S-1/A 1 ck1844507-s1a.htm S-1/A ck1844507-s1a.htm

 

As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 23, 2021

 

Registration No. 333-258476     

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Amendment No. 1 to

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware

 

6770

 

86-1671207

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

Vikas Desai

Chief Executive Officer

60 Walnut Avenue, Suite 400

Clark, NJ 07066
Telephone: (732) 340-0700

(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)

 

Vikas Desai

Chief Executive Officer

60 Walnut Avenue, Suite 400

Clark, NJ 07066

Telephone: (732) 340-0700

(Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent For Service)

 

Copies to:

Ari Edelman, Esq.

Marc Hauser, Esq.

Reed Smith LLP

599 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY 10022

Telephone: (212) 521-5400

 

Alexandria Kane, Esq.

White & Williams LLP

7 Times Square, Suite 2900

New York, NY 10036

Telephone: (212) 244-9500

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box. 

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. 

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

 

Large accelerated filer

 

 

Accelerated filer

 

Non-accelerated filer

 

 

Smaller reporting company

 

 

 

 

 

Emerging growth company

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. 


CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

Title of Each Class of Security Being Registered

 

Amount

Being

Registered

 

Proposed

Maximum

Offering

Price per

Security(1)

 

 

Proposed

Maximum

Aggregate

Offering

Price(1)

 

 

Amount of

Registration

Fee

 

Units, each consisting of one share of common stock,

   $0.0001 par value, and one redeemable warrant(2)

 

11,500,000 Units

 

$

10.00

 

 

$

115,000,000 

 

 

$

12,546.50

 

Common stock included as part of the units(3)

 

11,500,000 Shares

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4)

Redeemable warrants included as part of the units(3)

 

11,500,000 Warrants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(4)

Shares underlying redeemable warrants included as part of the units

 

8,625,000 Shares

 

$

11.50

 

 

$

99,187,500

 

 

$

10,821.36

(5)

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

214,187,500

 

 

$

23,367.86

 

 

(1)

Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee.

(2)

Includes 1,500,000 units, consisting of 1,500,000 shares of common stock and 1,500,000 redeemable warrants, which may be issued upon exercise of a 45-day option granted to the underwriters to cover over-allotments, if any.

(3)

Pursuant to Rule 416 under the Securities Act, there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions.

(4)

No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act.

(5)

Calculated pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act, based on the price of the warrants.

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 


The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED [●], 2021

 

 

 

 

$100,000,000

Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I

10,000,000 Units

Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I is a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to as our initial business combination. While we may pursue an initial business combination with any business in any industry, commercial sector or location, our initial focus will be on identifying acquisition opportunities in the cannabis industry. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we will not invest in or consummate a business combination with a target business that we determine has been operating in violation of U.S. federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act.

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of common stock and one redeemable warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. We will not issue fractional shares. As a result, you must exercise warrants in multiples of four warrants for three full shares, at a price of $11.50 per full share, subject to adjustment as described herein, to validly exercise your warrants. The warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. The underwriters have a 45-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to an additional 1,500,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any. We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months from the closing of this offering, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option up to an additional 3 months, as described herein, we will redeem 100% of the public shares for cash, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as further described herein.

Our sponsor, Achari Sponsor Holdings I LLC, has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 7,133,333 private placement warrants (or 7,833,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.75 per warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $5,350,000 (or $5,875,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. We refer to these warrants throughout this prospectus as the private placement warrants.

Our initial stockholders, which include our sponsor, own an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares (up to 375,000 shares of which are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised).

Currently, there is no public market for our units, public shares or warrants. We have applied to list our units on The Nasdaq Capital Market, or “Nasdaq”, under the symbol “AVHIU”. We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. We expect the public shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 90th day following the date of this prospectus unless Chardan Capital Markets, LLC, or Chardan, the representative of the underwriters which we refer to as Chardan, informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our satisfaction of certain conditions. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the public shares and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “AVHI” and “AVHIW,” 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 31 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 (the “SEC”) 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

 

 

$

100,000,000

 

Underwriting discounts and commissions(1)

 

$

0.55

 

 

$

5,500,000

 

Proceeds, before expenses, to Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I

 

$

9.45

 

 

$

94,500,000

 

 

(1)

Includes $0.35 per unit, or $3,500,000 (or up to $4,025,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to Chardan for deferred underwriting commissions which will be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to Chardan only upon completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus. Does not include certain other fees and expenses payable to the underwriters in connection with this offering. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Underwriting” beginning on page 158 for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters.

(2)

Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $101.50 million or $116.725 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.15 per unit in either case) will be deposited into a trust account in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and $1,850,000 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 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.

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             , 2021.

Sole Book-Running Manager

Chardan

        , 2021

 

 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and we take no 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.

 

 

 

 

i


 

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:

 

“common stock” are to our public shares and our founder shares, collectively;

 

“founder shares” are to shares of our common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering;

 

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

 

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

 

“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering;

 

“public shares” are to shares of our 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 and management team to the extent our initial stockholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that each initial stockholder’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), to the private placement warrants if held by third parties other than our sponsor (or permitted transferees), and to any private placement warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans that are sold to third parties that are not initial purchasers or executive officers or directors (or permitted transferees), in each case, following the consummation of our initial business combination;

 

“sponsor” are to Achari Sponsor Holdings I LLC, a Delaware limited liability company controlled by Vikas Desai, our Chief Executive Officer;

 

“warrants” are to our redeemable warrants, which includes the public warrants as well as the private placement warrants and any warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, to the extent they are no longer held by the initial purchasers of the private placement warrants or their permitted transferees; and

 

“we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I

Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes (i) that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option; and (ii) the initial business combination has been consummated within 15 months from the closing of this offering.

Our Company

We are a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to as our initial business combination. While we may pursue an initial business combination with any business in any industry, commercial sector or location, our initial focus will be on identifying acquisition opportunities in the cannabis industry. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we will not invest in or consummate a business

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combination with a target business that we determine has been operating in violation of U.S. federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act.

Achari Ventures

Achari Ventures, whose predecessor was founded in 2018, is an investment firm focused on the rapidly growing cannabis industry, is an affiliate of our sponsor. Achari Ventures currently has an executive team and advisory board consisting of seasoned investment professionals, with experience and pedigree investing within all stages of the capital markets from seed to initial public offerings, or IPOs. In addition, Achari Ventures has a cannabis advisory network, consisting of entrepreneurs and CEOs with proven track records of successful operations in the highly regulated cannabis space. During the past three years, Achari Ventures has evaluated more than 1,500 companies related to the cannabis industry, built a vast network of business contacts, and invested in more than 15 companies. With this team and track record, Achari Ventures believes it is positioned to become a leading institutional-quality investment firm in this nascent, burgeoning and fragmented industry.

Business Strategy

Our business strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination with an ancillary (non-plant touching) company operating in the cannabis market. We believe that there is an opportunity to take advantage of a newly emerging industry, with a variety of established operators seeking access to capital and managerial expertise. We intend to leverage our team’s collective operating, financial, technical, regulatory and legal expertise to build a strong business with competitive advantages to emerge as a leading public company in the space.

As the industry continues to transition to a new legislative and regulatory framework, we believe that many companies will need a partner that can assist in providing a level of operational and financial expertise to support their growth. Our team includes a variety of investment, operational and marketing professionals who will provide operating, technical, regulatory and legal expertise to assist a target business access the public markets.

Our acquisition plan is to leverage our management team’s networks of potential transaction sources where we believe a combination of our management team’s industry relationships, knowledge and experience could effect a positive transformation of existing businesses or assets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team and board of directors 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 leverage relationships with management teams of public and private companies, investment professionals at private equity firms and other financial sponsors, owners of private businesses, investment bankers, restructuring advisers, consultants, attorneys and accountants, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, we will not invest in or consummate a business combination with a target business that we determine has been operating in violation of U.S. federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act.

Following the completion of this offering, the members of our management team plan to communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the criteria for our search for a target business and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potentially interesting leads.

As more fully discussed in “Management – Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors become aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-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 directors currently have relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us. However, our existing officers have agreed (and future officers will be required to agree) (1) not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any blank check company focused on seeking businesses in the cannabis industry, and (2) not to serve as an officer or other employee of such blank check company, in each case until we have announced a definitive business agreement regarding our initial business combination, failed to complete our initial business combination within 15 months (or 18 months, if extended) from the completion of this offering or liquidated prior to the end of such 15 month period (or such later period, if extended).

2


 

Our sponsor paid approximately $0.009 per share to acquire the founder shares and has agreed to pay $0.75 per warrant via an agreement to purchase an aggregate of 7,133,333 private placement warrants (or 7,833,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.75 per warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $5,350,000 (or $5,875,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full).  Each warrant is exercisable for three quarters of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share.  Our sponsor, its affiliates, and our management team stand to make a substantial profit from the acquisition of the founder shares even if an initial business combination subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for our public stockholders, or our public stockholders experience substantial losses, and may have an incentive to recommend such an initial business combination to our stockholders.  However, our sponsor will not be able to profit from its purchase of the private placement warrants unless the price per share of common stock is in excess of $11.50 after the business combination.

We will have up to 15 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 15 months, we may, by resolution of our board of directors if requested by our sponsor, extend once the period of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination by an additional 3 months (for a total of 18 months from the closing of this offering). Provided that, pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on the date of this prospectus, the only way to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination in the absence of a definitive agreement is for our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon 5 days’ advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, to deposit into the trust account $1,000,000, or $1,150,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per share in either case), or prior to the date of the applicable deadline. Our public stockholders will not be entitled to vote or redeem their shares in connection with such extension. In the event that our sponsor elects to extend the time to complete a business combination and deposits the applicable amount of money into trust, the sponsor would receive a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note equal to the amount of any such deposit that will not be repaid in the event that we are unable to close a business combination, unless there are funds available outside the trust account to do so. In the event that we receive notice from our sponsor 5 days prior to the applicable deadline of its intent to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. To the extent that some, but not all, of our sponsor’s affiliates or designees decide to extend the period of time to consummate our initial business combination within such time period, we will, as promptly as possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem 100% of our outstanding public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account, including a pro rata portion of any interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (and up to $100,000 interest to pay dissolution expenses), and then seek to dissolve and liquidate. However, we may not be able to distribute such amounts as a result of claims of creditors which may take priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

Upon the closing of this offering, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to such dilution. In addition, since the founder shares and warrants will become worthless if we do not enter into an initial business combination, the personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 15-month anniversary of the closing of this offering (or such later period, if extended) nears, which, unless otherwise extended, is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.

Our Management Team

Our management team is comprised of Vikas Desai, Merrick Friedman, and Mitchell Hara. The team has broad experience in identifying targets and acquiring businesses under diverse market conditions. We believe our management team is well-positioned to identify and evaluate businesses within the cannabis sector given their skills, industry knowledge, and experience operating in the public markets. We believe our management team offers extensive experience in growing and operating companies as well as a deep and diverse network of contacts in the cannabis sector.

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In aggregate, the team has over 30 years of traditional investment experience, over 28 years of mergers and acquisitions experience, and six and a half years of cannabis operating and investing experience. The management team has a track record of demonstrated success in the cannabis industry and has proven the ability to source deals, conduct rigorous due diligence, structure transactions, and guide companies via board representation.

Independent Directors

We intend to be actively involved in the strategy and operations of our target companies and have assembled several seasoned corporate executives and investors to serve as independent directors. These executives have been chosen for their extensive sector experience within cannabis, venture capital/private equity, and/or as executives at high-growth companies managing a go-public transaction. In addition to providing us with strategic insights which include in-depth knowledge of industry dynamics, competition and operational capabilities, our independent directors will provide access to their broad network of operating executives and other resources.

Our independent directors are comprised of Mark A. Pelson, Seth Farbman, Kevin K. Albert, Harry DeMott and Timothy J. Seymour. The directors bring expertise and experience that will help facilitate the sourcing, diligence, and execution of a successful transaction as well as navigate the nuances and intricacies of public market dynamics. In the aggregate, our independent directors have served as c-suite executives and have been instrumental in bringing companies public via IPO or direct listing (i.e. Mr. Farbman was the Chief Marketing Officer of Spotify Inc. during its initial public offering).

Market Opportunity

While we may pursue an initial business combination with any business in any industry, commercial sector or location, our initial focus will be on identifying acquisition opportunities in the cannabis industry globally. The cannabis industry has experienced significant growth over the last several years. With full federal legalization in Canada and 36 states and Washington D.C. in the United States allowing for some type of legal use under state law, the cannabis industry is amongst the fastest growing industries in the world. We believe that the normalization of cannabis and its many uses - both therapeutic and recreational - is creating a rarely seen opportunity to invest in related businesses. At the same time, the cannabis industry is highly fragmented and subject to a complex regulatory framework, creating significant barriers to entry.

We believe that there are several target businesses that could benefit from our partnership. In the United States, this would currently include non-plant touching businesses that support the functioning of cannabis activity but are not directly related to cultivation, manufacturing, processing, branding, transportation, distribution, storage or sale of cannabis and cannabis-based products. We may also consider companies pursuing an FDA track for pharmaceutical applications and treatments that entail compounds found in cannabis.  There are also a number of qualifying cannabis-related licensed operators in industries outside of the United States. This includes companies currently operating in jurisdictions where cannabis has been decriminalized for recreational use, such as Canada, Colombia and Uruguay. Globally, more than 50 countries have legalized some form of medical cannabis. Over the next 15 months (or 18 months, if extended as described herein), we believe that legislative activity in certain jurisdictions will further broaden our opportunity set for eligible acquisitions.

The transition of the cannabis and derivative products industries to a regulated and legal marketplace has been happening at a rapid pace over recent year. Many countries have or are contemplating some form of legalized use, including Canada and the United States. For example, on June 28, 2018, the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act was introduced in the United States Senate, which would remove marijuana from the schedule of controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and decriminalize its use. We believe that this momentum will continue to accelerate worldwide, generating tremendous opportunity in the industry, with both broader legislative acceptance and an evolving regulatory environment. There have already been hundreds of businesses launched across various sub-sectors of the cannabis industry, many of which are located in Canada or the United States. These businesses have raised billions of dollars from investors in public and private markets; including strategic investments from major multinational companies that are altering or broadening their core business focus. Many of these businesses have valuations more than a billion dollars. However, the cannabis industry is still in early innings. In order to succeed under the new legislative and regulatory frameworks, we believe that businesses will need strong management teams with deep operational expertise and financial acumen.

