulations to be treated as a United States person.

A “Non-U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of our units, shares of our Class A common stock or warrants that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, an individual, corporation, estate or trust that is not a U.S. Holder.

If a partnership (including an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds our units, shares of our Class A common stock or warrants, the tax treatment of a partner in such partnership might depend upon the status of the partner or the partnership, upon the activities of the partnership and upon certain determinations made at the partnership or partner level. Accordingly, we urge partners in partnerships (including entities or arrangements treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes) considering the purchase of our securities to consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the tax considerations of the purchase, ownership and disposition of our securities by such partnership.

Considerations for U.S. Holders

This section applies to you if you are a U.S. Holder.

Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Common Stock

If we pay distributions of cash or other property to U.S. Holders of shares of our Class A common stock, such distributions generally will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits will constitute a return of capital to the extent of a U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in our Class A common stock, that will be applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in our Class A common stock. Any remaining portion of the distribution will be treated as gain recognized on the sale of our Class A common stock and will be treated as described under “—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Common Stock or Warrants” below.

Possible Constructive Distributions with Respect to Warrants

The terms of the warrants provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of common stock for which warrants may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrants in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution generally is not taxable. The U.S. Holders of the warrants would, however, be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the warrant-holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of common stock that would be obtained upon exercise or through a decrease in the exercise price of the warrant) as a result of a distribution of cash or other property to the holders of shares of our common stock which is taxable to the holders of such shares as a distribution. Any such constructive distribution would be treated in the same manner as if the U.S. Holders of the warrants received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased proportionate interest and taxed in a manner similar to distributions to holders of our Class A common stock described herein. See “—Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Common Stock” above. For certain information reporting purposes, we are required to determine the date and amount of any such constructive distributions. Proposed Treasury regulations, which we may rely on prior to the issuance of final regulations, specify how the date and amount of constructive distributions are determined.

 

160


Table of Contents

Distributions Treated as Dividends

Any portion of a distribution treated as a dividend that we pay to a U.S. Holder that is treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes generally will qualify for the dividends received deduction if the requisite holding period is satisfied. With certain exceptions (including, but not limited to, dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations), and provided certain holding period requirements are met, any portion of a distribution treated as a dividend we pay to a non-corporate U.S. Holder generally will constitute a “qualified dividend” that will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the lower applicable long-term capital gains rate. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may be deemed a limitation of a stockholders’ risk of loss and prevent a U.S. Holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements. If the applicable holding period requirements are not satisfied, a corporate U.S. Holder may not be able to qualify for the dividends received deduction and would have taxable income equal to the entire dividend amount, and a non-corporate U.S. Holder may be subject to tax on the dividend at regular ordinary income tax rates instead of the preferential income tax rate that applies to qualified dividend income. U.S. Holders should consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the availability of the dividends received deduction or the lower preferential income tax rate for qualified dividend income, as the case may be, for any dividends paid with respect to our Class A common stock.

Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Common Stock or Warrants

Upon a sale or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock or warrants (which in general would include a redemption of our Class A common stock or warrants that is treated as a sale of such securities as described below, including as a result of a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period), a U.S. Holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized and the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis with respect to its Class A common stock or warrants. Generally, the amount of gain or loss recognized by a U.S. Holder will be an amount equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the Class A common stock or warrants are held as part of units at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the Class A common stock or the warrants based upon the then-fair market values of the Class A common stock and the warrants included in the units) and (ii) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in the relevant Class A common stock or warrants. A U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock or warrants generally will equal the U.S. Holder’s acquisition cost (that is, as discussed above, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a share of our Class A common stock or one-third of one public warrant or, as discussed below, the U.S. Holder’s initial basis for our Class A common stock received upon exercise of warrants) less, in the case of a share of our Class A common stock, any prior distributions treated as a return of capital, as discussed above.

Any such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock or warrants so disposed of (as applicable) exceeds one year. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. Holders may be eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may be deemed a limitation of a stockholder’s risk of loss and suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. If the running of the holding period for the Class A common stock is suspended, U.S. Holders may not be able to satisfy the one-year holding period requirement for long-term capital gain treatment, in which case any gain on a sale or other taxable disposition of the shares or warrants would be subject to short-term capital gain treatment and, in the case of non-corporate U.S. Holders, would be taxed at regular ordinary income tax rates. In addition, the deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.

Redemption or Repurchase of Class A Common Stock for Cash

In the event that a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock is redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under the section entitled “Description of Securities—Common Stock” or if we purchase a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock in an open market transaction, the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as a sale of the Class A common stock under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale of common stock, the U.S. Holder will be treated as described under “—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Common Stock or Warrants” above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale of common stock, the U.S. Holder will be

 

161


Table of Contents

treated as receiving a distribution from us with the tax consequences described above under “—Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Common Stock.”

Whether a redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend largely on the total number of shares of our stock treated as held by the U.S. Holder (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. Holder as a result of owning warrants or otherwise) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption. The redemption of our Class A common stock generally will be treated as a sale of Class A common stock (rather than as a distribution from us) if the redemption satisfies one of the following tests (which we refer to as the “redemption sale tests”): (i) it is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. Holder, (ii) it results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. Holder’s interest in us, or (iii) it is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the U.S. Holder. In determining whether any of the redemption sale tests is satisfied, a U.S. Holder takes into account not only stock actually owned by the U.S. Holder, but also shares of our stock that are “constructively” owned by it. A U.S. Holder may constructively own, in addition to stock owned directly, stock owned by certain related individuals and entities in which the U.S. Holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. Holder, as well as any stock the U.S. Holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include the Class A common stock which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of the warrants.

In order to meet the “substantially disproportionate” test, the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately following the redemption of our Class A common stock must, among other requirements, be less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately before the redemption. There will be a “complete termination” of a U.S. Holder’s interest if either (i) all of the shares of our stock both actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed or (ii) all of the shares of our stock actually owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed, the U.S. Holder effectively waives in accordance with specific rules the constructive attribution of stock owned by certain family members, and the U.S. Holder does not constructively own any other shares of our stock (including as a result of owning warrants). The redemption of our Class A common stock will not be “essentially equivalent to a dividend” if a U.S. Holder’s redemption results in a “meaningful reduction” of the U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances, but the IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority stockholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a “meaningful reduction.”

If none of the redemption sale tests is satisfied, the redemption will be treated as a distribution from us and the tax considerations will be as described under “—Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Common Stock,” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. Holder in the redeemed Class A common stock will be added to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining stock, or if it has none, to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other shares of our stock constructively owned by it.

U.S. Holders who actually or constructively own five percent (or if our Class A common stock is not then publicly traded, one percent) or more of our stock (by vote or value) may be subject to special reporting requirements with respect to a redemption of our Class A common stock. A U.S. Holder should consult with and rely solely upon its own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption.

Cash Exercise of a Warrant

A U.S. Holder generally will not recognize gain or loss on the acquisition of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant for cash. The U.S. Holder’s tax basis in our Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrant generally will be an amount equal to the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in the warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the exercise price of such warrant. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrant will commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the immediately following date. In either case, the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrant.

 

162


Table of Contents

Cashless Exercise of a Warrant

The tax characterization of a cashless exercise of a warrant is not clear under current tax law. Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax characterizations and resultant tax consequences would be adopted by the IRS or upheld by a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. Holders should consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.