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As this industry evolves from a nascent industry cycle, often with high levels of return, we believe that investors will become more discerning and will focus on business models that can scale profitably. Despite high profile recent investments, we believe the total amount of invested capital in the space is small relative to other major industry sectors of similar size. As the industry evolves and legislative and regulatory hurdles are addressed, we anticipate an institutionalization of capital investment, with reduced reliance on high-net-worth individuals, family offices and select hedge funds. We believe that this will be demonstrated by new investors providing sources of liquidity that will resemble more mature markets, including increased breadth of financial instruments across the capital structure. As a result, we would expect the cost of capital to come down, allowing companies to grow more accretively.

We believe that the cannabis industry will continue to grow at a rapid pace in the coming years – with the potential to reach several hundred billion dollars of sales within the next ten years. Unlike other emerging industries, which have been driven by massive technological advances, cannabis has supported therapeutic treatments for thousands of years across a variety of cultures. The evolution of public perception is being sustained by consumers seeking cannabis-based treatments for a variety of health and wellness needs. We believe that there will be growth via the broader adoption of cannabis for non-recreational use. Potential sources for additional growth include the disruption of a variety of health-related market segments including pain management, sleep, skin care and cosmetics and anxiety, as well as many other applications that are being explored.

Acquisition Criteria

Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general, non-exclusive criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective targets for our initial business combination. 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 that does not meet one or more of these criteria and guidelines. We expect to weigh potential upside from growth in the target business and an improved capital structure against any identified downside risks. We intend to focus on target businesses with the following characteristics:

 

Historical and expected growth tracking or exceeding the industry average (30% + CAGR);

 

At least $50 million of revenue with clear pathway to $200 million over five years;

 

Strong, proven management team with execution capability;

 

Track record of capital efficiency;

 

Fragmented vertical with clear opportunity for consolidation and mergers and acquisitions;

 

Accretive cash flow and margin profile with sizable organic revenue growth potential;

 

Alignment of long-term vision and willingness to retain equity; and

 

Clear pathway for transition towards mid- and large-cap designation.

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 criteria and guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. Our search will focus on mission critical, sleepier verticals and strong organic growth trajectories within the cannabis industry. These verticals will have clear fragmentation and an opportunity for the market leader to consolidate “mom and pop” using accretive public stock.

We have initially identified (not exclusively) four vertical markets that fit the above criteria:

Equipment

 

Mission critical equipment to plant touching companies;

 

Extraction, agriculture, and post-processing machinery; and

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Defensible profit margins due to competitive advantage and intellectual property, or IP.

Hardware

 

Ability to scale in a capital-efficient manner;

 

Substantial brand equity and preference over competition;

 

Novel intellectual property and IP moat;

 

Ancillary revenue stream via recurring revenue or tech-enabled offering; and

 

Mission critical hardware for business and consumers.

Technology

 

Focus on B2B and B2B2C business models;

 

E-commerce, delivery, marketplaces and seed-to-sale;

 

Clear market leader with outsized market share penetration; and

 

Demonstrated utility above competition and flywheel to continue growth.

Hydroponics

 

Farming equipment, precision agriculture and cultivation inputs;

 

Preference towards e-commerce vs. brick and mortar;

 

Clear market leader relative to competition;

 

Demonstrated ability to conduct mergers and acquisitions with strong future pipeline; and

 

Differentiation through brand.

Competitive Strengths

We believe our network, team, and preferred buyer position differentiate Achari Ventures from other cannabis investors. Over the years, we have built a deep industry network of operators, investors and service providers to generate network-driven deal flow. In addition, we have engaged numerous subject matter experts outside of cannabis to evaluate a variety of cannabis companies. As a result of our network, we estimate that we have access to a majority of deal flow with an outsized win rate on deals given our reputation and history in the space.

We bring a number of qualities that potential targets look for in a potential buyer. Our team brings years of mergers and acquisitions experience which will help effectuate long-term business planning by the target. Given our relatively smaller size, we have the ability to transact at smaller deal sizes or manage dilution with larger targets. Additionally, we have longstanding relationships with key players in the cannabis market and have earned trust over time. Given our experience on numerous cannabis company boards, we understand the operational concerns and have a founder mindset.

Our team brings experienced leadership and relevant industry experience. We also have a deep bench between the management team, board, and Achari Ventures’ advisory board with a long history of successful execution. The team brings experience and pedigree across all segments of the US capital markets (seed to IPO).

It is our view that a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, with $100 million in trust is ideal for the cannabis industry as the larger SPACs have too limited a pool for targets and have trouble executing transactions. A smaller SPAC provides two key benefits. One, it minimizes the dilution in conversations with larger targets which

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makes them more receptive to transact. It also opens up the target universe of smaller companies that were precluded from transacting with larger SPACs. Even though these companies may be smaller, they have best-in-class management teams, are operationally public-ready and have sizeable growth trajectories over the next five years.

Initial Business Combination

Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. 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. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. We have also agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination either (i) in such a way 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, or (ii) 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 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 of 1940, as amended (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 Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

Corporate Information

Our executive offices are located at 60 Walnut Avenue, Suite 400, Clark NJ 07066 and our telephone number is (732) 340-0700.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (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, (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

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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 public shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, 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 will 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 shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.

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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 and advisors, 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 of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors.”

 

Securities offered

 

10,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

 

 

•   one share of common stock; and

 

 

•    one redeemable warrant, each warrant exercisable for three quarters of one share.

Proposed Nasdaq symbols

 

Units: ”AVHIU”

 

 

Public shares: ”AVHI”

 

 

Warrants: ”AVHIW”

Trading commencement and separation of public shares and warrants

 

The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We expect the public shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 90th day following the date of this prospectus unless Chardan, the representative of the underwriters, informs us of its 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 public shares and 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 public shares and warrants.

 

 

In no event will the public shares and 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 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.

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Units:

 

 

Number outstanding before this offering

 

0

 

 

 

Number outstanding after this offering

 

10,000,000(1)

 

 

 

Common stock:

 

 

Number outstanding before this offering

 

2,875,000(2)

 

 

 

Number outstanding after this offering

 


12,500,000(1)(3)

 

 

 

Redeemable Warrants:

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

7,133,333

 

 

 

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

 

17,133,333

 

 

 

Exercisability

 

Each warrant is exercisable to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per full share, subject to adjustment as described herein. Because the warrants may only be exercised for whole numbers of shares, only a number in multiples of four of public warrants may be exercised at any given time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares. This means that only a number in multiples of four of warrants may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder.

 

 

(1)     Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the forfeiture by our sponsor of 375,000 founder shares.

(2)     Includes up to 375,000 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 10,000,000 public shares and 2,500,000 founder shares.

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Exercise price

 

$11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein. In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.50 per public shares (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) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.50 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 $16.50 per share redemption trigger price described below under “Redemption of warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 165% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

 

 

 

Exercise period

 

The warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; provided that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement).

 

We are registering the offer and sale of our shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants at this time under the Securities Act. In addition, 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 issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to cause such registration statement to become effective and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those public shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrantholders 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 warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis.

 

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.

 

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Redemption of warrants

 

Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):

 

 

 

 

 

•   in whole and not in part;

 

 

 

 

 

•   at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

•   if, and only if, the last sale price of our public shares equals or exceeds $16.50 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period commencing once the warrants become exercisable ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrantholders.

 

 

 

 

 

We will not redeem the warrants unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those public shares is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may 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 warrants were offered by us in this offering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares 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” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the public shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. Please see the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information.

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Founder shares

 

In February 2021, our sponsor purchased 2,156,250 founder shares, and in June 2021, we effected a 1.3333-for-1.0 stock split of our common stock, so that our sponsor owns an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares. Our sponsor paid an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, for the founder shares. 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 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. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after this offering. As such, our initial stockholders will collectively own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Neither our sponsor nor any of our officers or directors have expressed an intention to purchase any units in this offering. Up to 375,000 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 our initial stockholders 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 public shares included in the units being sold in this offering, except that:

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

•   our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) waive their 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 offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option an additional 3 months (for a total of 18 months), as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option an additional 3 months (for a total of 18 months), as described herein, 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 and (iv) not sell any of their founder shares or public shares to us in any tender offer we undertake in connection with a proposed initial business combination;

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•   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 this offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) 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, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need only 3,750,001, or 37.5%, of the 10,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all outstanding shares are voted; or 625,001, or 6.25%, assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and assuming our sponsor, officers and directors do not purchase any units in or after this offering) in order to have our initial business combination approved (in each case assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised); and

 

 

•   the founder shares are entitled to registration rights.

 

 

 

Transfer restrictions on founder shares

 

Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares, or ownership interest therein (i) with respect to 50% of the founder shares for a period ending on the earlier of (A) the six month anniversary of our initial business combination or (B) the date on which the closing price of our public shares exceeds $12.50 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period following the closing of our initial business combination, and (ii) with respect to the other 50% of the founder shares, for a period ending on the six month anniversary following the closing of our initial business combination, unless approved by our public stockholders. However, if, following our initial business combination, there is a transaction in 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”), then the Founder Shares shall be permitted to participate. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares.

 

Voting Rights

 

Holders of the public shares and holders of the founder shares will vote together on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, with each share of common stock entitling the holder to one vote.

 

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Private placement warrants

 

Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 7,133,333 private placement warrants (or 7,833,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $0.75 per warrant in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The issuance of shares of common stock underlying the private placement warrants, upon the exercise thereof, may have a dilutive effect on our public stockholders because additional shares of our common stock will be outstanding following such issuance. 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, $101,500,000 (or $116,725,000 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 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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 be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.

 

 

Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants

 

The private placement warrants (including the shares 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”).

 

In addition, for as long as the private placement warrants are held by Chardan or its designees or affiliates, they will be subject to the lock-up and registration rights limitations imposed by FINRA Rule 5110 and may not be exercised after five years from the commencement of sales of this offering.

 

 

 

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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 for that number of shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares 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” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the public shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent 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 sell the shares 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.

 

 

 

Proceeds to be held in trust

account

 

Nasdaq 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, $101,500,000, or $10.15 per unit ($116,725,000, or $10.15 per unit, if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be placed into a trust account in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. These proceeds include $3,500,000 (or $4,025,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions.

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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 (less up to $100,000 interest to pay dissolution expenses), 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 offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option an additional 3 months (for a total of to 18 months), as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. Stockholders who do not exercise their redemption rights in connection with an amendment to our certificate of incorporation would still be able to exercise their redemption rights in connection with a subsequent business combination. 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

 

Except as described above with respect to the payment of taxes, unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use. 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 which 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 $101,500 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 $1,350,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $500,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or their affiliates or other third parties, 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 an initial business combination.

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Conditions to completing our initial business combination

 

We will have 15 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 15 months, we may, by resolution of our board of directors if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination by an additional 3 months (for a total of 18 months from the closing of this offering), subject to the sponsor depositing additional funds into the trust account as set out below. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on the date of this prospectus, in order for the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination to be extended, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon 5 days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account $1,000,000, or $1,150,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per share in either case), on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline. Any such payments would be made in the form of non-interest bearing loans, evidenced by an unsecured promissory note equal to the amount of any such deposit, which will not be repaid in the event that we are unable to close a business combination unless there are funds available outside the trust account to do so. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. Our public stockholders will not be entitled to vote or redeem their shares in connection with such extension. As a result, we may conduct such extension even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such an extension and will not be able to redeem their shares in connection therewith.

Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. 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. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. We have also agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.

 

 

 

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We anticipate structuring our initial business combination either (i) in such a way 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, or (ii) 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 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 Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

19


 

 

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 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 our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq 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 nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or 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. 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.

 

 

 

 

 

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 warrantholders 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 public shares 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.

20


 

 

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 $10.15 per public share. Such amount would be increased by an anticipated $0.10 per public share if our sponsor deposits additional funds into the trust account in connection with an exercise of the 3 month extension of our time to consummate an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to Chardan. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them and any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our initial business combination or otherwise.

 

 

 

 

 

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to a date set forth in the proxy materials mailed to such holders or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, 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.

 

 

 

 

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) by means of a tender offer.

 

 

 

21


 

 

 

 

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 the law or stock exchange listing requirements. Under Nasdaq rules, asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with such rules.

 

 

 

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, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

 

 

 

 

•   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.

 

 

 

 

 

Such provisions may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon.

 

 

 

 

 

Whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on Nasdaq, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above. Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our public shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

 

 

 

22


 

 

 

 

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 a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. 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.

 

 

 

 

 

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, 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.

 

23


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. 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 our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need only 3,750,001, or 37.5%, of the 10,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all outstanding shares are voted; or 625,001, or 6.25%, assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and assuming our sponsor, officers and directors do not purchase any units in or after this offering) in order to have our initial business combination approved (in each case assuming all outstanding shares are voted and our sponsor, officers and directors do not purchase any shares in or after this offering and that the over-allotment option is not exercised).

 

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, 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, or abstain from voting for or against, the proposed transaction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. 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 delivered, or shares tendered electronically, by public stockholders who elected to redeem their shares.

24


 

 

 

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which 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 public shares 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 public shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

 

 

 

 

Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding 15% or more 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 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.

 

 

 

25


 

 

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

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides 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, or DGCL, or applicable stock exchange rules. Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, we may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or on our initial business combination or that would entitle holders thereof to receive funds from the trust account. 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/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 (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months (or 18 months, if extended as described herein) from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a 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 have entered into a letter agreement with us pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their 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.

 

 

 

26


 

 

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 Chardan the 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, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of 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 provides that we will have only 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option an additional 3 months (for a total of 18 months), as described herein, from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 15-month (or 18-month) period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, 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. 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 15-month time period (or 18-month period, if extended).

 

Alternatively, we may propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination. In such case, our shareholders would be required to approve such amendment and we would be obligated to offer to redeem our public shares in connection therewith.

27


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months (or 18 months, if 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 allotted 15-month (or 18-month) time period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chardan has agreed to waive its rights to its 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 will 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 $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

•   Repayment of non-interest bearing loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $0.75 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.

 

 

 

 

 

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.

28


 

 

Audit Committee

 

We will establish and maintain an audit committee, which will be composed entirely of independent directors 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) $10.15 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 $10.15 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 believe it is unlikely 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.

RIsks

We are a newly formed company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination (at the earliest), 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 and advisors, 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 31 of this prospectus.

29


 

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

 

 

 

Actual

 

 

As Adjusted

 

Balance Sheet Data:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working capital (1)

 

$

(45,377)

 

 

$

88,513,351

 

Total assets (2)

 

 

73,273

 

 

 

102,873,851

 

Total liabilities (3)

 

 

49,422

 

 

 

14,360,500

 

Value of common stock subject to possible redemption (4)

 

 

 

 

101,500,000

 

Stockholders’ equity (5)

 

 

23,851

 

 

 

(12,986,649)

 

 

 

(1)

The “as adjusted” calculation includes $101,500,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $1,350,000 in cash held outside the trust account, plus $23,851 of actual shareholder’s equity, less $3,500,000 of deferred underwriting commissions, and less $10,860,500 for the warrant liability as of June 30, 2021.