A cashless exercise could potentially be characterized as any of the following for U.S. federal income tax purposes: (i) not a realization event at all and thus tax-deferred, (ii) a realization event that qualifies as a tax-deferred “recapitalization,” or (iii) a taxable realization event. While not free from doubt, we intend to treat any cashless exercise of a warrant occurring after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the warrant for cash as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” as if we redeemed such warrant for shares in a cashless exchange qualifying as a tax-free recapitalization. However, there is some uncertainty regarding our intended tax treatment, and it is possible that a cashless exercise could be characterized differently. Accordingly, U.S. Holders should consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise, and the tax consequences of all three characterizations are generally described below.

If a cashless exercise were characterized as either not a realization event or a realization event that qualifies as a recapitalization, the U.S. Holder would not recognize any gain or loss on the exchange of warrants for shares of Class A common stock. A U.S. Holder’s basis in the Class A common stock received would generally equal the holder’s basis in the exchanged warrants. If the cashless exercise were not a realization event, it is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period in the Class A common stock would be treated as commencing on the date of exchange of the warrants or on the immediately following date, but the holding period would not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrants. On the other hand, if the cashless exercise were characterized as a realization event that qualifies as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A common stock would include the holding period of the warrants exercised therefor.

If the cashless exercise were treated as a realization event that does not qualify as a recapitalization, however, the cashless exercise could be treated in whole or in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized by the U.S. Holder. For example, a portion of the warrants to be exercised on a cashless basis could be deemed to have been surrendered in payment of the exercise price of the remaining portion of such warrants, which would be deemed to be exercised. In such a case, a U.S. Holder would effectively be deemed to have sold a number of warrants having an aggregate value equal to the exercise price of the remaining warrants deemed exercised. The U.S. Holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount generally equal to the difference between the value of the portion of the warrants deemed sold and its adjusted tax basis in such warrants (generally as described above under “—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Common Stock or Warrants”), and the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A common stock received would generally equal the sum of the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the remaining warrants deemed exercised and the exercise price of such warrants. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock would commence on the date of exercise of the warrants or on the date following the date of exercise of the warrants, but the holding period would not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrants.

Redemption or Repurchase of Warrants for Cash

If we redeem warrants for cash pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction, such redemption or purchase generally will be treated as a taxable disposition to the U.S. Holder, taxed as described above under “—Gain or Loss on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Common Stock or Warrants.”

Expiration of a Warrant

If a warrant is allowed to expire unexercised, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “—Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”). The deductibility of capital losses is subject to certain limitations.

 

163


Table of Contents

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

Information reporting requirements generally will apply to dividends paid to a U.S. Holder and to the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of our securities unless the U.S. Holder is an exempt recipient and certifies to such exempt status. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if the U.S. Holder fails to provide a taxpayer identification number or a certification of exempt status or has been notified by the IRS that it is subject to backup withholding (and such notification has not been withdrawn).

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Rather, the U.S. federal income tax liability (if any) of persons subject to backup withholding will be reduced by the amount of tax withheld. If backup withholding results in an overpayment of taxes, a refund may be obtained, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders

This section applies to you if you are a Non-U.S. Holder. The tax characterization of the transactions described herein and the resultant tax consequences to Non-U.S. Holders are generally similar to those for U.S. Holders, except as described below.

Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Common Stock

The determination of the extent to which a distribution will constitute a dividend, return of capital or gain from the sale of stock is generally the same for Non-U.S. Holders as described in “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Common Stock.” To the extent a distribution constitutes gain from the sale of our Class Common Stock, see “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” below, and to the extent such distribution constitutes a dividend, see “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Distributions Treated as Dividends.”

Possible Constructive Distributions with Respect to Warrants

The determination for Non-U.S. Holders of whether a constructive distribution from us has occurred as a result of an adjustment to the number of shares of our Class A common stock for which warrants may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrants in certain events (as discussed in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants”) is generally the same as the determination for U.S. Holders as described in “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Possible Constructive Distributions with Respect to Warrants.” To the extent such adjustment constitutes a constructive distribution, see “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Tax Characterization of Distributions with Respect to Class A Common Stock” for the consequences of such characterization.

Distributions Treated as Dividends

Subject to the withholding requirements under FATCA (as defined below) and other than with respect to effectively connected dividends, each of which is discussed below, any distribution, including constructive distributions or certain distributions of our stock or rights to acquire our stock, treated as a dividend made to a Non-U.S. Holder on our Class A common stock generally will be subject to U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30% of the gross amount of the distribution (unless an applicable income tax treaty provides for a lower rate). To receive the benefit of a reduced treaty rate, a Non-U.S. Holder must provide the applicable withholding agent with an IRS Form W-8BEN or IRS Form W-8BEN-E (or other applicable or successor form) certifying qualification for the reduced rate. In the case of any constructive dividend, it is possible that this tax would be withheld from any amount owed to a Non-U.S. Holder by the applicable withholding agent, including cash distributions on other property or sale proceeds from warrants or other property subsequently paid or credited to such holder.

Dividends paid to a Non-U.S. Holder that are effectively connected with a trade or business conducted by the Non-U.S. Holder in the United States (and if required by an applicable income tax treaty, that are treated as attributable to a permanent establishment maintained by the Non-U.S. Holder in the United States) generally will be taxed on a net income basis at the rates and in the manner generally applicable to United States persons. Such effectively connected dividends will not be subject to U.S. withholding if the Non-U.S. Holder satisfies certain certification requirements by providing the applicable withholding agent with a properly executed IRS Form W-8ECI certifying eligibility for exemption. If the Non-U.S. Holder is a corporation for U.S. federal income tax

 

164


Table of Contents

purposes, it may also be subject to a branch profits tax (at a 30% rate or such lower rate as specified by an applicable income tax treaty) on its effectively connected earnings and profits (as adjusted for certain items), which will include effectively connected dividends.

Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants

Subject to the discussion below under “—Information Reporting and Backup Withholding,” a Non-U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax on any gain recognized upon the sale or other disposition of our Class A common stock or our warrants (which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required time period or an expiration or redemption of our warrants), unless:

 

   

the Non-U.S. Holder is an individual who is present in the United States for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the calendar year in which the sale or disposition occurs and certain other conditions are met;

 

   

such gain is effectively connected with a trade or business conducted by the Non-U.S. Holder in the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, is treated as attributable to a permanent establishment maintained by the Non-U.S. Holder in the United States); or

 

   

our Class A common stock and warrants constitute United States real property interests by reason of our status as a “United States real property holding corporation” (a “USRPHC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and as a result, such gain is treated as effectively connected with a trade or business conducted by the Non-U.S. Holder in the United States.

A Non-U.S. Holder described in the first bullet point above will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate as specified by an applicable income tax treaty) on the amount of such gain, which generally may be offset by U.S. source capital losses.

A Non-U.S. Holder whose gain is described in the second bullet point above or, subject to the exceptions described in the next paragraph, the third bullet point above, generally will be taxed on a net income basis at the rates and in the manner generally applicable to United States persons unless an applicable income tax treaty provides otherwise. If the Non-U.S. Holder is a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes whose gain is described in the second bullet point above, such gain would also be included in its effectively connected earnings and profits (as adjusted for certain items), which may be subject to a branch profits tax (at a 30% rate or such lower rate as provided under an applicable income tax treaty).

Generally, a corporation is a USRPHC if the fair market value of its United States real property interests equals or exceeds 50% of the sum of the fair market value of its worldwide real property interests and its other assets used or held for use in a trade or business, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Although we do not believe we currently are a USRPHC, we cannot determine whether we will be a USRPHC in the future until we complete an initial business combination. If we were to become a USRPHC, as long as our Class A common stock is or continues to be “regularly traded on an established securities market” (within the meaning of the U.S. Treasury regulations, referred to herein as “regularly traded”), a Non-U.S. Holder that actually or constructively owns, or owned at any time during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of the disposition or the Non-U.S. Holder’s holding period for the applicable security, (i) more than 5% of our Class A common stock or (ii) more than 5% of the warrants, provided the warrants are considered to be regularly traded, as applicable, will be treated as disposing of a United States real property interest and will be taxable on gain realized on the disposition thereof as a result of our status as a USRPHC. It is unclear how a Non-U.S. Holder’s ownership of warrants will affect the determination of whether such Non-U.S. Holder owns more than 5% of our Class A common stock. In addition, special rules may apply in the case of a disposition of warrants if our Class A common stock is considered to be regularly traded, but such warrants are not considered to be regularly traded. We can provide no assurance as to our future status as a USRPHC or as to whether our Class A common stock or warrants will be treated as regularly traded. If we were to become a USRPHC and our Class A common stock were not considered to be regularly traded on an established securities market, a Non-U.S. Holder (regardless of the percentage of stock or warrants owned) would be treated as disposing of a United States real property interest and would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a taxable disposition of our Class A common stock, units, and warrants (as described in the preceding paragraph), and a 15% withholding tax would apply to the gross proceeds from any such disposition.

 

165


Table of Contents

Non-U.S. Holders are encouraged to consult with and rely solely upon their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences related to ownership in a USRPHC.

Redemption or Repurchase of Class A Common Stock for Cash

The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a Non-U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock pursuant to the redemption provisions described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Common Stock” generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption of a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock, as described under “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Redemption or Repurchase of Class A Common Stock for Cash” above, and the consequences of the redemption to the Non-U.S. Holder will correspond to that described above in “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Distributions Treated as Dividends” and “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Common Stock or Warrants” accordingly. It is possible that because the applicable withholding agent may not be able to determine the proper characterization of a redemption of a Non-U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock at the time a Non-U.S. Holder is redeemed, the withholding agent might treat the redemption as a distribution subject to withholding tax. For a discussion of withholding tax implications related to the redemption of a Non-U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock, see the immediately preceding sections under “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders.”

Exercise or Redemption of a Warrant

The U.S. federal income tax characterization of a Non-U.S. Holder’s exercise of a warrant generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of the exercise of a warrant by a U.S. Holder, as described under “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Cash Exercise of a Warrant” or “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Cashless Exercise of a Warrant” above, as the case may be. To the extent a cashless exercise is characterized as a taxable exchange, the consequences would be similar to those described above in “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale or Other Taxable Exchange or Disposition of Class A Common Stock or Warrants.” The U.S. federal income tax treatment for a Non-U.S. Holder of a redemption of warrants for cash described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities—Redeemable Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” (or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction) generally will correspond to that described above in “—Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.”

Expiration of a Warrant

The U.S. federal income tax characterization of the expiration of a warrant held by a Non-U.S. Holder generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of the expiration of a warrant by a U.S. Holder, as described above in “—Considerations for U.S. Holders—Expiration of a Warrant.”

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

Any dividends paid to a Non-U.S. Holder must be reported annually to the IRS and to the Non-U.S. Holder. Copies of these information returns may be made available to the tax authorities in the country in which the Non-U.S. Holder resides or is established. Payments of dividends to a Non-U.S. Holder generally will not be subject to backup withholding if the Non-U.S. Holder establishes an exemption by properly certifying its non-U.S. status on an IRS Form W-8BEN or IRS Form W-8BEN-E (or other applicable or successor form).

Payments of the proceeds from a sale or other disposition by a Non-U.S. Holder of our units, Class A common stock and warrants effected by or through a U.S. office of a broker generally will be subject to information reporting and backup withholding (at the applicable rate) unless the Non-U.S. Holder establishes an exemption by properly certifying its non-U.S. status on an IRS Form W-8BEN or IRS Form W-8BEN-E (or other applicable or successor form) and certain other conditions are met. Information reporting and backup withholding generally will not apply to any payment of the proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our units, Class A common stock and warrants effected outside the United States by a non-U.S. office of a broker. However, unless such broker has documentary evidence in its records that the Non-U.S. Holder is not a United States person and certain other conditions are met, or the Non-U.S. Holder otherwise establishes an exemption, information reporting will apply to a payment of the proceeds of the disposition of our common stock effected outside the United States by such a broker if it has certain relationships within the United States.

 

166


Table of Contents

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Rather, the U.S. federal income tax liability (if any) of persons subject to backup withholding will be reduced by the amount of tax withheld. If backup withholding results in an overpayment of taxes, a refund generally may be obtained, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

Additional Withholding Requirements under FATCA

Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code, and the U.S. Treasury regulations and administrative guidance issued thereunder (“FATCA”), impose a 30% withholding tax on any dividends (including constructive dividends) paid on our securities if paid to a “foreign financial institution” or a “non-financial foreign entity” (each as defined in the Code) (including, in some cases, when such foreign financial institution or non-financial foreign entity is acting as an intermediary), unless (i) in the case of a foreign financial institution, such institution enters into an agreement with the U.S. government to withhold on certain payments, and to collect and provide to the U.S. tax authorities substantial information regarding U.S. account holders of such institution (which includes certain equity and debt holders of such institution, as well as certain account holders that are non-U.S. entities with U.S. owners), (ii) in the case of a non-financial foreign entity, such entity certifies that it does not have any “substantial United States owners” (as defined in the Code) or provides the applicable withholding agent with a certification identifying the direct and indirect substantial United States owners of the entity (in either case, generally on an IRS Form W-8BEN-E), or (iii) the foreign financial institution or non-financial foreign entity otherwise qualifies for an exemption from these rules and provides appropriate documentation (such as an IRS Form W-8BEN-E). Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing these rules may be subject to different rules. Under certain circumstances, a holder might be eligible for refunds or credits of such taxes. Prospective investors are encouraged to consult with and rely solely upon their own tax advisors regarding the effects of FATCA on an investment in our units, Class A common stock or warrants.

INVESTORS CONSIDERING THE PURCHASE OF OUR SECURITIES ARE URGED TO CONSULT WITH AND RELY SOLELY UPON THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS REGARDING THE APPLICATION OF THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAWS TO THEIR PARTICULAR SITUATIONS AND THE APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF ANY OTHER TAX LAWS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, U.S. FEDERAL ESTATE AND GIFT TAX LAWS AND ANY STATE, LOCAL OR NON-U.S. TAX LAWS AND TAX TREATIES.