 

(2)

The “as adjusted” calculation includes $101,500,000 cash held in trust from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, plus $1,350,000 in cash held outside the trust account, plus $23,851 of actual shareholder’s equity.

 

(3)

The “as adjusted” calculation includes $3,500,000 of deferred underwriting commissions, and less $10,860,500 for the warrant liability.

 

(4)

The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the “as adjusted” stockholders’ equity.

 

(5)

Excludes 10,000,000 shares of common stock purchased in the public market which are subject to redemption in connection with our initial business combination. The “as adjusted” calculation equals the “as adjusted” total assets, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities, less the value of common stock that may be redeemed in connection with our initial business combination (approximately $10.15 per share).The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the sale of the units in this offering, the sale of the private placement warrants, and the payment of the estimated expenses of this offering and assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. The “as adjusted” total assets amount includes the $101,500,000 held in the trust account (which would be $116,725,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) for the benefit of our public stockholders, which amount, less deferred underwriting commissions, will be available to us only upon the completion of our initial business combination within the completion window. The “as adjusted” total assets include $3,500,000 being held in the trust account (which would be $4,025,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) representing deferred underwriting commissions. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.

 

 

 

 

30


 

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 or revenue;

 

our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;

 

our ability to complete our initial business combination;

 

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

 

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

 

our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements;

 

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 use of proceeds not held in the trust account

 

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

 

our financial performance following this offering;

 

risks and uncertainties relating to the cannabis industry; or

 

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

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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.

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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

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 only receive $10.15 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we must complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option by an additional 3 months (for a total of 18 months), as described herein, 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. 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, 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. In such case, our public stockholders may only receive $10.15 per share, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.15 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 $10.15 per share” and other risk factors below.

Alternatively, we may propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination. In such case, our shareholders would be required to approve such amendment and we would be obligated to offer to redeem our public shares in connection therewith.

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, 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 or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons. Except as required by law, 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. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our 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.

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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote their founder shares in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.

Pursuant to the 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. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need only 3,750,001, or 37.5%, of the 10,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all outstanding shares are voted; or 625,001, or 6.25%, assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and assuming our sponsor, officers and directors do not purchase any public shares) in order to have our initial business combination approved (in each case assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Our initial stockholders will own shares representing 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the completion of this offering and the private placement. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial stockholders 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. We have also agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.

 

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 public shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our public shares.

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.

Nasdaq 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.

We have applied to have our units listed on Nasdaq. We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. Following the date our public shares and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that our public shares and warrants will be separately listed on Nasdaq. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq. 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 Nasdaq listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in stockholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5.0 million and we would be required to have a minimum of 300 round lot holders (with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding securities with a market value of at least $2,500) of our securities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

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If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

 

a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

 

reduced liquidity for our securities;

 

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

 

a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

 

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

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our public shares and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq, our units, public shares and 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 Nasdaq, 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.

Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our founder shares.

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the public shares and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of 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 warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 151.9% (or $15.19 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $(5.19) and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. In February 2021, our sponsor purchased 2,156,250 founder shares, and in June 2021, we effected a 1.3333-for-1.0 stock split of our common stock, so that our sponsor owns an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares. Our sponsor paid an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, for the founder shares.

Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 for the founder shares, or approximately $0.009 per founder share. As a result, our sponsor, its affiliates and our management team stand to make a substantial profit even if an initial business combination subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for our public stockholders, and may have an incentive to recommend such an initial business combination to our stockholders.

As a result of the low acquisition cost of our founder shares, our sponsor, its affiliates and our management team could make a substantial profit even if we select and consummate an initial business combination with an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for our public stockholders. Thus, such parties may have more of an economic incentive for us to enter into an initial business combination with a riskier, weaker-performing or financially unstable business, or an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, than would be the case if such parties had paid the full offering price for their founder shares, or if such a fee were not potentially payable.

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Our private placement warrants are expected to be accounted for as a warrant liability and will be recorded at fair value upon issuance with any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.

Following the consummation of this offering and the concurrent private placement of warrants, we will have 7,133,333 private placement warrants outstanding, assuming the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units is not exercised. We currently expect to account for these private placement warrants as a warrant liability, which means that we will record them at fair value upon issuance with any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities. In addition, potential targets may seek a business combination partner that does not have warrants that are accounted for as a warrant liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.

Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, 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. Since our board of directors may complete an initial business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the initial business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote.

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 within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our 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 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, we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 as described above upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition, 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 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. The above considerations

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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 Chardan will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the 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 our redemption 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 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 15 months (or 18 months if our sponsor exercises the extension as described herein) from the closing of this offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain 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.

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 stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed initial business combination and reduce the public “float” of our public shares.

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 engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions.

Such 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 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

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on any matters submitted to the warrantholders 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 public shares or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

If a 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 tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy 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 tender offer or proxy materials, 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 redeem public shares. For example, we may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this prospectus entitled “Proposed Business — Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination — Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”

The recent coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic and the impact on businesses and debt and equity markets could have a material adverse effect on our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the global economy, disrupted global supply chains, lowered equity market valuations, created significant volatility and disruption in financial markets, and increased unemployment levels, all of which may become heightened concerns upon a second wave of infection or future developments. In addition, the pandemic has resulted in temporary closures of many businesses and the institution of social distancing and sheltering in place requirements in many states and communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has, and a significant outbreak of, other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential 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 concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target business’ personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.

In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.

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Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.

In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. There can be no assurance that these trends will not continue.

The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.

In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.

We may engage the underwriter or its affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. The underwriter is entitled to receive deferred commissions that will released from the trust only on a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause the underwriter to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.

We may engage the underwriter or its affiliates to provide additional services to us after this offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing financial advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing. We may pay the underwriter or its affiliates fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with the underwriter or its affiliates and no fees or other compensation for such services will be paid to the underwriter or its affiliates prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this prospectus, unless such payment would not be deemed underwriting compensation in connection with this offering. The underwriter is also entitled to receive deferred commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The fact that the underwriter or its affiliates’ financial interests are tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.

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 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 public shares 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 and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months (or 18 months, if our sponsor exercises its extension right as described herein) from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision 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 15 months (or 18 months, if our sponsor exercises its extension right as described herein) from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law

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and as further described herein. Stockholders who do not exercise their redemption rights in connection with an amendment to our certificate of incorporation would still be able to exercise their redemption rights in connection with a subsequent business combination. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

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 United States securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we may have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do 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 $10.15 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 competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar 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 public shares 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. This 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 $10.15 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 $10.15 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 $10.15 per share” and other risk factors below.

As the number of special purpose acquisition companies increases, there may be more competition to find an attractive target for an initial business combination. This could increase the costs associated with completing our initial business combination and may result in our inability to find a suitable target for our initial business combination.

In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many companies have entered into business combinations with special purpose acquisition companies and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial business combination,

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as well as many additional special purpose acquisition companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, effort and resources to identify a suitable target for 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 a suitable target for and/or complete our initial business combination.

If the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search for an initial business combination, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.

Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $1,350,000 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 $500,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. The amount held in the trust account will not be impacted as a result of such increase or decrease. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $500,000, 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, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement-equivalent warrants at a price of $0.75 per warrant at the option of the lender. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.15 per share on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.15 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 $10.15 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, 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 surface all material issues that may be present inside 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

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nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination. 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 unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the initial business combination constituted an actionable material misstatement or omission.

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 $10.15 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 (except for our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Marcum LLP, 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 $10.15 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 an exhibit 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) $10.15 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 $10.15 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, it is unlikely 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.

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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) $10.15 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 $10.15 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 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 $10.15 per share.

We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive officers.

We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive (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 obligation to indemnify our officers and directors 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.

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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 stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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 15th month (or the 18th month subject to our sponsor’s election of extension) 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 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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.

In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. 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.

Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected 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.

We are not limited to completing an initial business combination in any industry or geographical region, although we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial

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business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine.

For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial 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 unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

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 legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.15 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 $10.15 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 $10.15 per share” and other risk factors below.

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 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 volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

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We are not required to obtain a fairness opinion, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business 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 cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from 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 a proxy statement with respect to a vote on an initial business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial 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 (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (such that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. 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

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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 public shares 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 public shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate 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), 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. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own up to 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/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 (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, 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 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.

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

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thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. To the extent we seek to amend our organizational documents in a way that 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.

Alternatively, we may propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination. In such case, our shareholders would be required to approve such amendment and we would be obligated to offer to redeem our public shares in connection therewith.

We may issue our shares to investors in connection with our initial business combination at a price that is less than the prevailing market price of our shares at that time.

In connection with our initial business combination, we may issue shares to investors in private placement transactions (so-called PIPE transactions) at a price of $10.00 per share or which approximates the per-share amounts in our trust account at such time, which is generally approximately $10.00. The purpose of such issuances will be to enable us to provide sufficient liquidity to the post-business combination entity. The price of the shares we issue may therefore be less, and potentially significantly less, than the market price for our shares at such time.

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 larger than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. As a result, 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, the amount of additional financing we may be required to obtain could increase as a result of future growth capital needs for any particular transaction, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination and/or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.15 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 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 $10.15 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 $10.15 per share,” under certain circumstances our public stockholders may receive less than $10.15 per share upon the liquidation of the trust account.

Our initial stockholders 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, our initial stockholders 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

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corporate transactions. If our initial stockholders purchase any units in this offering or if our initial stockholders 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 public shares. 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 our initial stockholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.

Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.15 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 $10.15 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 $10.15 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 $10.15 per share” and other risk factors below.

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.

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 employ after our initial business combination, we

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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.

If we effect our initial business combination with a company with 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 operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to any 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;

 

complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

 

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 but not limited to tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;

 

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.

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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;

 

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 only be able to complete 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 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, $98,000,000 (or $112,700,000 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 $3,500,000, or up to $4,025,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, for the payment of deferred underwriting commissions).

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

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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. In addition, we intend to focus our search for an initial business combination in 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 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.

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.

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Risks Relating to our Sponsor and Management Team

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 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 private placement warrants will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 15-month (or 18-month, if extended as described herein) anniversary of the closing of this offering (or such later period, if extended) nears, which, unless otherwise extended, is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination. 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.

Past performance by our management team or our advisors may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.

Past performance by our management team or our advisors 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’s or our advisors’ respective performance 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. No member of our management team has been an officer or director of a special purpose acquisition corporation in the past. Additionally, in the course of their respective careers, members of our management team and our advisors have been involved in businesses and transactions that were not successful.

We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise.

We may consummate a business combination with a company in any industry we choose and are not limited to any particular industry or type of business, although we intend to focus our search in the cannabis industry. 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 an initial business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our 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.

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We are dependent upon our executive 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 executive 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. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.

Since our sponsor, officers, and directors, will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to any public shares they may acquire during or after this offering), and since our sponsor, officers, and directors that have an interests in founder shares may profit substantially even under circumstances where our public stockholders would experience losses in connection with their investment, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination. In addition, since our sponsor paid only approximately $0.009 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, our sponsor purchased 2,156,250 founder shares, and in June 2021, we effected a 1.3333-for-1.0 stock split of our common stock, so that our sponsor owns an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares. Our sponsor paid an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, for the founder shares. 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. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 7,133,333 private placement warrants (or 7,833,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable for three quarters of one share of common stock at $11.50 per share, for a purchase price of $5,350,000 (or $5,875,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $0.75 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. Holders of founder shares 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. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsor, affiliates of our sponsor or an officer or director. The private placement warrants will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 15-month anniversary (or the 18-month anniversary subject to our sponsor’s election of extension) of the closing of this offering (or such later period, if extended) nears, which, unless otherwise extended, is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.

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. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. 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. Our officers have agreed not to become an officer or director of any other cannabis-focused special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act until we have announced a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, after the closing of this offering. 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.”

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Our officers, directors and advisors or their affiliates have pre-existing fiduciary and contractual obligations and may in the future become affiliated with other entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in 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 officers, directors and advisors or their affiliates have pre-existing fiduciary and contractual obligations to other companies. Accordingly, they may participate in transactions and have obligations that may be in conflict or competition with our consummation of our initial business combination. As a result, a potential target business may be presented by our management team to another entity prior to its presentation to us and we may not be afforded the opportunity to engage in a transaction with such target business. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to other entities prior to its presentation to us, subject to our officers’ and directors’ fiduciary duties under Delaware law. 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 affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see the sections of this prospectus entitled “Management — Directors and Officers,” “Management — Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions”

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, our advisors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. We do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

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 which may raise potential conflicts of interest.

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers, advisors or directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, as well as 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 preliminary 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 from another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions, regarding the fairness to our stockholders from a financial point of view of an initial business combination with one or more 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.

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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 public shares 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 of the company’s 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

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 United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having

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a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. 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 (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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. Stockholders who do not exercise their redemption rights in connection with an amendment to our certificate of incorporation would still be able to exercise their redemption rights in connection with a subsequent business combination. 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 $10.15 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We may issue additional common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. 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 100,000,000 shares of 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 87,500,000 (assuming, in each case, that the underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option) authorized but unissued shares of common stock, respectively, available for issuance, which amount does not take into account the public shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants. Immediately after the consummation of this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.

We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common 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 securities that can vote with common stockholders on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity). 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 or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. 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 (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision 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;

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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, public shares and/or warrants.

An investment in this offering may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.

An investment in this offering may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we are issuing in this offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the public share and the redeemable warrant included in each unit could be challenged by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or the courts. In addition, if we are determined to be a personal holding company for U.S. federal income tax purposes, our taxable income would be subjected to an additional 20% federal income tax, which would reduce the net after-tax amount of interest income earned on the funds placed in our trust account. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of warrants included in the units we are issuing in this offering and of a redemption of warrants for public shares are unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our shares 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 public shares is long-term capital gain or loss and for purposes of determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered “qualified dividends” for federal income tax purposes. See the section titled “U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” for a summary of the material U.S. federal income tax considerations of an investment in our securities. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of 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 $10.15 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 $10.15 per share.

We are registering the shares of common stock underlying the public warrants under the Securities Act, however we cannot assure you that such registration will be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.

Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration under the Securities Act of the offer and sale of the shares of 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 shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or

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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 shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrantholders 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. 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. 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 public shares 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 from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the warrants included as part of units sold in this offering. In such an instance, our sponsor and its transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to sell the common stock underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying common stock. 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 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 placement warrants may be able to exercise such private placement warrants.