 

167


Table of Contents

UNDERWRITING

Jefferies LLC and BofA Securities, Inc. are acting as book-running managers of the offering and as representatives of the underwriters named below. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the underwriting agreement between us, Jefferies LLC and BofA Securities, Inc., we have agreed to sell to the underwriters, and each of the underwriters has agreed, severally and not jointly, to purchase from us, the respective number of units shown opposite its name below:

 

 

 

UNDERWRITER

   NUMBER OF
UNITS
 

Jefferies LLC

     13,000,000  

BofA Securities, Inc.

     7,000,000  
  

 

 

 

Total

     20,000,000  
  

 

 

 

 

 

The underwriting agreement will provide that the obligations of the underwriters to purchase the units included in this offering are subject to all applicable laws and regulations and certain conditions precedent such as the receipt by the underwriters of officers’ certificates and legal opinions and approval of certain legal matters by their counsel. The underwriting agreement will provide that the underwriters will purchase all of the units if any of them are purchased (other than those covered by the over-allotment option described below). We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters and certain of their controlling persons against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, and to contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make in respect of those liabilities.

The underwriters have advised us that, following the completion of this offering, they currently intend to make a market in the units as permitted by applicable laws and regulations. However, the underwriters are not obligated to do so, and the underwriters may discontinue any market-making activities at any time without notice in their sole discretion. Accordingly, no assurance can be given as to the liquidity of the trading market for the units, that you will be able to sell any of the units held by you at a particular time or that the prices that you receive when you sell will be favorable.

The underwriters are offering the units subject to their acceptance of the units from us and subject to prior sale. The underwriters reserve the right to withdraw, cancel or modify offers to the public and to reject orders in whole or in part. In addition, the underwriters have advised us that they do not intend to confirm sales to any account over which they exercise discretionary authority.

Commission and Expenses

The underwriters have advised us that they propose to offer the units to the public at the initial public offering price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus and to certain dealers, which may include the underwriters, at that price less a concession not in excess of $0.12 per unit. The underwriters may allow, and certain dealers may reallow, a discount from the concession not in excess of $0.12 per unit to certain brokers and dealers. After the offering, the initial public offering price, concession and reallowance to dealers may be reduced by the representative. No such reduction will change the amount of proceeds to be received by us as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus.

The following table shows the public offering price, the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay the underwriters and the proceeds, before expenses, to us in connection with this offering. Such amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units.

 

 

 

     PAID BY LIVE OAK
CRESTVIEW CLIMATE
ACQUISITION CORP. (2)
 
     NO EXERCISE      FULL
EXERCISE
 

Per Unit (1)

   $ 0.55      $ 0.55  

Total (1)(2)

   $ 9,900,000      $ 11,385,000  

 

 

 

168


Table of Contents
(1)    $0.20 per unit, or $3,600,000 in the aggregate (or $4,140,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full), is payable upon the closing of this offering, following certain adjustments described below. $0.35 per unit, or $6,300,000 in the aggregate (or $7,245,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is exercised in full) payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions will be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein and following certain adjustments described below. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on and concurrently with completion of an initial business combination.
(2)    The underwriters agreed that they will not receive any underwriting discounts or commissions on 2,000,000 of the units sold in this offering (2,300,000 of the units sold in this offering if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) that may be purchased by certain investors identified by our sponsor. As a result, the underwriters will not receive $400,000 ($460,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of the 2% upfront underwriting discount and $700,000 ($805,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of the 3.5% deferred underwriting discount, in each case attributable to units sold to certain investors identified by our sponsor.

If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the underwriters have agreed that (i) they will forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account and (ii) the deferred underwriters’ discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, together with any accrued interest thereon (which interest will be net of taxes payable) to the public stockholders.

We estimate expenses payable by us in connection with this offering, other than the underwriting discounts and commissions referred to above, will be approximately $600,000. We have agreed to pay for FINRA-related fees and expenses of the underwriters’ legal counsel, not to exceed $25,000.

Determination of Offering Price

Prior to this offering, there has not been a public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for our units was determined by negotiations between us and the representative. Among the factors considered in these negotiations were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company.

We offer no assurances that the initial public offering price will correspond to the price at which the units will trade in the public market subsequent to the offering or that an active trading market for the units will develop and continue after the offering.

Listing

Our units have been approved for listing on the NYSE under the trading symbol “LOCC.U.” We expect that our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed under the symbols “LOCC” and “LOCC WS,” respectively, once the Class A common stock and warrants begin separate trading.

Stamp Taxes

If you purchase units offered in this prospectus, you may be required to pay stamp taxes and other charges under the laws and practices of the country of purchase, in addition to the offering price listed on the cover page of this prospectus.

Option to Purchase Additional Units

We have granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable for 45 days from the date of this prospectus, to purchase, from time to time, in whole or in part, up to an aggregate of 3,000,000 units from us at the public offering price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, less underwriting discounts and commissions. If the underwriters exercise this option, each underwriter will be obligated, subject to specified conditions, to purchase a number of additional units proportionate to that underwriter’s initial purchase commitment as indicated in the table above. This option may be exercised only if the underwriters sell more units than the total number set forth on the cover page of this prospectus.

Letter Agreement

We, our sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that, for a period of 180 days from the date of this prospectus, we and they will not, without the prior written consent of Jefferies LLC and BofA Securities, Inc., offer, sell, contract to sell, grant any option to sell (including any short sale), pledge, transfer, establish an open “put

 

169


Table of Contents

equivalent option” within the meaning of Rule 16a-l(h) under the Exchange Act, as amended, or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any units, warrants, shares of common stock or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of common stock currently or hereafter owned either of record or beneficially, or publicly announce an intention to do any of the foregoing; provided, however, that we may (1) issue and sell the private placement warrants, (2) issue and sell the additional units to cover our underwriters’ over-allotment option (if any), (3) register with the SEC pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, the resale of the private placement warrants and shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and the founder shares and (4) issue securities in connection with an initial business combination. Jefferies LLC and BofA Securities, Inc. in their sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice.

Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the reported closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.

The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under the section of this prospectus entitled “Principal Stockholders—Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).

Stabilization

The underwriters have advised us that they, pursuant to Regulation M under the Exchange Act, as amended, and certain persons participating in the offering may engage in short sale transactions, purchases to cover short positions, which may include purchases pursuant to the over-allotment option, stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions or the imposition of penalty bids in connection with this offering. These activities may have the effect of stabilizing or maintaining the market price of the units at a level above that which might otherwise prevail in the open market. Establishing short sales positions may involve either “covered” short sales or “naked” short sales.

“Covered” short sales are sales made in an amount not greater than the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units in this offering. The underwriters may close out any covered short position by either exercising their option to purchase additional units or purchasing units in the open market. In determining the source of units to close out the covered short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the option to purchase additional units.

“Naked” short sales are sales in excess of the option to purchase additional units. The underwriters must close out any naked short position by purchasing units in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of our units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in this offering.

A stabilizing bid is a bid for the purchase of units on behalf of the underwriters for the purpose of fixing or maintaining the price of the units. A syndicate covering transaction is the bid for or the purchase of units on behalf of the underwriters to reduce a short position incurred by the underwriters in connection with the offering. Similar to other purchase transactions, the underwriter’s purchases to cover the syndicate short sales may have the effect of

 

170


Table of Contents

raising or maintaining the market price of our units or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of our units. As a result, the price of our units may be higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the open market. A penalty bid is an arrangement permitting the underwriters to reclaim the selling concession otherwise accruing to a syndicate member in connection with the offering if the units originally sold by such syndicate member are purchased in a syndicate covering transaction and therefore have not been effectively placed by such syndicate member.