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

There are circumstances in which the exercise of the public warrants may be required or permitted to be made on a cashless basis. First, if a registration statement covering the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrantholders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Second, if a registration statement covering the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrantholders 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. Third, if we call the public warrants for redemption, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis. 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 equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (as defined in the next sentence) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” is the average reported last sale price of the public shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent or on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, as applicable. As a result, you would receive fewer public shares from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.

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We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 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 our public shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.

Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this 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. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder 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 our public shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

Because each warrant contains three quarters of one share, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.

Each unit contains one redeemable warrant exercisable for three quarters of one share of common stock. No fractional shares will be issued. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one public share and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of an initial business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for three quarters of the number of shares compared to units to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a warrant to purchase one whole share.

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

 

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

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, or a foreign action, in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions, or an enforcement action, and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrantholder’s counsel in such action as agent for the foreign warrantholder.

 

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The choice-of-forum provision in our warrant agreement may (1) result in increased costs for investors to bring a claim or (2) limit a warrantholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors. We note 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. 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.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require, subject to certain exceptions, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (b) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, employee, agent to us or our stockholders, (c) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, the amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (d) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks jurisdiction over such action or proceeding, then another court of the State of Delaware or, if no court of the State of Delaware has jurisdiction, then the United States District Court for the District of Delaware). Although we believe this forum provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware 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, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Further, if any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of Delaware, such action we refer to as a foreign action, in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to (i) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in such court to enforce the forum provisions, such action we refer to as an enforcement action, and (ii) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such enforcement action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such stockholder.

 

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, will state that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

 

However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not purport to require suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act to be brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or another court of the State of Delaware. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all claims brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

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

We have the ability to redeem outstanding 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 sales price of our public shares equals or exceeds $16.50 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period commencing once the warrants become exercisable and ending

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on the third trading day prior to the date on which we give proper notice of such redemption and provided certain other conditions are met. 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 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 offered by us in this offering. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees.

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

We will be issuing warrants to purchase 7,500,000 shares (or to purchase up to 8,625,000 public shares 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 5,350,000 shares at $11.50 per share (or 5,875,000 shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Our initial stockholders currently own an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares. In addition, if our sponsor makes any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $0.75 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 public shares to effectuate an initial business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional public shares 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 public shares and reduce the value of the shares issued to complete the initial business combination. 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, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by us, (ii) they (including the shares 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 and (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis.

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

Unlike most blank check companies, if

 

(i)

we issue additional shares 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 $9.50 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 $9.50 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 $16.50 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 165% 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.

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The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders 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 public shares.

Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants, the shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants held, or to be held, by them and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register such warrants or the shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our public shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the 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 public shares that is expected when the securities owned by our initial stockholders or holders of working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.

The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering 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 public shares and 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;

 

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 price 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.

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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 public shares and could entrench management.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain 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.

Section 203 of the DGCL affects the ability of an “interested stockholder” to engage in certain business combinations, for a period of three years following the time that the stockholder becomes an “interested stockholder.” We will elect in our certificate of incorporation not to be subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. Nevertheless, our certificate of incorporation will contain provisions that have the same effect as Section 203 of the DGCL, except that it will provide that affiliates of our sponsor and their transferees will not be deemed to be “interested stockholders,” regardless of the percentage of our voting stock owned by them, and will therefore not be subject to such restrictions. These charter provisions may limit the ability of third parties to acquire control of our company.

General Risk Factors

We are a newly formed 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 newly formed 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.

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 “smaller reporting company” within the meaning of the Securities Act and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies will make our securities less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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 shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as

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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 shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.

Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”

At June 30, 2021, we had $4,045 in cash and working capital deficit of $45,377. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.

Risks Relating to the Cannabis Industry

Business combinations with companies operating in the cannabis industry entail special considerations and risks. If we complete a business combination with a target business in the cannabis industry, we will be subject to, and possibly adversely affected by, the risks set forth below. However, our efforts in identifying prospective target businesses may not be limited to the cannabis industry. Accordingly, if we acquire a target business in another industry, these risks will likely not affect us and we will be subject to other risks attendant with the specific industry of the target business which we acquire, none of which can be presently ascertained.

There are risks related to the cannabis industry to which we may become subject.

If we are successful in completing a business combination with a target business with operations in the cannabis industry, we will be subject to, and possibly adversely affected by, the following risks:

 

The cannabis industry is extremely speculative and its legality is uncertain, making it subject to inherent risk;

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Use, cultivation, manufacturing, processing, transportation, distribution, storage and/or sale of cannabis (other than hemp) that is not in compliance with the U.S. Controlled Substances Act is illegal under U.S. federal law, and therefore, strict enforcement of U.S. federal laws regarding such activities would likely result in our inability to execute a business plan in the cannabis industry;

 

Policies that may be established or revised by the Biden Administration and the U.S. Department of Justice resulting in heightened enforcement of U.S. federal cannabis laws may negatively impact our ability to pursue our prospective business operations and/or generate revenues;

 

U.S. federal courts may refuse to recognize the enforceability of contracts pertaining to any business operations that are deemed illegal under U.S. federal law and, as a result, cannabis-related contracts could prove unenforceable in such courts;

 

Consumer complaints and negative publicity regarding cannabis-related products and services could lead to political pressure on states to implement new laws and regulations that are adverse to the cannabis industry; to not modify existing, restrictive laws and, regulations; or to reverse currently-favorable laws and regulations relating to cannabis;

 

Assets leased to cannabis businesses may be forfeited to the U.S. federal government in connection with government enforcement actions under U.S. federal law;

 

The potential regulation of cannabis by U.S. federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, including the possible registration of facilities where cannabis is grown, could negatively affect the cannabis industry, which could directly affect our financial condition;

 

Due to our proposed involvement in the regulated cannabis industry, we may have a difficult time obtaining the various insurance policies that are needed to operate our business, which may expose us to additional risks and financial liabilities;

 

The cannabis industry may face significant opposition from other industries that perceive cannabis products and services as competitive with their own, including, but not limited, to the pharmaceutical industry, adult beverage industry, and the tobacco industry, all of which have powerful lobbying and financial resources;

 

Many national and regional banks have been resistant to doing, or have refused to do, business with cannabis companies because of the uncertainties and prohibitions presented by federal law.  As such, we may have difficulty accessing the service of banks and similar depositary institutions, which may inhibit our ability to open bank accounts or otherwise utilize traditional banking services;

 

Many investors, lenders, and other financial institutions have been resistant to doing, or have refused to do, business with cannabis companies because of the uncertainties and prohibitions presented by federal law.  As such, we may have a difficult time obtaining financing in connection with our initial business combination or thereafter;

 

Laws and regulations affecting the regulated cannabis industry are varied, broad in scope, and subject to evolving interpretations, and may restrict the use of the assets or properties we acquire, or require certain additional regulatory approvals, any of which could materially adversely affect our operations;

 

U.S. national securities exchanges may not list companies engaged in the cannabis industry, and U.S. securities clearing firms may not clear trades of the publicly-traded securities of companies engaged in the cannabis industry, potentially limited our ability to efficiently access capital markets;

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Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, which substantially disallows a tax deduction for any amount paid or incurred in carrying on any trade or business that consists of trafficking in controlled substances prohibited by federal or state law, may prevent us from deducting certain business expenditures, which would increase our net taxable income; and

 

Risks similar to those discussed above based on regulations of other jurisdictions in which a prospective target may operate or be organized.

Any of the foregoing could have an adverse impact on our operations following a business combination.

Cannabis is currently illegal under U.S. federal law and in other jurisdictions

If we complete a business combination with a target in the cannabis industry, our ability to achieve our business objectives will be contingent, in part, upon the legality of the cannabis industry, our compliance with regulatory requirements enacted by various governmental authorities, and our obtaining all regulatory approvals, where necessary. Although hemp (a specific form of cannabis) and hemp-derived cannabinoids are no longer considered a controlled substance under U.S. federal law, as a result of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, as amended, cannabis otherwise remains a Schedule I controlled substance in the United States and is currently illegal under U.S. federal law. Even in those U.S. states in which the adult use of cannabis has been legalized, its use, possession, cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution remains a violation of U.S. federal law. Since U.S. federal laws criminalizing the use of cannabis preempt state laws that legalize its use, continuation of U.S. federal law in its current state regarding cannabis could limit our ability to do business in the United States if we complete such a transaction. Similar issues of illegality apply in other countries.

We only intend to target companies that are compliant with all applicable state, commonwealth, and municipal laws and regulations within the jurisdictions in which they are located or operate and, in particular, we will not invest in, or consummate a business combination with, a target business that we determine has been operating, or whose business plan is to operate, in direct violation of the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. A cannabis industry business will be subject to a variety of laws, regulations, and guidelines relating to cannabis, as well as laws and regulations relating to health and safety, the conduct of operations and the protection of the environment. Changes to such laws, regulations, and guidelines, as well as the enforcement thereof, may cause adverse effects on our ability to identify and acquire a target company that meets these legal and regulatory requirements at the time of acquisition.

The laws and regulations governing cannabis are still developing, including in ways that we may not foresee. Any amendment to or replacement of existing laws to make them more onerous, or delays in amending or replacing existing laws to liberalize the legal possession and use of cannabis, or delays in obtaining, or the failure to obtain, any necessary regulatory approvals, may significantly delay or impact negatively our ability to consummate an initial business combination, the markets in which we operate, products, and sales initiatives, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.

The approach to the enforcement of cannabis laws may be subject to change or may not proceed as previously outlined.

As a result of the conflicting views between state legislatures and the federal government regarding cannabis, investments in cannabis businesses in the United States are subject to inconsistent regulation and enforcement policies. A response to this inconsistency was addressed in August 2013 when then Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole, authored a memorandum (the “Cole Memorandum”) addressed to all United States district attorneys acknowledging that, notwithstanding the designation of cannabis as a controlled substance at the federal level in the United States, several U.S. states have enacted laws relating to cannabis for medical purposes.  The Cole Memorandum outlined certain priorities for the Department of Justice relating to the prosecution of cannabis offenses, primarily that the Department of Justice should be focused on addressing only the most significant threats related to cannabis, and that states where medical cannabis had been legalized were not characterized as a high priority.

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In March 2017, newly-appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions noted limited federal resources and acknowledged that much of the Cole Memorandum had merit; however, he disagreed that it had been implemented effectively and, on January 4, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions authored a memorandum (the “Sessions Memorandum”), which rescinded the Cole Memorandum. As a result of the Sessions Memorandum, federal prosecutors are no longer specifically guided with respect to prosecutorial discretion to decide whether to prosecute cannabis activities, despite the existence of state-level laws that may be inconsistent with federal prohibitions.  As of March 11, 2021, Merrick B. Garland is serving as Attorney General.  It is unclear what position the new Attorney General will take on the enforcement of federal laws with regard to the U.S. cannabis industry.

Additionally, the Rohrbacher-Farr Amendment has been adopted by Congress in successive budgets since 2015. The Amendment prohibits the Department of Justice from spending funds appropriated by Congress to enforce the tenets of the CSA against the medical cannabis industry in states that have legalized such activity. This Amendment has historically been passed as an amendment to omnibus appropriations bills, which by their nature expire at the end of a fiscal year or other defined term. The Rohrbacher-Farr Amendment (now known colloquially as the “Joyce-Leahy Amendment” after its most recent sponsors) was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which was enacted into law on December 21, 2020, and funds the departments of the federal government through the fiscal year ending September 2021. There is no assurance that such limitations will remain in place or be renewed in the future.

Violations of any U.S. federal laws and regulations could result in significant fines, penalties, administrative sanctions, convictions or settlements arising from civil proceedings conducted by either the U.S. federal government or private citizens, or criminal charges, including, but not limited to, disgorgement of profits, cessation of business activities, or divestiture.  Any proceedings to enforce such laws could have a material adverse effect on an issuer’s business, revenues, operating results and financial condition as well as the issuer’s reputation, even if such proceedings were concluded successfully in favor of the issuer. In the extreme case, such proceedings could ultimately involve the prosecution of key executives of the issuer or the seizure of corporate assets.  

Any investments or acquisitions in the United States may be subject to applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations.

If we were to acquire or invest in a U.S. cannabis industry business, we would be subject to a variety of laws and regulations domestically and in the United States that involve money laundering, financial recordkeeping and proceeds of crime, including the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970 (commonly known as the Bank Secrecy Act), as amended by Title III of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by governmental authorities in the United States.

In February 2014, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a memorandum providing instructions to banks seeking to provide services to cannabis-related businesses (the “FinCEN Memo”). The FinCeEN Memo states that, in some circumstances, it is permissible for banks to provide services to cannabis-related businesses without risking prosecution for violation of U.S. federal money laundering laws. It is unclear at this time whether the current administration will follow the guidelines of the FinCEN Memo.  

In the event that the Corporation’s investments, or any proceeds thereof, any dividends or distributions therefrom, or any profits or revenues accruing from such investments in the United States were found to be in violation of money laundering legislation or otherwise, such transactions may be viewed as proceeds of crime under one or more of the statutes noted above or any other applicable legislation. Violations of any U.S. federal laws and regulations could result in significant fines, penalties, administrative sanctions, convictions, or settlements arising from civil proceedings conducted by either the U.S. federal government or private citizens, or criminal charges, including, but not limited to, disgorgement of profits, cessation of business activities, or divestiture.  

Any potential growth in the cannabis industry continues to be subject to new and changing state and local laws and regulations.

Continued development of the U.S. cannabis industry is dependent upon continued legislative legalization of cannabis at the state, commonwealth, and local levels, and a number of factors could slow or halt progress in this area, even where there is public support for legislative action. Any delay or halt in the passing or implementation of legislation legalizing cannabis use, or its cultivation, manufacturing, processing,

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transportation, distribution, storage, and/or sale, or the re-criminalization or restriction of cannabis at the state, commonwealth, and/or local levels could negatively impact our business. Additionally, changes in applicable state, commonwealth, and local laws or regulations, including zoning restrictions, permitting requirements, and fees, could restrict the products and services we may offer, or impose additional compliance costs on us or our customers. Violations of applicable laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our business and result in a material adverse effect on our operations. We cannot predict the nature of any future laws, regulations, interpretations or applications, and it is possible that regulations may be enacted in the future that will be materially adverse to our business.

We may operate a highly-regulated business and any failure or significant delay in obtaining regulatory approvals could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business.

Achievement of our business objectives will be contingent, in part, upon compliance with the regulatory requirements enacted by applicable government authorities and obtaining all regulatory approvals, where necessary, for the sale of our products. We cannot predict the time required to secure all appropriate regulatory approvals for our products, additional restrictions that may be placed on our business, or the extent of testing and documentation that may be required by government authorities result from cannabis-specific laws and regulations. Any delays in obtaining, or failure to obtain, regulatory approvals would significantly delay the development of markets and products and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation, and financial condition.