Neither we nor any of the underwriters make any representation or prediction as to the direction or magnitude of any effect that the transactions described above may have on the price of our units. The underwriters are not obligated to engage in these activities and, if commenced, any of the activities may be discontinued at any time.

The underwriters may also engage in passive market making transactions in our units on the NYSE in accordance with Rule 103 of Regulation M during a period before the commencement of offers or sales of our units in this offering and extending through the completion of distribution. A passive market maker must display its bid at a price not in excess of the highest independent bid of that security. However, if all independent bids are lowered below the passive market maker’s bid, that bid must then be lowered when specified purchase limits are exceeded.

Electronic Distribution

A prospectus in electronic format may be made available by e-mail or on the web sites or through online services maintained by one or more of the underwriters or their affiliates. In those cases, prospective investors may view offering terms online and may be allowed to place orders online. The underwriters may agree with us to allocate a specific number of units for sale to online brokerage account holders. Any such allocation for online distributions will be made by the underwriters on the same basis as other allocations. Other than the prospectus in electronic format, the information on the underwriters’ web sites and any information contained in any other web site maintained by any of the underwriters is not part of this prospectus, has not been approved and/or endorsed by us or the underwriters and should not be relied upon by investors.

Other Activities and Relationships

We have granted Jefferies LLC a right of first refusal to provide certain advisory services and participate in certain future financings for a period of not more than three years from the date of commencement of sales of this offering. Otherwise, we are not under any contractual obligation to engage the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so but we may do so at our discretion. However, the underwriters may introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital in the future, including by acting as a placement agent in a private offering or underwriting or arranging debt financing. If the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay such underwriters fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with the underwriter and no fees for such services will be paid to the underwriters prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriters’ compensation in connection with this offering and we may pay the underwriters of this offering or any entity with which it is affiliated a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination. Any fees we may pay the underwriters or their affiliates for services rendered to us after this offering may be contingent on the completion of a business combination and may include non-cash compensation. The underwriters or their affiliates that provide these services to us may have a potential conflict of interest given that the underwriters are entitled to the deferred portion of their underwriting compensation for this offering only if an initial business combination is completed within the specified timeframe.

The underwriters and certain of their affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include securities trading, commercial and investment banking, financial advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, financing and brokerage activities. The underwriters and certain of their affiliates have, from time to time, performed, and may in the future perform, various commercial and investment banking and financial advisory services for us and our affiliates, for which they received or will receive customary fees and expenses.

In the ordinary course of their various business activities, the underwriters and certain of their affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and

 

171


Table of Contents

financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers, and such investment and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments issued by us and our affiliates. The underwriters and certain of their respective affiliates may also communicate independent investment recommendations, market color or trading ideas and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or instruments and may at any time hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.

Selling Restrictions

Canada

Resale Restrictions

The distribution of the securities in Canada is being made only in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia on a private placement basis exempt from the requirement that we prepare and file a prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each province where trades of these securities are made. Any resale of the securities in Canada must be made under applicable securities laws, which may vary depending on the relevant jurisdiction, and which may require resales to be made under available statutory exemptions or under a discretionary exemption granted by the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority. Purchasers are advised to seek legal advice prior to any resale of the securities.

Representations of Canadian Purchasers

By purchasing the securities in Canada and accepting delivery of a purchase confirmation, a purchaser is representing to us and the dealer from whom the purchase confirmation is received that:

 

   

the purchaser is entitled under applicable provincial securities laws to purchase the securities without the benefit of a prospectus qualified under those securities laws as it is an “accredited investor” as defined under National Instrument 45-106—Prospectus Exemptions;

 

   

the purchaser is a “permitted client” as defined in National Instrument 31-103—Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations;

 

   

where required by law, the purchaser is purchasing as principal and not as agent; and

 

   

the purchaser has reviewed the text above under Resale Restrictions.

Conflicts of Interest

Canadian Purchasers are hereby notified that the underwriters are relying on the exemption set out in section 3A.3 or 3A.4, if applicable, of National Instrument 33-105 - Underwriting Conflicts from having to provide certain conflict of interest disclosure in this document.

Statutory Rights of Action

Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if the prospectus (including any amendment thereto) such as this document contains a misrepresentation; provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser of these securities in Canada should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.

Enforcement of Legal Rights

All of our directors and officers, as well as the experts named herein, may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible for Canadian purchasers to effect service of process within Canada upon us or those persons. All or a substantial portion of our assets and the assets of those persons may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible to satisfy a judgment against us or those persons in Canada or to enforce a judgment obtained in Canadian courts against us or those persons outside of Canada.

Taxation and Eligibility for Investment

Canadian purchasers of the securities should consult their own legal and tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences of an investment in the securities in their particular circumstances and about the eligibility of the securities for investment by the purchaser under relevant Canadian legislation.

 

172


Table of Contents

Australia

This prospectus is not a disclosure document for the purposes of Australia’s Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) of Australia, or Corporations Act, has not been lodged with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission and is only directed to the categories of exempt persons set out below. Accordingly, if you receive this prospectus in Australia:

You confirm and warrant that you are either:

 

   

a “sophisticated investor” under section 708(8)(a) or (b) of the Corporations Act;

 

   

a “sophisticated investor” under section 708(8)(c) or (d) of the Corporations Act and that you have provided an accountant’s certificate to the Company which complies with the requirements of section 708(8)(c)(i) or (ii) of the Corporations Act and related regulations before the offer has been made;

 

   

a person associated with the Company under Section 708(12) of the Corporations Act; or

 

   

a “professional investor” within the meaning of section 708(11)(a) or (b) of the Corporations Act.

To the extent that you are unable to confirm or warrant that you are an exempt sophisticated investor, associated person or professional investor under the Corporations Act any offer made to you under this prospectus is void and incapable of acceptance.

You warrant and agree that you will not offer any of the securities issued to you pursuant to this prospectus for resale in Australia within 12 months of those securities being issued unless any such resale offer is exempt from the requirement to issue a disclosure document under section 708 of the Corporations Act.

European Economic Area

In relation to each Relevant State of the European Economic Area (each a “Relevant State”), no offer of units which are the subject of this offering has been, or will be, made to the public in that Relevant State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the units which has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation), except that offers of units may be made to the public in that Relevant State at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Regulation:

 

  (a)

to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under the Prospectus Regulation;

 

  (b)

to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the underwriters for any such offer; or

 

  (c)

in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation,

provided that no such offer of units shall require the company or any representative to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation.

Each person in a Relevant State who initially acquires any units or to whom any offer is made will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed to and with the company and the underwriters that it is a qualified investor within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation.

In the case of any units being offered to a financial intermediary as that term is used in Article 5(1) of the Prospectus Regulation, each such financial intermediary will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed that the units acquired by it in the offer have not been acquired on a non-discretionary basis on behalf of, nor have they been acquired with a view to their offer or resale to, persons in circumstances which may give rise to an offer to the public other than their offer or resale in a Relevant State to qualified investors, in circumstances in which the prior consent of the underwriters has been obtained to each such proposed offer or resale.