To the extent we acquire cannabis businesses or assets in the United States in connection with our qualifying transaction, there may be a restriction on the deduction of certain expenses.

Section 280E of the United States Tax Code generally prohibits businesses from deducting or claiming tax credits with respect to expenses paid or incurred in carrying on any trade or business if such trade or business (or the activities which comprise such trade or business) consists of trafficking in controlled substances (within the meaning of Schedule I and II of the U.S. Controlled Substance Act of 1970, as amended) which is prohibited by U.S. federal law or the law of any state in which such trade or business is conducted. Section 280E currently applies to businesses operating in the cannabis industry, irrespective of whether such businesses are licensed and operating in accordance with applicable state laws. The application of Code Section 280E generally causes such businesses to pay higher effective U.S. federal tax rates than similar businesses in other industries. The impact of Code Section 280E on the effective tax rate of a cannabis business generally depends on how large the ratio of non-deductible expenses is to the business’ total revenues. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has not yet provided guidance on whether an ancillary cannabis business is considered to be trafficking in controlled substances and therefore subject to Code Section 280E.  The application of Code Section 280E to any business that we may acquire as part of our qualifying transaction, if any, may adversely affect our profitability and, in fact, may cause us to operate at a loss.

To the extent we acquire cannabis businesses or assets, there may be a lack of access to U.S. bankruptcy protections.

Because cannabis is illegal under U.S. federal law, many courts have denied businesses operating in or with the cannabis industry protections under the U.S. federal bankruptcy code. If a company we acquire as part of a qualifying transaction were to experience a bankruptcy or insolvency, although certain remedies may be available under state law, there is no guarantee that U.S. federal bankruptcy protections would be available, which could have a material adverse effect on the financial condition and prospects of such business and on the rights of its lenders and security holders.

U.S. regulations relating to hemp and hemp-derived CBD products are unclear and rapidly evolving.

We may acquire a business involved in the production, distribution, or sale of hemp and/or hemp-derived CBD products. Participation in the market for hemp-derived CBD products in the United States and elsewhere may require us to employ novel approaches to existing regulatory pathways. Although the passage of the Farm Bill in December 2018 legalized the possession, cultivation, manufacture, and sale of hemp in the United States, allowing for the production of products containing hemp, CBD and other non-THC-derived cannabinoids, the FDA currently does not allow for the introduction into interstate commerce of foods, beverages, or dietary supplements containing hemp-derived CBD.  If we acquire such a target business, it is unclear how the FDA would respond to the approach taken by such business, or whether the FDA will propose or implement new or additional regulations regarding such products. In addition, such products may be subject to regulation at the

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state, commonwealth, or local levels. Unforeseen regulatory obstacles may hinder our ability to successfully compete in the market for such products.

We may become involved in regulatory or agency proceedings, investigations, and audits.

Businesses in the cannabis industry, and the business of the suppliers from which we may acquire the products we may sell, require compliance with many laws and regulations. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations could subject us or such suppliers to regulatory or agency proceedings or investigations, and could also lead to damage awards, fines and penalties. We or such suppliers may become involved in a number of government or agency proceedings, investigations, and audits. The outcome of any regulatory or agency proceedings, investigations, audits, and other contingencies could harm our reputation or the reputations of the products and brands that we may sell, require us to take, or refrain from taking, actions that could harm our operations, or require us to pay substantial amounts of money, harming our financial condition. There can be no assurance that any pending or future regulatory or agency proceedings, investigations, and audits will not result in substantial costs or a diversion of management’s attention and resources, or have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The cannabis industry is highly competitive and evolving.

The market for businesses in the cannabis industry is highly competitive and evolving. There may be no material aspect of our business that is protected by patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade names, or trade secrets laws, and we may face strong competition from larger companies, including in our search for an initial business combination and those that may offer similar products and services to ours following our initial business combination. Our potential competitors may have longer operating histories, significantly greater financial, marketing or other resources, and larger client bases than we will, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully compete against these or other competitors. Additionally, because the cannabis industry is at an early stage, a potential target cannabis company may face additional competition from new entrants.

To remain competitive, a target business may require a continued high level of investment in research and development, marketing, sales, and client support. However, a potential target business may not have sufficient resources to maintain research and development, marketing, sales, and client support efforts on a competitive basis, which could materially and adversely affect the business, financial condition, and results of operations of the company. Additionally, as new technologies related to the cultivation, processing, manufacturing, and research and development of cannabis are being explored, there is potential for third party competitors to be in possession of superior technology that would reduce any relative competitiveness a potential business target may have.

As the legal landscape for cannabis continues to evolve, it is possible that the cannabis industry will undergo consolidation, creating larger companies with greater financial resources, manufacturing, marketing capabilities, and product offerings.  Given the rapid changes affecting the global, national, and regional economies generally and the cannabis industry, in particular, we may not be able to create and maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Our success will depend on our ability to keep pace with any changes in our markets, particularly, legal and regulatory changes. For example, it is likely that we, and our competitors, will seek to introduce new products in the future. Our success will also depend on our ability to respond to, among other things, changes in the economy, market conditions, and competitive pressures. Any failure by us to anticipate or respond adequately to such changes could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We and our customers may have difficulty accessing the service of banks, which may make it difficult to sell products and services.

Financial transactions involving proceeds generated by cannabis-related conduct can form the basis for prosecution under federal money laundering statutes, unlicensed money transmitter statutes, and the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act.  Guidance issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCen”), a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, on February 14, 2014 (the “FinCen Memo”), clarifies how financial institutions may provide services to cannabis-related businesses consistent with their obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act. Despite the rescission of memoranda that had de-prioritized the enforcement of federal law against individuals and entities that use, possession, manufacture, or distribute cannabis, who are otherwise compliant

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with laws of states that permit such activities, FinCen has not rescinded the FinCen Memo. While this memo appears to be a standalone document and is presumptively still in effect, FinCen could elect to rescind the FinCen Memo at any time. Federally-chartered banks and many other depositary institutions remain hesitant to, or refuse to, offer banking services to cannabis-related businesses. Consequently, those businesses involved in the cannabis industry continue to encounter difficulty establishing banking relationships.  Although U.S. federal legislation is pending to permit access by cannabis industry operators to depositary institutions, through the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2019, which passed the House of Representatives on September 25, 2019, there can be no assurance that any such legislation will be enacted into law.  Our inability to maintain bank accounts would make it difficult for us to operate our business, increase our operating costs, and pose additional operational, logistical, and security challenges, and could result in our inability to implement our business plan.

The development and operation of businesses in the cannabis industry may require additional financing, which may not be available on favorable terms, if at all.

Due to the growth in the cannabis industry, the continued development and operation of businesses in the cannabis industry may require additional financing. Due to the fact that cannabis remains illegal under U.S. federal law, many investors, lenders, and financial institutions are hesitant to, or refuse to, do business with cannabis-related businesses. The failure to raise such capital could result in the delay or indefinite postponement of current business objectives or the cessation of business. There can be no assurance that additional capital or other types of financing will be available if needed or that, if available, the terms of such financing will be favorable.

Third parties with which we do business may perceive themselves as being exposed to reputational risk by virtue of their relationship with us and may ultimately elect not to do business with us.

If we acquire a target business in the cannabis industry, the parties with which we do business may perceive that they are exposed to reputational risk as a result of our cannabis business activities. Failure to establish or maintain business relationships could have a material adverse effect on us.

Certain events or developments in the cannabis industry more generally may impact our reputation.

Damage to our reputation can result from the actual or perceived occurrence of any number of events, including any negative publicity, whether true or not. If we acquire a target business in the cannabis industry, because cannabis has been historically and commonly associated with various other narcotics, violence and criminal activities, there is a risk that our business might attract negative publicity. There is also a risk that the actions of other companies and service providers and customers in the cannabis industry may negatively affect the reputation of the industry as a whole and thereby negatively impact our reputation. The increased usage of social media and other web-based tools used to generate, publish, and discuss user-generated content and to connect with other users has made it increasingly easier for individuals and groups to communicate and share negative opinions and views in regards to our activities and the cannabis industry in general, whether true or not.  We do not ultimately have direct control over how we or the cannabis industry is perceived by others. Reputational issues may result in decreased investor confidence, increased challenges in developing and maintaining community relations and present an impediment to our overall ability to advance our business strategy and realize on our growth prospects.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We are offering 10,000,000 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

Exercised

Gross proceeds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross proceeds from units offered to public

 

$

100,000,000

 

 

$

115,000,000

 

Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private

   placement

 

 

5,350,000

 

 

 

5,875,000

 

Total gross proceeds

 

$

105,350,000

 

 

$

120,875,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Offering expenses(1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Underwriting commissions (2% of gross proceeds from units offered to public,

   excluding deferred portion)(2)

 

$

2,000,000

 

 

$

2,300,000

 

Legal fees and expenses

 

 

250,000

 

 

 

250,000

 

Accounting fees and expenses

 

 

37,500

 

 

 

37,500

 

SEC/FINRA Expenses

 

 

41,118

 

 

 

41,118

 

Travel and road show

 

 

20,000

 

 

 

20,000

 

Nasdaq listing and filing fees

 

 

75,000

 

 

 

75,000

 

Printing and engraving expenses

 

 

35,000

 

 

 

35,000

 

Miscellaneous(3)

 

 

41,382

 

 

 

41,382

 

Total offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions)

 

$

500,000

 

 

$

500,000

 

Proceeds after offering expenses

 

$

102,850,000

 

 

$

118,075,000

 

Held in trust account

 

$

101,500,000

 

 

$

116,725,000

 

% of public offering size

 

 

101.5

%

 

 

101.5

%

Not held in trust account

 

$

1,350,000

 

 

$

1,350,000

 

 

The following table shows the use of the approximately $1,350,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account(3).

 

 

 

Amount

 

% of Total

Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel, and other expenses in connection with

   any business combination

 

$

290,000

 

21.48

%

Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations

 

 

150,000

 

11.11

%

Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses

 

 

310,000

 

22.96

%

Director and officer liability insurance premiums(4)

 

 

600,000

 

44.45

%

Total

 

$

1,350,000

 

100.00

%

 

(1)

A portion of the offering expenses have been paid from the proceeds of loans from our sponsor of up to $300,000 as described in this prospectus. June 30, 2021, we had borrowings of $10,000 under the promissory note with our sponsor. These loans will be repaid upon the completion of this offering out of the proceeds that have been allocated for the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions) and amounts not to be held in the trust account. In the event that offering expenses are less than as set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses. In the event that the offering expenses are more than as set forth in this table, we may fund such excess with funds not held in the trust account.

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(2)

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, $3,500,000 (or up to $4,025,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), which constitutes the underwriters’ deferred commissions will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account, and the remaining funds, less amounts released by 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. Chardan will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.

(3)

These expenses are estimates only. 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.

(4)

This amount represents the approximate amount of annual director and officer liability insurance premiums the registrant anticipates paying following the completion of its initial public offering and until it completes an initial business combination.

Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $101,500,000 (or $116,725,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), including $3,500,000 (or $4,025,000 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 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 $101,500 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 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 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 (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision 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 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. Stockholders who do not exercise their redemption rights in connection with an amendment to our certificate of incorporation would still be able to exercise their redemption rights in connection with a subsequent business combination.

The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately 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, we may apply the balance of the cash released from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination.

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

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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.

Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of June 30, 2021, we had borrowings of $10,000 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 December 31, 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 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 $0.75 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.

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 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 our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq 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 nonpublic 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. 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.

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 warrantholders 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 public shares 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.

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We will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) and the agreement for our initial business combination may require 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 so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, 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 (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision 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 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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. Stockholders who do not exercise their redemption rights in connection with an amendment to our certificate of incorporation would still be able to exercise their redemption rights in connection with a subsequent 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 have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their 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. In addition, our initial stockholders have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or affiliates 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.

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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. 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 founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20.0% 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.

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DILUTION

The difference between the public offering price per public shares, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of 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 public shares which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding public shares.

At June 30, 2021, our net tangible book value was $(45,377) or approximately $(0.02) per share of common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 10,000,000 public shares included in the units we are offering by this prospectus (or 11,500,000 public shares 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 value at June 30, 2021 would have been approximately $(12,986,649), or approximately $(5.19) per share (or $(5.07) per share if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of the 10,000,000 public shares that may be redeemed for cash, or 11,500,000 public shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of $(5.17) per share (or $(5.05) per share if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) to our initial stockholders as of the date of this prospectus and dilution to public stockholders from this offering will be $15.19 per share (or $15.07 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 warrants included in the units or the private placement warrants:

 

 

 

No exercise of

 

 

Exercise of

 

 

 

over-allotment

 

 

over-allotment

 

 

 

option

 

 

option in full

 

Public offering price

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.00

 

 

 

 

10.00

 

Net tangible book value before this offering

 

$

(0.02)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(0.02)

 

 

 

 

Increase attributable to new investors and private sales

 

$

(5.17)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(5.05)

 

 

 

 

Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering

 

 

 

 

 

(5.19)

 

 

 

 

(5.07)

 

Dilution to new investors

 

 

 

 

 

15.19

 

 

 

 

15.07

 

Percentage of dilution to new investors

 

 

 

 

 

 

151.9

%

 

 

 

 

150.7

%

 

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 $101,500,000 because holders of up to approximately 100.0% 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 public shares sold in this offering.

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

 

 

 

Shares Purchased

 

 

Total Consideration

 

 

Average

Price

 

 

 

Number

 

 

Percentage

 

 

Amount

 

 

Percentage

 

 

Per Share

 

Initial Stockholders(1)

 

 

2,500,000

 

 

 

20.0

%

 

$

25,000

 

 

 

0.01

%

 

$

0.001

 

Public Stockholders

 

 

10,000,000

 

 

 

80.0

%

 

 

100,000,000

 

 

 

99.99

%

 

$

10.000

 

 

 

 

12,500,000

 

 

 

100.0

%

 

$

100,025,000

 

 

 

100.00

%

 

 

 

 

 

(1)

Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of an aggregate of 375,000 founder shares held by our sponsor.

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The pro forma net tangible book value per share after the offering is calculated as follows (rounded to the nearest thousands):

 

 

 

Without

Over-allotment

 

 

With

Over-allotment

 

Net tangible book value before this offering

 

 

(45,377)

 

 

 

(45,377)

 

Proceeds from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants,

   net of expenses(1)

 

 

102,850,000

 

 

 

118,075,000

 

Offering costs excluded from the net tangible book value

   before this offering

 

 

69,228

 

 

 

69,228

 

Less: deferred underwriters’ commissions payable

 

 

(3,500,000

)

 

 

(4,025,000

)

Less: Warrant liability(2)………………………………………..

 

 

(10,860,500)

 

 

 

(11,926,250)

 

Less: amount of public shares subject to redemption (3)

 

 

 

(101,500,000

)

 

 

(116,725,000

)

 

 

$

(12,986,649)

 

 

 

(14,577,399)

 

Denominator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Founder shares outstanding prior to this offering

 

 

2,875,000

 

 

 

2,875,000

 

Founder shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised

 

(375,000

)

 

 

Public shares included in the units offering

 

 

10,000,000

 

 

 

11,500,000

 

Less: public shares subject to redemption

 

(10,000,000

)

 

 

(11,500,000

)

 

 

 

2,500,000

 

 

 

2,875,000

 

 

 

(1)

Expenses applied against gross proceeds include offering expenses of $500,000 and underwriting commissions of $2,000,000 (or $2,300,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), excluding deferred underwriting fees. See “Use of Proceeds.”

 

(2)

We will account for the 7,133,333 placement warrants as a liability because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment. Accordingly, we will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such remeasurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in our statement of operations.

 

(3)

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 public shares 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 — Permitted Purchases of Our Securities.”

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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(1)

 

Deferred underwriting commission

 

$

 

 

 

3,500,000

 

Promissory note to affiliate(2)

 

 

10,000

 

 

 

Warrant liability(3)…………………………………………………………….

 

 

 

 

10,860,500

 

Common stock, subject to redemption(4)

 

 

 

 

101,500,000

 

Stockholders’ equity (deficit):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized (actual and as adjusted); 2,875,000 issued or outstanding (actual) and 2,500,000 shares issued and outstanding  as adjusted) (5)

 

287

 

 

250

 

Additional paid-in-capital

 

 

24,713

 

 

 

-

 

Accumulated deficit

 

(1,149

)

 

(12,986,899)(6)

 

Total stockholders’ equity:

 

 

23,851

 

 

 

(12,986,649)

 

Total capitalization

 

$

33,851

 

 

 

102,873,851

 

 

(1)

Assumes the over-allotment option has not been exercised and the resulting forfeiture of 375,000 founder shares held by the sponsor has occurred.

(2)

Our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of June 30, 2021, we had borrowings of $10,000 under the promissory note with our sponsor to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering.

(3)

We will account for the 7,133,333 placement warrants as a liability because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment. Accordingly, we will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such remeasurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in our statement of operations.

(4)

Upon completion of our initial business combination, 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 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.

(5)

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.

(6)

The accumulated deficit is calculated as an adjusted amount.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Overview

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting 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. 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 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 public shares and/or 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 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;

 

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;

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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.

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at June 30, 2021, we had $4,045 in cash and deferred offering costs of $69,228. Further, we expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an 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

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at June 30, 2021, we had $4,045 in cash and working capital deficit of approximately $45,377. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this uncertainty through this offering are discussed above. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to completion of this offering through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares to our sponsor and up to $300,000 in loans from our sponsor under an unsecured promissory note. As of June 30, 2021, we had borrowings of $10,000 under the unsecured promissory note. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $500,000 and underwriting commissions of $2,000,000 (or $2,300,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $3,500,000 (or up to $4,025,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), and (ii) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $5,350,000 (or $5,875,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $103,350,000 (or $118,575,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $101,500,000 or $116,725,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, including $3,500,000 (or up to $4,025,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions) will be deposited into a trust account. The funds in the trust account will be invested only in specified U.S. government treasury bills or in specified money market funds. The remaining $1,350,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $500,000 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 $500,000, 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 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

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earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our income 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 this offering, we will have available to us the approximately $1,350,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, 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 on a non-interest basis 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 $0.75 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. 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 $290,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $150,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $600,000 for directors’ and officers’ insurance; and approximately $310,000 for working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves.

These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses.

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 larger than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and may as a result be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. 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.

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 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.

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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 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, our sponsor purchased 2,156,250 founder shares, and in June 2021, we effected a 1.3333-for-1.0 stock split of our common stock, so that our sponsor owns an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares. Our sponsor paid an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, for the founder shares. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon the 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. 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 founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20.0% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.

Our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors, 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

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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 $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of June 30, 2021, we had borrowings of $10,000 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 December 31, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions).

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 on a non-interest basis 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 $0.75 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. 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 sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 7,133,333 private placement warrants (or 7,833,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.75 per warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $5,350,000 (or $5,875,000 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 three quarters of one share of 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 it, but the transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as the 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 so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. The private placement warrants may also be exercised by the 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.

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement we will enter into with our initial stockholders and Chardan on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. These holders, and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements. 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 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

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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, (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.

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PROPOSED BUSINESS

Our Company

We are a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to as our initial business combination. While we may pursue an initial business combination with any business in any industry, commercial sector or location, our initial focus will be on identifying acquisition opportunities in the cannabis industry. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we will not invest in or consummate a business combination with a target business that we determine has been operating in violation of U.S. federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act.

Achari Ventures

Achari Ventures, whose predecessor was founded in 2018, is an investment firm focused on the rapidly growing cannabis industry, is an affiliate of our sponsor. Achari Ventures currently has an executive team and advisory board consisting of seasoned investment professionals, with experience and pedigree investing within all stages of the capital markets from seed to initial public offerings, or IPOs. In addition, Achari Ventures has a cannabis advisory network, consisting of entrepreneurs and CEOs with proven track records of successful operations in the highly regulated cannabis space. During the past three years, Achari Ventures has evaluated more than 1,500 companies related to the cannabis industry, built a vast network of business contacts, and invested in more than 15 companies. With this team and track record, Achari Ventures believes it is positioned to become a leading institutional-quality investment firm in this nascent, burgeoning and fragmented industry.

Business Strategy

Our business strategy is to identify and complete our initial business combination with an ancillary (non-plant touching) company operating in the cannabis market. We believe that there is an opportunity to take advantage of a newly emerging industry, with a variety of established operators seeking access to capital and managerial expertise. We intend to leverage our team’s collective operating, financial, technical, regulatory and legal expertise to build a strong business with competitive advantages to emerge as a leading public company in the space.

As the industry continues to transition to a new legislative and regulatory framework, we believe that many companies will need a partner that can assist in providing a level of operational and financial expertise to support their growth. Our team includes a variety of investment, operational and marketing professionals who will provide operating, technical, regulatory and legal expertise to assist a target business access the public markets.

Our acquisition plan is to leverage our management team’s networks of potential transaction sources where we believe a combination of our management team’s industry relationships, knowledge and experience could effect a positive transformation of existing businesses or assets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team and board of directors 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 leverage relationships with management teams of public and private companies, investment professionals at private equity firms and other financial sponsors, owners of private businesses, investment bankers, restructuring advisers, consultants, attorneys and accountants, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, we will not invest in or consummate a business combination with a target business that we determine has been operating in violation of U.S. federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act.

Following the completion of this offering, the members of our management team plan to communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the criteria for our search for a target business and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potentially interesting leads.

As more fully discussed in “Management – Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-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 directors currently have relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

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However, our existing officers have agreed (and future officers will be required to agree) (1) not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any blank check company focused on seeking businesses in the cannabis industry, and (2) not to serve as an officer or other employee of such blank check company, in each case until we have announced a definitive business agreement regarding our initial business combination, failed to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the completion of this offering or liquidated prior to the end of such 15 month (or 18 month) period.

Our Management Team

Our management team is comprised of Vikas Desai, Merrick Friedman, and Mitchell Hara. The team has broad experience in identifying targets and acquiring businesses under diverse market conditions. We believe our management team is well-positioned to identify and evaluate businesses within the cannabis sector given their skills, industry knowledge, and experience operating in the public markets. We believe our management team offers extensive experience in growing and operating companies as well as a deep and diverse network of contacts in the cannabis sector.

In aggregate, the team has over 30 years of traditional investment experience, over 28 years of mergers and acquisitions experience, and six and a half years of cannabis operating and investing experience. The management team has a track record of demonstrated success in the cannabis industry and has proven the ability to source deals, conduct rigorous due diligence, structure transactions, and guide companies via board representation.

Independent Directors

We intend to be actively involved in the strategy and operations of our target companies and have assembled several seasoned corporate executives and investors to serve as independent directors. These executives have been chosen for their extensive sector experience within cannabis, venture capital/private equity, and/or as executives at high-growth companies managing a go-public transaction. In addition to providing us with strategic insights which include in-depth knowledge of industry dynamics, competition and operational capabilities, our independent directors will provide access to their broad network of operating executives and other resources.

Our independent directors are comprised of Mark Pelson, Seth Farbman, Kevin K. Albert, Harry DeMott and Timothy J. Seymour. The directors bring expertise and experience that will help facilitate the sourcing, diligence, and execution of a successful transaction as well as navigate the nuances and intricacies of public market dynamics. In the aggregate, our independent directors have served as c-suite executives and have been instrumental in bringing companies public via IPO or direct listing (i.e. Mr. Farbman was the Chief Marketing Officer of Spotify Inc. during its initial public offering).

Market Opportunity

While we may pursue an initial business combination with any business in any industry, commercial sector or location, our initial focus will be on identifying acquisition opportunities in the cannabis industry globally. The cannabis industry has experienced significant growth over the last several years. With full federal legalization in Canada and 36 states and Washington D.C. in the United States allowing for some type of legal use under state law, the cannabis industry is amongst the fastest growing industries in the world. We believe that the normalization of cannabis and its many uses - both therapeutic and recreational - is creating a rarely seen opportunity to invest in related businesses. At the same time, the cannabis industry is highly fragmented and subject to a complex regulatory framework, creating significant barriers to entry.

We believe that there are several target businesses that could benefit from our partnership. In the United States, this would currently include non-plant touching businesses that support the functioning of cannabis activity but are not directly related to cultivation, manufacturing, processing, branding, transportation, distribution, storage or sale of cannabis and cannabis-based products. We may also consider companies pursuing an FDA track for pharmaceutical applications and treatments that entail compounds found in cannabis.  There are also a number of qualifying cannabis-related licensed operators in industries outside of the United States. This includes companies currently operating in jurisdictions where cannabis has been decriminalized for recreational use, such as Canada, Colombia and Uruguay. Globally, more than 50 countries have legalized some form of medical cannabis. Over the next 15 months, which is

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extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, we believe that legislative activity in certain jurisdictions will further broaden our opportunity set for eligible acquisitions.

The transition of the cannabis and derivative products industries to a regulated and legal marketplace has been happening at a rapid pace over recent year. Many countries have or are contemplating some form of legalized use, including Canada and the United States. For example, on June 28, 2018, the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act was introduced in the United States Senate, which would remove marijuana from the schedule of controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and decriminalize its use. We believe that this momentum will continue to accelerate worldwide, generating tremendous opportunity in the industry, with both broader legislative acceptance and an evolving regulatory environment. There have already been hundreds of businesses launched across various sub-sectors of the cannabis industry, many of which are located in Canada or the United States. These businesses have raised billions of dollars from investors in public and private markets; including strategic investments from major multinational companies that are altering or broadening their core business focus. Many of these businesses have valuations more than a billion dollars. However, the cannabis industry is still in early innings. In order to succeed under the new legislative and regulatory frameworks, we believe that businesses will need strong management teams with deep operational expertise and financial acumen.

As this industry evolves from a nascent industry cycle, often with high levels of return, we believe that investors will become more discerning and will focus on business models that can scale profitably. Despite high profile recent investments, we believe the total amount of invested capital in the space is small relative to other major industry sectors of similar size. As the industry evolves and legislative and regulatory hurdles are addressed, we anticipate an institutionalization of capital investment, with reduced reliance on high-net-worth individuals, family offices and select hedge funds. We believe that this will be demonstrated by new investors providing sources of liquidity that will resemble more mature markets, including increased breadth of financial instruments across the capital structure. As a result, we would expect the cost of capital to come down, allowing companies to grow more accretively.

We believe that the cannabis industry will continue to grow at a rapid pace in the coming years – with the potential to reach several hundred billion dollars of sales within the next ten years. Unlike other emerging industries, which have been driven by massive technological advances, cannabis has supported therapeutic treatments for thousands of years across a variety of cultures. The evolution of public perception is being sustained by consumers seeking cannabis-based treatments for a variety of health and wellness needs. We believe that there will be growth via the broader adoption of cannabis for non-recreational use. Potential sources for additional growth include the disruption of a variety of health-related market segments including pain management, sleep, skin care and cosmetics and anxiety, as well as many other applications that are being explored.

Acquisition Criteria

Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general, non-exclusive criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective targets for our initial business combination. 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 that does not meet one or more of these criteria and guidelines. We expect to weigh potential upside from growth in the target business and an improved capital structure against any identified downside risks. We intend to focus on target businesses with the following characteristics:

 

Historical and expected growth tracking or exceeding the industry average (30%+ CAGR);

 

At least $50 million of revenue with clear pathway to $200 million over five years;

 

Strong, proven management team with execution capability;

 

Track record of capital efficiency;

 

Fragmented vertical with clear opportunity for consolidation and mergers and acquisitions;

 

Accretive cash flow and margin profile with sizable organic revenue growth potential;

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Alignment of long-term vision and willingness to retain equity; and

 

Clear pathway for transition towards mid- and large-cap designation.

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 criteria and guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. Our search will focus on mission critical, sleepier verticals and strong organic growth trajectories within the cannabis industry. These verticals will have clear fragmentation and an opportunity for the market leader to consolidate “mom and pop” using accretive public stock.

We have initially identified (not exclusively) four vertical markets that fit the above criteria:

Equipment

 

Mission critical equipment to plant touching companies;

 

Extraction, agriculture, and post-processing machinery; and

 

Defensible profit margins due to competitive advantage and intellectual property, or IP.

Hardware

 

Ability to scale in a capital-efficient manner;

 

 

Substantial brand equity and preference over competitions;

 

 

Novel intellectual property and IP moat;

 

 

Ancillary revenue stream via recurring revenue or tech-enabled offering; and

 

 

Mission critical hardware for business and consumers.

 

Technology

 

Focus on B2B and B2B2C business models;

 

E-commerce, delivery, marketplaces and seed-to-sale;

 

Clear market leader with outsized market share penetration; and

 

Demonstrated utility above competition and flywheel to continue growth.

Hydroponics

 

Farming equipment, precision agriculture and cultivation inputs;

 

Preference towards e-commerce vs. brick and mortar;

 

Clear market leader relative to competition;

 

Demonstrated ability to conduct mergers and acquisitions with strong future pipeline; and

 

Differentiation through brand.