The Company, the underwriters and their affiliates will rely upon the truth and accuracy of the foregoing representations, acknowledgements and agreements.

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to any units in any Relevant State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer

 

173


Table of Contents

and any units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any units, and the expression “Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.

The above selling restriction is in addition to any other selling restrictions set out below.

In connection with the offering, Jefferies LLC and BofA Securities, Inc. are not acting for anyone other than the company and will not be responsible to anyone other than the company for providing the protections afforded to their clients nor for providing advice in relation to the offering.

Dubai International Financial Centre

This prospectus relates to an Exempt Offer in accordance with the Offered Securities Rules of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”). This prospectus is intended for distribution only to persons of a type specified in the Offered Securities Rules of the DFSA. It must not be delivered to, or relied on by, any other person. The DFSA has no responsibility for reviewing or verifying any documents in connection with Exempt Offers. The DFSA has not approved this prospectus nor taken steps to verify the information set forth herein and has no responsibility for the prospectus.

The units to which this prospectus relates may be illiquid and/or subject to restrictions on their resale. Prospective purchasers of the units offered should conduct their own due diligence on the units. If you do not understand the contents of this prospectus you should consult an authorized financial advisor.

Hong Kong

No securities have been offered or sold, and no securities may be offered or sold, in Hong Kong, by means of any document, other than to persons whose ordinary business is to buy or sell shares or debentures, whether as principal or agent; or to “professional investors” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) of Hong Kong (“SFO”) and any rules made under that ordinance; or in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” as defined in the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32) of Hong Kong (“CO”) or which do not constitute an offer or invitation to the public for the purpose of the CO or the SFO. No document, invitation or advertisement relating to the securities has been issued or may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public of Hong Kong (except if permitted under the securities laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to securities which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” as defined in the SFO and any rules made under that Ordinance.

This prospectus has not been registered with the Registrar of Companies in Hong Kong. Accordingly, this prospectus may not be issued, circulated or distributed in Hong Kong, and the securities may not be offered for subscription to members of the public in Hong Kong. Each person acquiring the securities will be required, and is deemed by the acquisition of the securities, to confirm that he is aware of the restriction on offers of the securities described in this prospectus and the relevant offering documents and that he is not acquiring, and has not been offered any securities in circumstances that contravene any such restrictions.

Israel

This document does not constitute a prospectus under the Israeli Securities Law, 5728-1968 (the “Israel Securities Law”), and has not been filed with or approved by the Israel Securities Authority. In Israel, this prospectus is being distributed only to, and is directed only at, and any offer of the units is directed only at, (i) a limited number of persons in accordance with the Israeli Securities Law and (ii) investors listed in the first addendum (the “Addendum”), to the Israeli Securities Law, consisting primarily of joint investment in trust funds, provident funds, insurance companies, banks, portfolio managers, investment advisors, members of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, underwriters, venture capital funds, entities with equity in excess of NIS 50 million and “qualified individuals,” each as defined in the Addendum (as it may be amended from time to time), collectively referred to as qualified investors (in each case, purchasing for their own account or, where permitted under the Addendum, for the accounts of their clients who are investors listed in the Addendum). Qualified investors are required to submit written confirmation that they fall within the scope of the Addendum, are aware of the meaning of same and agree to it.

Japan

The offering has not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948 of Japan, as amended) (“FIEL”), and the underwriters will not offer or sell any securities,

 

174


Table of Contents

directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan (which term as used herein means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan), or to others for re-offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan, except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of, and otherwise in compliance with, the FIEL and any other applicable laws, regulations and ministerial guidelines of Japan.

Singapore

This prospectus has not been and will not be lodged or registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the securities may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the securities be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “SFA”), (ii) to a relevant person pursuant to Section 275(1), or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275, of the SFA, or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA. Solely for the purposes of its obligations pursuant to Sections 309B(1)(a) and 309B(1)(c) of the SFA, the Company has determined, and hereby notifies all relevant persons (as defined in Section 309A of the SFA) that the units are “prescribed capital markets products” (as defined in the Securities and Futures (Capital Markets Products) Regulations 2018) and “Excluded Investment Products” (as defined in MAS Notice SFA 04-N12: Notice on the Sale of Investment Products and MAS Notice FAA-N16: Notice on Recommendations on Investment Products).

Where the securities are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is:

 

   

a corporation (which is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA)) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or

 

   

a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary of the trust is an individual who is an accredited investor, securities (as defined in Section 239(1) of the SFA) of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the securities pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA except:

 

   

to an institutional investor or to a relevant person defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA, or to any person arising from an offer referred to in Section 275(1A) or Section 276(4)(i)(B) of the SFA;

 

   

where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer;

 

   

where the transfer is by operation of law;

 

   

as specified in Section 276(7) of the SFA; or

 

   

as specified in Regulation 32 of the Securities and Futures (Offers of Investments) (Shares and Debentures) Regulations 2005 of Singapore.

Switzerland

The securities may not be publicly offered in Switzerland and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (“SIX”) or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. This prospectus has been prepared without regard to the disclosure standards for issuance prospectuses under art. 652a or art. 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or the disclosure standards for listing prospectuses under art. 27 ff. of the SIX Listing Rules or the listing rules of any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. Neither this prospectus nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the securities or the offering may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.

Neither this prospectus nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the offering, the Company or the securities have been or will be filed with or approved by any Swiss regulatory authority. In particular, this prospectus will not be filed with, and the offer of securities will not be supervised by, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, and the offer of securities has not been and will not be authorized under the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes (“CISA”). The investor protection afforded to acquirers of interests in collective investment schemes under the CISA does not extend to acquirers of securities.

 

175


Table of Contents

United Kingdom

In relation to the United Kingdom, no securities have been offered or will be offered pursuant to this offering to the public in the United Kingdom prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the shares which has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority, except that offers of securities may be made to the public in the United Kingdom at any time:

 

   

to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation;

 

   

to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives for any such offer; or

 

   

in any other circumstances falling within Section 86 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA”),

provided that no such offer of securities shall require the Issuer or any Manager to publish a prospectus pursuant to section 85 of the FSMA or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the UK Prospectus Regulation.

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to the securities in the United Kingdom means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any securities and the expression “UK Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

 

176


Table of Contents

LEGAL MATTERS

Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., Houston, Texas, has passed upon the validity of the securities offered hereby on behalf of us. Certain legal matters will be passed upon on behalf of the underwriters by White & Case LLP, New York, New York.

EXPERTS

The financial statements of Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp. as of February 17, 2021 and for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through February 17, 2021 appearing in this prospectus have been audited by WithumSmith+Brown, PC, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon, appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance on the report of such firm given upon their authority as experts in accounting and auditing.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.

Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

 

177


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

 

 

     PAGE  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

     F-2  

Balance Sheets as of June 30, 2021 (Unaudited) and February 17, 2021

     F-3  

Statements of Operations for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 (Unaudited) and for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through February 17, 2021

     F-4  

Statements of Changes in Stockholder’s Equity (Deficit) for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 (Unaudited)

     F-5  

Statements of Cash Flows for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 (Unaudited) and for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through February 17, 2021

     F-6  

Notes to Financial Statements

     F-7  

 

 

 

F-1


Table of Contents

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Stockholder and the Board of Directors of

Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of February 17, 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholder’s equity and cash flows for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through February 17, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of February 17, 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through February 17, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

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

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

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

/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC

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

New York, New York

June 21, 2021

 

F-2


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Balance Sheets

 

 

 

     JUNE 30, 2021     FEBRUARY 17, 2021  
     (unaudited)        

Assets:

    

Current assets:

    

Cash

   $ 2,563     $ 25,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total current assets

     2,563       25,000  

Deferred offering costs associated with proposed public offering

     462,262       10,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Assets

   $ 464,825     $ 35,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Liabilities and Stockholder’s Equity (Deficit):

    

Current liabilities:

    

Accounts payable

   $ 5,500     $ 1,782  

Accrued expenses

     346,246       10,000  

Franchise tax payable

     75,803        

Note payable - related party

     90,500        
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

     518,049       11,782  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Commitments and Contingencies

    

Stockholder’s Equity (Deficit):

    

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding

            

Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding

            

Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 5,750,000 shares issued and outstanding (1)

     575       575  

Additional paid-in capital

     24,425       24,425  

Accumulated deficit

     (78,224     (1,782
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stockholder’s equity (deficit)

     (53,224     23,218  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total Liabilities and Stockholder’s Equity

   $ 464,825     $ 35,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

(1)    This number includes up to 750,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters.
(2)   In June 2021, the Sponsor returned to the Company at no cost an aggregate of 1,437,500 shares of Class B common stock, which the Company cancelled, resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock outstanding. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share surrender (see Note 4).

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

 

F-3


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Statements of Operations

 

 

 

     FOR THE PERIOD FROM
FEBRUARY 12, 2021 (INCEPTION)
THROUGH
 
     JUNE 30, 2021     FEBRUARY 17, 2021  
     (unaudited)        

General and administrative expenses

   $ 2,421     $ 1,782  

Franchise tax expenses

     75,803        
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (78,224   $ (1,782
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted (1)

     5,000,000       5,000,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Basic and diluted net loss per common share

   $ (0.02   $ (0.00
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

(1)    This number excludes an aggregate of up to 750,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters.
(2)    In June 2021, the Sponsor returned to the Company at no cost an aggregate of 1,437,500 shares of Class B common stock, which the Company cancelled, resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock outstanding. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share surrender (see Note 4).

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

 

F-4


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Statement of Changes in Stockholder’s Equity (Deficit)

For the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021

 

 

 

     COMMON STOCK      ADDITIONAL
PAID-IN

CAPITAL
     ACCUMULATED
DEFICIT
    TOTAL
STOCKHOLDER’S
EQUITY (DEFICIT)
 
     CLASS A      CLASS B  
     SHARES      AMOUNT      SHARES      AMOUNT  

Balance - February 12, 2021 (inception)

          $             $      $      $     $  

Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor (1)(2)

                   5,750,000        575        24,425              25,000  

Net loss

                                        (1,782     (1,782
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance - February 17, 2021

          $        5,750,000      $ 575      $ 24,425      $ (1,782   $ 23,218  

Net loss

                                        (76,442     (76,442
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance - June 30, 2021 (unaudited)

          $        5,750,000      $ 575      $ 24,425      $ (78,224   $ (53,224
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

(1)    This number includes up to 750,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters.
(2)    In June 2021, the Sponsor returned to the Company at no cost an aggregate of 1,437,500 shares of Class B common stock, which the Company cancelled, resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock outstanding. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share surrender (see Note 4).

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

 

F-5


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Statements of Cash Flows

 

 

 

     FOR THE PERIOD FROM
FEBRUARY 12, 2021 (INCEPTION)
THROUGH
 
     JUNE 30, 2021     FEBRUARY 17, 2021  
     (unaudited)        

Cash Flows from Operating Activities:

    

Net loss

   $ (78,224   $ (1,782

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

    

Accounts payable

           1,782  

Franchise tax payable

     75,803        
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash used in operating activities

     (2,421      
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash Flows from Financing Activities:

    

Proceeds from issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor

     25,000       25,000  

Proceeds from note payable to related party

     90,500        

Deferred offering costs paid

     (110,516      
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash provided by financing activities

     4,984       25,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase in cash

     2,563       25,000  

Cash - beginning of the period

            
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash - end of the period

   $ 2,563     $ 25,000  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities:

    

Deferred offering costs included in accounts payable

   $ 5,500     $  

Deferred offering costs included in accrued expenses

   $ 346,246     $ 10,000  

 

 

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

 

F-6


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Notes to Financial Statements

Note 1—Description of Organization and Business Operations

Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on February 12, 2021, for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company is an emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.

As of June 30, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering (as defined below). The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.

The Company’s sponsor is LOCC Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a proposed public offering (the “Proposed Public Offering”) of 20,000,000 units (each, a “Unit” and collectively, the “Units”) at $10.00 per Unit (or 23,000,000 units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 4,666,666 warrants (or 5,000,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”), at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to the Sponsor that will close simultaneously with the Proposed Public Offering.

The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes, if permitted, and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commissions) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, the Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, management has agreed that an amount equal to at least $10.00 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering, including the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor, will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”) located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.

The Company will provide the holders (the “Public Stockholders”) of the Company’s outstanding shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, sold in the Proposed Public Offering (the “Public Shares”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then held in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share). The per-share amount to be distributed to Public Stockholders who redeem their

 

F-7


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)

 

Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 5). These Public Shares will be recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” The Company will proceed with a Business Combination if a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. In no event will the Company redeem the Public Shares if such redemption would cause the Company’s Class A common stock to be considered “penny stock” (as such term is defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)). If a stockholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or legal reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Additionally, each Public Stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Initial Stockholders (as defined below) have agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined below in Note 4) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Proposed Public Offering in favor of a Business Combination. In addition, the Initial Stockholders 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.

The Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% or more of the Public Shares, without the prior consent of the Company.

The Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors (the “Initial Stockholders”) will agree not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of the Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period (as defined below) or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity, unless the Company provides the Public Stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.

If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering (the “Combination Period”), the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), 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 liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining stockholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject, in each case, to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

The Initial Stockholders will agree to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Initial Stockholders acquire Public Shares in or after the Proposed Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company

 

F-8


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)

 

fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to the deferred underwriting commission (see Note 5) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be only $10.00. In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party (except for the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into a letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement (a “Target”), reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per Public Share and (ii) the actual amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.00 per Public Share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or Target that executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Proposed Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.

Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

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

The accompanying unaudited financial statements as of June 30, 2021 and for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and the rules of the SEC. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal accruals) considered for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the period ending December 31, 2021, or for any future period.

The Company does not have sufficient liquidity to meet its anticipated obligations over the next year from the issuance of these financial statements. In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB’s Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” management has determined that the Company has access to funds from the Sponsor, and the Sponsor has the financial wherewithal to fund the Company, that are sufficient to fund the working capital needs of the Company until the earlier of the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering or one year from the issuance of these financial statements.

Emerging Growth Company

The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations

 

F-9


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)

 

regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

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

Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation limit of $250,000. As of June 30, 2021 and February 17, 2021, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such accounts.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheets, primarily due to their short-term nature.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Deferred Offering Costs Associated with the Proposed Public Offering

Deferred offering costs consist of legal fees incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering and that will be charged to stockholder’s equity upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. Should the Proposed Public Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs, as well as additional expenses to be incurred, will be charged to operations.