Competitive Strengths

We believe our network, team, and preferred buyer position differentiate Achari Ventures from other cannabis investors. Over the years, we have built a deep industry network of operators, investors and service providers to

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generate network-driven deal flow. In addition, we have engaged numerous subject matter experts outside of cannabis to evaluate a variety of cannabis companies. As a result of our network, we estimate that we have access to a majority of deal flow with an outsized win rate on deals given our reputation and history in the space.

We bring a number of qualities that potential targets look for in a potential buyer. Our team brings years of mergers and acquisitions experience which will help effectuate long-term business planning by the target. Given our relatively smaller size, we have the ability to transact at smaller deal sizes or manage dilution with larger targets. Additionally, we have longstanding relationships with key players in the cannabis market and have earned trust over time. Given our experience on numerous cannabis company boards, we understand the operational concerns and have a founder mindset.

Our team brings experienced leadership and relevant industry experience. We also have a deep bench between the management team, board, and Achari Ventures’ advisory board with a long history of successful execution. The team brings experience and pedigree across all segments of the US capital markets (seed to IPO).

It is our view that a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, with less than $120 million in trust is ideal for the cannabis industry as the larger SPACs have too limited a pool for targets and have trouble executing transactions. A smaller SPAC provides two key benefits. One, it minimizes the dilution in conversations with larger targets which makes them more receptive to transact. It also opens up the target universe of smaller companies that were precluded from transacting with larger SPACs. Even though these companies may be smaller, they have best-in-class management teams, are operationally public-ready and have sizeable growth trajectories over the next five years.

Initial Business Combination

We will have 15 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. However, if we anticipate that we are not able to consummate our initial business combination within 15 months, we may, by resolution of our board of directors if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination by an additional 3 months, provided that, pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on the date of this prospectus, the only way to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination in the absence of a definitive agreement is for our sponsor or its affiliates or designees upon 5 days’ advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, to deposit into the trust account $1,000,000 or $1,150,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per share in either case), on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline. Our public stockholders will not be entitled to vote or redeem their shares in connection with such extension. In the event that our sponsor elects to extend the time to complete a business combination and deposits the applicable amount of money into trust, the sponsor would receive a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note equal to the amount of any such deposit that will not be repaid in the event that we are unable close a business combination unless there are funds available outside the trust account to do so. In the event that we receive notice from out sponsor 5 days prior to the applicable deadline of its intent to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. To the extent that some, but not all, of our sponsor’s affiliates or designees, decide to extend the period of time to consummate our initial business combination, such affiliates or designees may deposit the entire amount required. If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within such time period, we will, as promptly as possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem 100% of our outstanding public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account, including a pro rata portion of any interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (and up to $100,000 to pay liquidation expenses), and then seek to dissolve and liquidate. However, we may not be able to distribute such amounts as a result of claims of creditors which may take priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently

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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. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. We have also agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination either (i) in such a way 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, or (ii) 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 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 of 1940, as amended (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 Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

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 public shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our public shares 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 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.

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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 shares 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 securities during the prior three-year period.

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 shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.

Financial Position

With funds available for an initial business combination initially in the amount of $98,000,000, after payment of $3,500,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $112,700,000 after payment of up to $4,025,000 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 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.

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If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our public shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

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 larger than we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and may as a result 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 are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with 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.

We have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. From the period commencing with our formation through the date of this prospectus, there have been no communications or discussions between any of our officers, directors, our sponsor or advisors and any of their potential contacts or relationships regarding a potential initial business combination. Additionally, we have not engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, to conduct any research or take any measures, directly or indirectly, to locate or contact a target business. Accordingly, there is no current basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

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 their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors 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

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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 and advisors 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, directors or advisors 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 that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from 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. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.

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 pre-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. 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

Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. The fair market value of our initial business combination will be determined by our board 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 mergers and acquisitions transactions of comparable businesses. 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 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. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. We have also agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination either (i) in such a way 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, or (ii) 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 objectives of the target management team or stockholders. 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 of 1940, as amended, or the “Investment Company Act”. Even if the post-transaction company owns

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

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 thorough due diligence review, which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial 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 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. In addition, we intend to focus our search for an initial business combination in a single industry. 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, 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.

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

 

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

 

any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by Nasdaq rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of common stock could result in an increase in outstanding common shares or voting power of 5% or more; 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 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 our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq 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 nonpublic 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

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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.

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 warrantholders 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 public shares 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, advisors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders 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. 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, advisors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made 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, advisors and/or their affiliates will 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 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 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 $10.15 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to Chardan. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public 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) 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 the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Under Nasdaq rules, asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while

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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. If we structure an initial business combination with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed initial business combination. We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with such rules.

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, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

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

 

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

Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase our public shares in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares which are not purchased by our sponsor, which number will be based on the requirement that we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. 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.

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

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.

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

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the 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 toward this quorum and pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after this offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-

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votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need only 3,750,001, or 37.5%, of the 10,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all outstanding shares are voted; or 625,001, or 6.25%, assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and assuming our sponsor, officers and directors do not purchase any public shares) in order to have our initial business combination approved (in each case assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). 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, 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, or abstain from voting for or against, the proposed transaction. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which 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 public shares 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 public shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

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

Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with Redemption Rights

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the meeting held to approve a proposed initial business combination by a date set forth in the proxy materials mailed to such holders or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The proxy materials 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 from the time we send out our proxy materials until the date set forth in such proxy materials to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

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

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

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the proxy materials. 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 15 months (or 18 months, if extended as described herein) from the closing of this offering.

Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such 15-month (or 18-month, if extended) 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, 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. 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 15-month (or 18-month, if extended) time period.

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Alternatively, we may propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination. In such case, our shareholders would be required to approve such amendment and we would be obligated to offer to redeem our public shares in connection therewith.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering. However, if our sponsor, officers or directors 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 15-month (or up to 18-month) time period.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement (described above), we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.

We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the approximately $1,350,000 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 $10.15. 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 $10.15. 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 (except for 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 for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets,

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including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. Marcum LLP, 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. 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) $10.15 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 $10.15 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.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (i) $10.15 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 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. 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 (except for 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 $750,000 from the proceeds of this offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $500,000, 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 $500,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

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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 stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, 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. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 15th month (or 18th month subject to our sponsor’s selection of extension) 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.

Alternatively, we may propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination. In such case, our shareholders would be required to approve such amendment and we would be obligated to offer to redeem our public shares in connection therewith.

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 (except for 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) $10.15 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 withdrawn to pay taxes and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities

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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 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 tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision 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 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering, subject to applicable law. Stockholders who do not exercise their redemption rights in connection with an amendment to our certificate of incorporation would still be able to exercise their redemption rights in connection with a subsequent business combination. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the 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 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering.

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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 redemption price will be 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 $10.15 per public share), 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 limitation that we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination 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.

 

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.

 

If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering, we will redeem all 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 $10.15 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 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.

 

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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

 

$101,500,000 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 with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee.

 

Approximately $88,200,000 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.

 

 

 

 

 

Investment of net proceeds

 

$101,500,000 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 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

 

Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination.

 

The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Trading of securities issued

 

We expect the units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The public shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 90th day following the date of this prospectus unless Chardan, the representative of the underwriters, informs us of its 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. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which 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.

 

No trading of the units or the underlying public shares and 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.

Exercise of the warrants

 

The warrants cannot be exercised until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

 

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

 

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

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

 

 

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, 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, or abstain from voting 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.

 

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 investors and none of the securities are issued.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Business combination deadline

 

If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, 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.

 

Alternatively, we may propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination. In such case, our shareholders would be required to approve such amendment and we would be obligated to offer to redeem our public shares in connection therewith.

 

 

If a business combination has not been completed within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

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 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.

 

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.

Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights

 

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, 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 from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the initial business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights.

 

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.

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

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 (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months (or 18 months, if extended as described herein) from the closing of this offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

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Terms of Our Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

 

 

or pre-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). Stockholders who do not exercise their redemption rights in connection with an amendment to our certificate of incorporation would still be able to exercise their redemption rights in connection with a subsequent business combination. 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 combination,” to pay Chardan the 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.

 

 

 

 

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 combination,” to pay Chardan the 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, 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 60 Walnut Avenue, Suite 400, Clark, NJ 07066 and our telephone number is (732) 340-0700. Our executive officers are provided to us by our sponsor at no charge. 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. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.

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Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

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

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials 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 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. Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file 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 public shares 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.

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 shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.

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.

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MANAGEMENT

Officers, Directors and Director Nominees

Our officers, directors and director nominees are as follows:

 

Name

 

Age

 

Position

Vikas Desai

 

30

 

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board

Merrick Friedman

 

32

 

Chief Investment Officer, Corporate Secretary and Director

Mitchell Hara

 

56

 

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer

Seth Farbman

 

54

 

Director Nominee*

Kevin K. Albert

 

68

 

Director Nominee*

Harry DeMott

 

54

 

Director Nominee*

Mark A. Pelson

 

58

 

Director Nominee*

Timothy J. Seymour

 

55

 

Director Nominee*

 

*

This individual will occupy the position of director on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

Vikas Desai, has been a member on our board of directors and the Chief Executive Officer since its inception. In early 2018, he founded Welcan Capital, or Welcan, a predecessor of Achari Ventures, a venture capital firm focused in the cannabis industry. Achari Ventures invests in high-impact, foundational companies across early-stage plant touching and ancillary businesses and currently has a portfolio of 21 companies within the platform. Prior to Welcan, Mr. Desai was a private equity investor at Oaktree Capital Management, a $100 billion alternative asset manager, from June 2015 to June 2017, where he completed over $2 billion in transactions. Mr. Desai began his career at Morgan Stanley in the Investment Banking division from July 2013 to June 2015, focusing on real estate mergers and acquisitions and capital markets, where he completed approximately 15 deals representing approximately $15 billion in transaction value. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Finance & Environmental Studies from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

We believe Mr. Desai is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive strategic, operational and board experience.

Merrick Friedman, has served as our Chief Investment Officer and Corporate Secretary since February 2021. He will also serve as one of our directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. Friedman joined Welcan Capital in June 2019. Prior to joining Welcan (now Achari Ventures), Mr. Friedman spent over four years at Long Pond Capital, from January 2015 to early 2019, an approximately $3 billion long / short equity hedge fund focused on fundamental and value-oriented investing. Before joining Long Pond, from 2013 to 2014 Mr. Friedman was at The Raine Group, or Raine, a global merchant bank. At Raine, he was responsible for providing mergers and acquisitions advisory services and evaluating growth equity investments in the media, entertainment and telecommunications industries. While at Raine, Mr. Friedman completed over $30 billion in transaction value. Mr. Friedman began his career in 2012 at Deutsche Bank in the Natural Resources Investment Banking group. He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

We believe Mr. Friedman is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive strategic, investment and board experience.

Mitchell Hara, will serve as our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer following the completion of this offering. Mr. Hara is an accomplished corporate executive, investment banker and investor with over 30 years of experience operating in dynamic and disruptive environments in the cannabis, consumer products and retail industries. Throughout his career, he has originated, structured and negotiated over $60 billion in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, leveraged buyouts and structured debt and equity financings, and has helped create over $1.2 billion in shareholder value in executive roles in public and private companies. From March 2019 to March 2021, Mr. Hara served as Senior Advisor at Hand In Hand Soap, or HIHS, a high-growth, ESG-centric personal care brand with a dedicated mission of sustainability and give-back, where he also served as Interim Chief Executive Officer from September 2020 to December 2020. From 2019 to 2020, after he had served as a consultant for Clever

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Leaves International, Inc. (formerly known as Northern Swan Holdings) (NASDAQ: CLVR) for 5 months, Mr. Hara was Head of Mergers & Acquisitions and Business Development at the same company, believed to be one of the largest licensed cannabis cultivators and extractors, by capacity, on a global scale, where he was responsible for all of the company’s investments, acquisitions and business development efforts. Together with his other consulting endeavors, Mr. Hara has 3 years of cannabis industry experience. From 2016 to 2018, Mr. Hara was Chief Executive Officer of Beekman 1802, a high-growth, premium branded consumer products company, where he originated and executed the acquisition of its largest licensee, creating immense stockholder value. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Hara was SVP of Corporate Strategy/Mergers and Acquisitions at HSN, Inc., then a publicly traded company, and now part of Qurate Retail Group (NASDAQ: QRTEA). At HSN, Inc. Mr. Hara launched its VC Incubator, optimized its catalog portfolio via mergers and acquisitions, and initiated and implemented its dividend and share buyback programs, creating substantial stockholder value. Prior to his operating career, Mr. Hara was a Managing Director in the Mergers & Acquisitions and Restructuring Group at Peter J. Solomon Company, from 2007 through 2010, and an Associate Director from 1996 to 1999.  From 2004 to 2007, Mr. Hara was Head of Specialty Retail Investment Banking at Citigroup.  From 2003 to 2004, he was a Senior Member at Hill Street Capital.  From 1999 through 2001, Mr. Hara was a Director in the Retail Investment Banking Group at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.  From 1993 through 1996, he was an Associate in the Consumer M&A Group at Wasserstein Perella & Co., Inc.  Mr. Hara began his career as a Financial Analyst at Citicorp Investment Bank in Leveraged Finance and Syndication from 1986 through 1989, and was seconded to Citicorp International, KK, in Tokyo, to build the Private Placement & Loan Syndication desk from 1989 to 1991. He currently serves on the advisory boards at Grand Slam Partners, GreenWave Advisors, Kirsh Helmets and IBP Institute, and is a mentor at HBS Start Up Partners and a member of HBS Alumni Angels of Greater New York. Mr. Hara has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Finance from Syracuse University.