Net Loss Per Common Share

The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of shares of Class B common stock outstanding during the period, excluding common stock subject to forfeiture. Weighted average shares at June 30, 2021 and February 17, 2021 were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 750,000 shares of Class B common stock that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 6). As of June 30, 2021 and February 17, 2021, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into shares of common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted loss per share is the same as basic loss per share for the periods presented.

 

F-10


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)

 

Income Taxes

The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. Deferred tax assets were deemed to be de minimus as of June 30, 2021 and February 17, 2021.

FASB ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of June 30, 2021 and February 17, 2021. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties as of June 30, 2021 and February 17, 2021. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.

The provision for income taxes was $75,803 for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 and deemed to be de minimis for the period from February 12, 2021 (inception) through February 17, 2021.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

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

Note 3—Proposed Public Offering

Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale up to 20,000,000 Units (or 23,000,000 Units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a purchase price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit will consist of one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each whole 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 (see Note 6).

The Company will grant the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the Proposed Public Offering to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Proposed Public Offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

Note 4—Related Party Transactions

Founder Shares

On February 17, 2021, the Sponsor purchased 7,187,500 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Founder Shares”), for an aggregate price of $25,000. In June 2021, the Sponsor returned to the Company at no cost an aggregate of 1,437,500 Founder Shares, which were cancelled, resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock outstanding. All shares and associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share surrender. The Initial Stockholders have agreed to forfeit up to 750,000 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters. The forfeiture will be adjusted to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised in full by the underwriters so that the Founder Shares will represent 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering.

The Initial Stockholders will agree, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination or

 

F-11


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)

 

(B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the reported closing price of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of the Initial Stockholders with respect to any Founder Shares.

Private Placement Warrants

The Sponsor will agree to purchase an aggregate of 4,666,666 Private Placement Warrants (or 5,000,000 Private Placement Warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant ($7.0 million in the aggregate, or $7.5 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of the Proposed Public Offering.

Each whole Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one whole share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants to the Sponsor will be added to the proceeds from the Proposed Public Offering to be held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable for cash and exercisable on a cashless basis.

The Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors will agree, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.

Related Party Loans

On February 12, 2021, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Proposed Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of 180 days following the date hereof, or August 11, 2021, or the completion of the Proposed Public Offering. As of June 30, 2021 and February 17, 2021, the Company borrowed $90,500 and $0 under the Note, respectively.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of June 30, 2021 and February 17, 2021, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.

Administrative Services Agreement

The Company will enter into an agreement that will provide that, commencing on the effective date of the prospectus through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination and the Company’s liquidation, the Company will pay an affiliate of the Sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for utilities and secretarial and administrative support.

 

F-12


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)

 

The Sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on the Company’s behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable Business Combinations. The audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to the Sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on the Company’s behalf.

Note 5—Commitments and Contingencies

Registration Rights

The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans and upon conversion of the Founder Shares) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering. The holders of at least $25 million in value of these securities are entitled to demand that the Company file a registration statement covering such securities and to require the Company to effect up to an aggregate of three underwritten offerings of such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggyback” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed and underwritten offerings subsequent to the completion of the initial Business Combination. The Company will bear the cost of registering these securities.

Underwriting Agreement

The underwriters will be entitled to an underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $4.0 million in the aggregate (or $4.6 million in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), payable upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. In addition, the underwriters will be entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or approximately $7.0 million in the aggregate (or approximately $8.1 million in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.

Risks and Uncertainties

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

Note 6—Stockholder’s Equity (Deficit)

Preferred Stock—The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share, with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of June 30, 2021 and February 17, 2021, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.

Class A Common Stock—The Company is authorized to issue 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of June 30, 2021 and February 17, 2021, there were no shares of Class A common stock issued or outstanding.

Class B Common Stock—The Company is authorized to issue 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. On February 17, 2021, the Company issued 7,187,500 shares of Class B common stock. In June 2021, the Sponsor returned to the Company at no cost an aggregate of 1,437,500 shares of Class B

 

F-13


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)

 

common stock, which were cancelled, resulting in an aggregate of 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock outstanding. Of the 5,750,000 shares of Class B common stock outstanding, up to 750,000 shares are subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part, so that the Initial Stockholders will collectively own 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock after the Proposed Public Offering.

Only holders of the Class B common stock will have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to the Business Combination. Holders of Class A common stock and holders of Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders except as required by law, provided, that the holders of Class B common stock will be entitled to vote as a separate class to increase the authorized number of shares of Class B common stock.

The Class B common stock will automatically convert into Class A common stock at the time of the initial Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial Business Combination, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of the Proposed Public Offering, plus 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, excluding any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities 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-equivalent warrants issued to the Sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of Working Capital Loans; provided that such conversion of Class B common stock will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.

Warrants—As of June 30, 2021 and February 17, 2021, there were no warrants outstanding. Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional Public Warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole Public Warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination or (b) 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering; provided in each case that the Company has an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or the Company permits holders to exercise their Public Warrants on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act). The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of the initial Business Combination, it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC and have an effective registration statement covering the shares of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of the Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed. If a registration statement covering the shares of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant-holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption.

The warrants have an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustments, and will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities in connection with the closing of the 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 the board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or its affiliates, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds,

 

F-14


Table of Contents

LIVE OAK CRESTVIEW CLIMATE ACQUISITION CORP.

Notes to Financial Statements (Continued)

 

and interest thereon, available for the funding of the initial Business Combination on the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the average last reported sale price of the common stock as reported during the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the date of the consummation of the 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 higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described under “Redemption of public warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable.

Redemption of Public Warrants.

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

 

   

in whole and not in part;

 

   

at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

   

upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day redemption period”) to each warrant-holder; and

 

   

if, and only if, the reported closing price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) on each of 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant-holders.

The Company will not redeem the Public Warrants as described above unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering 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 30-day redemption period. Any such exercise would not be on a “cashless” basis and would require the exercising holder to pay the exercise price for each warrant being exercised.

The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants, except that the Private Placement Warrants may not be redeemed by the Company and the holders of Private Placement Warrants may elect to exercise the warrants on a “cashless” basis.

In no event will the Company be required to net cash settle any warrant. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.

Note 7—Subsequent Events

The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date through June 21, 2021, the date that the financial statements were available to be issued. The Company also evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after June 30, 2021 the balance sheet date, up to the date the unaudited interim financial statements were available to be issued. Based on this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.

 

F-15


Table of Contents

 

 

20,000,000 Units

Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp.

 

 

PROSPECTUS

 

 

Book-Running Managers

Jefferies

BofA Securities

September 22, 2021

Until October 17, 2021, all dealers that buy, sell or trade our common stock, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.

We have not, and the underwriter has not, authorized anyone to provide you with any information or to make any representatives other than contained in this prospectus. We and the underwriter take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may provide you. We are not, and the underwriter is not, making an offer to sell securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.

No dealer, salesperson or any other person is authorized to give any information or make any representations in connection with this offering other than those contained in this prospectus and, if given or made, the information or representations must not be relied upon as having been authorized by us. This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security other than the securities offered by this prospectus, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities by anyone in any jurisdiction in which the offer or solicitation is not authorized or is unlawful.