Seth Farbman, will serve as one of our directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. Farbman is an Executive Fellow at Yale University, primarily within the School of Management. In addition to lecturing, he provides real-world insights on business, marketing and technology to students, faculty and administration. He joined the university in November 2018, before retiring from Spotify in January 2019, where he served as Chief Marketing Officer from March 2015. During his four year tenure, Spotify grew to over 250 million customers in 65 countries, becoming the world’s largest music streaming service and one of the 100 most valuable global brands. Mr. Farbman managed Spotify’s B2C and B2B marketing teams, as well as public relations, customer support, brand, creative and design, marketing sciences and analytical teams. In 2018, Mr. Farbman helped Spotify accomplish one of the most successful public offerings in years. In June 2018, Mr. Farbman was named World’s Most Innovative CMO by Business Insider, and, for the eighth year in a row, ranked on of Forbes’ Most Influential CMO’s. He was also recognized among the 50 most creative people in the world by Creativity. While at Spotify, Mr. Farbman built a best-in-class marketing and communications team that has been recognized for its unique combination of deep data and world-class creativity, which led to the internal creative team being named Advertising Age’s 2018 Agency of the Year. At the Cannes Lions International Festival for Creativity, Spotify was awarded 11 Lions and named the 2018 Brand of the Year. Prior to joining Spotify, Mr. Farbman was the Chief Marketing Officer of Gap, then the world’s largest specialty apparel company. In his five years at Gap, he drove a turnaround that returned the company to growth for the first time in a decade and increased the company’s share price almost three-fold. He helped achieve the results by reshaping the entire global marketing function and shifting the product and marketing development to a new, younger segment of customers. He also oversaw the expansion of the Gap brand into new markets, such as China and South Africa. Before Gap, Mr. Farbman was the co-founder and President of OgilvyEarth, one of the first sustainability-focused marketing consultancy and party of the WPP/Ogilvy agency network. Recognizing the new opportunity in the sustainability movement, Mr. Farbman worked with global companies, such as DuPont, GE, Unilever, IBM, Coca-Cola and Siemens to help guide their product development roadmaps and marketing strategies to address customer demand for more environmentally and socially responsible products and services. Additionally, at the request of the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, he created the largest-ever pro bono consumer campaign to raise support for the U.N. effort to secure a multi-lateral environmental agreement between its member countries. Mr. Farbman began his marketing career at two mobile communications startups that merged with carriers Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless. He led national marketing and communications teams during the most rapid expansion of the mobile industry. Mr. Farbman is a trained journalist, working primarily for ABC and NBC television stations in the six years immediately after graduate school. Mr. Farbman currently services as a member of the board of directors of Snagajob and Dashlane, and also served as the interim Chief Executive Officer from September 2020 to February 2021. He is senior advisor to several high growth companies, including Peloton, Grubhub, Perfect Day Foods, Sunwink, Noom and The New York Times. He has an M.S. in Journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University.

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We believe Mr. Farbman is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive strategic, operational and board experience.

Kevin K. Albert, will serve as one of our directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. Albert is a retired investment banker.  He is currently managing a portfolio of private investments, the majority of which are in the legal cannabis industry. He serves on the boards of directors of Harborside Inc. (CSE:HBOR) since October 2020, and Octavius Group Holdings Inc., (doing business as “Flow Kana”) January 2020, a private company in the cannabis industry. He also serves as the Chairman of the board of Osiris Ventures, Inc. dba, NorCal Cannabis Company. Mr. Albert is also an independent director on the board of Neighborhood Holdings, Inc. a private real estate management company which enables renters to build financial equity in their homes and neighborhoods. From 2010 until his retirement in December 2019, Mr. Albert was a Senior Partner of Pantheon Ventures LLC and a member of its six-person Partnership Board. For most of his tenure at Pantheon, Mr. Albert was responsible for the firm's global business development, including all product marketing and business development activities. During this time, Pantheon's assets under management increased from approximately $25 billion to approximately $50 billion. Prior to joining Pantheon, he was a Managing Director and co-founder of Elevation Partners, a private equity firm that made investments in market-leading consumer-tech businesses such as Facebook and Yelp. Prior to Elevation, Mr. Albert worked in the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch & Co. for 24 years where, for most of this time, he served as a Managing Director and the Global Head of the Private Placement Group managing the market leading private equity fund placement business. From 2006 until 2017, Mr. Albert served as an independent director on the board of Merrill Lynch Ventures, LLC (“Merrill”), a series of private equity partnerships offered to key Merrill Lynch employees. From 1999 to 2000, he also was responsible for the middle market mergers and acquisitions group at Merrill, advising on sell-side mergers and acquisitions, primarily for clients of the firm’s brokerage side. Beginning in 2010, Mr. Albert was an independent director, chairman of the audit committee and a member of the corporate governance and nominating committee of Dover Saddlery, Inc. the leading multichannel equestrian retailer in the United States prior to its purchase and take-private transaction by a private equity firm in 2015. Mr. Albert has a BA and an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles where he continues to be involved as the Chair of the Board of Visitors of the Economics Department.

We believe Mr. Albert is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive strategic, operational and board experience.

Harry DeMott, will serve as one of our directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. DeMott is a seasoned investor, operator and board director. He is the founder and CEO of Temerity Media Inc. (d/b/a Proper), a cannabis data-business connecting customers, brands and retailers. He also acts as the interim CEO of Ticket Evolution, the ticket industry’s premier B2B exchange controlled by Raptor Ventures I LP (“Raptor”), where Mr. DeMott is General Partner. Through Raptor, Mr. DeMott sits on the board of directors of Security Point Media. Outside of Raptor, Mr. DeMott sits on the board of Workhouse Group Inc. (NASDAQ:WKHS), where he previously chaired the compensation committee and is involved in a number of investment activities through Harmerle Investments and Chelsea Realty, two family owned and operated vehicles. Most recently, Mr. DeMott was CEO of Australis Capital (NASDAQ:AUSA), a spinoff of Aurora, focused on U.S. cannabis. Starting out as a board director in April 2019, Mr. DeMott was later appointed to the CEO position until a new board of directors was elected in the 2020 annual general meeting. Through Harmerle Investments, he was a seed investor in Columbia Care (NASDAQ:CCHWF) and he is also an investor in Evolvd Cannabis, Kinslips and Groundworks, the holding company for the Serra and Electric Lettuce chains of dispensaries in Oregon. Mr. DeMott has long been involved in music and entertainment investments with current investments in Hi.Fi, Violet Crown Cinemas and Urban Airship. Prior to co-founding Raptor, Mr. DeMott was an analyst at Knighthead Capital and King Street Capital, two leading distressed debt funds based in New York City. During his tenure there, and his previously co-founded hedge fund, Gothic Capital, Mr. DeMott led investments in a variety of venture capital deals such as Pandora, dMarc Broadcasting and Zing. Mr. DeMott started his career on Wall Street at Credit Lyonnais Global Partners, moving to First Boston (Credit Suisse) where he became an institutional investor ranked analyst in broadcasting. He was singled out by the Wall Street Journal as one of the leading stock pickers in his field, and while there helped raise funds for various companies in the radio, television, outdoor advertising and tower sectors. Mr. DeMott attended Trinity School before attending Princeton University where he graduated with an AB in Economics in 1988. He received an MBA in International Finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business in 1991.

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We believe Mr. DeMott is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive strategic, operational and board experience.

Mark A. Pelson, will serve as one of our directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. Pelson is a business manager, entrepreneur and investor with over 30 years of experience. Since 2009, Mr. Pelson is the General Partner of PCI, LLC, where he leads investments in information services and telecommunications. Prior to forming PCI, LLC, Mr. Pelson was a Managing Director at Providence Equity Partners (“Providence Equity”) which he joined in 1996. Providence Equity is a leading private equity firm specializing in growth-oriented investments in media, communications, education, software and services and has over 40 billion in assets under management. Mr. Pelson has served on the boards of over a dozen Providence Equity portfolio companies, including Consolidated Communications (NASDAQ:CNSL), American Cellular Corporation, Wireless One, Madison River Telephone Company, Language Line, Telcordia and Wired Inc. Mr. Pelson was responsible for many of Providence Equity’s investments in FCC wireless auctions, local, long haul and undersea fiber optic infrastructure providers, wireless data services,  business services and wireless telephony. Prior to joining Providence Equity, Mr. Pelson co-founded TeleCorp, Inc., a wireless telecommunications company in 1994 which bid in early FCC spectrum auctions. He previously served from 1989 to 1994 in various management positions with AT&T, including general manager of strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Pelson received a Juris Doctorate from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University.

We believe Mr. Pelson is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive strategic, operational and board experience.

Timothy J. Seymour, will serve as one of our directors following the completion of this offering. Mr. Seymour is the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Seymour Asset Management, a registered investment advisor for both asset and wealth management, since January 2014. He brings 25 years of investment experience as a portfolio manager, allocator, and capital markets professional across multiple asset classes. With a background in emerging market and new asset classes, Mr. Seymour was an early investor and participant in the cannabis sector dating back to 2016. He has established himself as a thought leader and industry insider, and has served on multiple advisory boards in the sector. Since July 2019, Mr. Seymour has served as the Portfolio Manager of Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF (NYSE: CNBS), an actively managed strategy that provides thematic exposure in the high growth and evolving cannabis sector, and a Senior Advisor and member of the investment committee at JW Asset Management, a $1.8 billion firm specializing in cannabis hedge fund products in both public and private equity, since. Mr. Seymour was the Chief Investment Officer and co-founder of Triogem Asset Management, or Triogem, where the firm’s flagship fund was a long short global equity strategy, from May 2008 to September 2013. Triogem’s investment approach was rooted in running a low volatility portfolio that managed top down risks while employing a rigorous research process to bottom up stock picking. Prior to Triogem, Mr. Seymour was co-founder and Managing Partner at Red Star Asset Management, or Red Star, where the firm managed a multi-strategy fund investing across Russia and Eastern Europe, from February 2005 to July 2007. Before launching Red Star, from August 1998 to December 2004, he was a Partner and Managing Director at Troika Dialog, or Troika, which was later bought by Sberbank, a Russian state bank. At Troika, Mr. Seymour served various roles, including running the fixed income sales and trading group, launching the firm’s US broker/dealer group and over overseeing all U.S. capital markets activity. Mr. Seymour started his career in November 1996 at UBS Securities, LLC, or UBS, in New York, focusing on international macro, until he left in April 1998. Mr. Seymour received his MBA in International Finance from Fordham University, after which he completed UBS’ capital markets trading program, and his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.

We believe Mr. Seymour is well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive strategic, operational, an investment experience.

Number Band Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

We will have seven directors upon the 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 Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Seth Farbman and Kevin K. Albert, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Harry DeMott, Mark A. Pelson and Timothy J. Seymour, will expire at the second annual

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meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Vikas Desai and Merrick Friedman, 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 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

Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Seth Farbman, Harry DeMott, Kevin K. Albert, Mark A. Pelson and Timothy J. Seymour are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq 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. No compensation of any kind, including any finder’s fee, advisory fee, reimbursement or consulting fee, will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers, directors and advisors, 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, 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 tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials 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.

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Committees of the Board of Directors

Our board of directors will have two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, Nasdaq 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 Nasdaq rules require that the compensation committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.

Audit Committee

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. Kevin K. Albert, Harry DeMott and Timothy J. Seymour will serve as members of our audit committee, and Mr. DeMott will chair the audit committee. Under the Nasdaq 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 Mr. Albert, Mr. DeMott and Mr. Seymour meet the independent director standard under Nasdaq 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        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 the board of directors. Kevin K. Albert and Mark A. Pelson will serve as members of our compensation committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent. Mr. Albert and Mr. Pelson are independent and Mr. Albert will chair the compensation committee.

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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 Officers’ compensation, if any is paid by us, evaluating our Chief Executive Officers’ performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluations;

 

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;

 

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.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, 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 Nasdaq and the SEC.

Director Nominations

We do not have a standing nominating committee though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by the board of directors. The board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. The directors who will participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Seth Farbman, Kevin K. Albert, Mark A. Pelson, Harry DeMott and Timothy J. Seymour. In accordance with Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq rules, all such directors are independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.

The board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our stockholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of stockholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of stockholders). Our stockholders that wish to nominate a director for election to our board of directors should follow the procedures set forth in our bylaws.

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

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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.”

Conflicts of Interest

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 would be smaller than what we are interested in, in different fields than what we would be 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.

Our officers have agreed not to become an officer or director of any other cannabis-focused special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act until we have announced a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, after the closing of this offering.

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.

 

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 have agreed to waive their 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 have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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 (1) with respect to 50% of the founder shares, the earlier of six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination and the date on which the closing price of our common stock exceeds $12.50 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations and

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recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing after our initial business combination and (2) with respect to the remaining 50% of the founder shares, six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier, in either case, if, subsequent to our initial business combination, we consummate a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the shares 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 may 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 were to be 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 $0.75 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.

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Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers, directors and director nominees currently have fiduciary duties:

 

Individual

 

Entity

 

Entity’s Business

 

Affiliation

Vikas Desai

 

Achari Ventures

 

Venture capital firm

 

Founder

Merrick Friedman

 

Achari Ventures

 

Venture capital firm

 

Partner

Mitchell Hara

 

IBP Institute

 

Provider of classes and exams for investment banking credentials

 

Advisor

Seth Farbman

 

Snagajob

 

Job site

 

Director

 

 

J. Crew

 

Retail company

 

Director

 

 

Dashlane

 

Online password protector service

 

Director

 

 

Peloton

 

Retail bike company

 

Senior Advisor

 

 

Grubhub

 

Food delivery service

 

Senior Advisor

 

 

Perfect Day Foods

 

Health food provider

 

Senior Advisor

 

 

Sunwink

 

Wellness drink producer

 

Senior Advisor

 

 

Carbon

 

3D printer provider

 

Senior Advisor

 

 

Noom

 

Weight-loss program

 

Senior Advisor

 

 

The New York Times

 

News outlet

 

Senior Advisor

Kevin K. Albert

 

Harborside Inc.

 

Cannabis retail, production and cultivation company

 

Director

 

 

Octavius Group Holdings Inc.

 

Private cannabis company

 

Chairman of the Board

Harry DeMott

 

Temerity Media Inc. (d/b/a Proper)

 

Cannabis data-business

 

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

 

 

Ticket Evolution

 

Ticket industry’s premier B2B exchange

 

Interim Chief Executive Officer

 

 

Raptor Ventures I LP

 

Venture Capital Partnership

 

General Partner

 

 

Security Point Media

 

Airport passenger security checkpoint advertising company

 

Director

 

 

Working Group Inc.

 

Last mile delivery technology

 

Director

Mark A. Pelson

 

PCI, LLC

 

Provider of high quality equipment and instrument services

 

General Partner

Timothy J. Seymour

 

Seymour Asset Management

 

Registered investment advisor for both asset and wealth management

 

Chief Investment Officer

 

 

Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF

 

ETF investing in the global cannabis industry

 

Portfolio Manager

 

 

JW Asset Management

 

Registered investment advisor privately within the healthcare sector

 

Senior Advisor

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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 or she has current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, advisors 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 from 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.

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 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.

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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 that beneficially owns shares of our common stock; 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.

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 our sponsor forfeits 375,000 founder shares, and that there are 12,500,000 shares of our common stock, consisting of (i) 10,000,000 public shares and (ii) 2,500,000 founder shares, 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

 

Achari Sponsor Holdings I LLC

 

 

2,875,000

 

 

 

100.0

%

 

 

2,500,000

 

 

 

20.0

%

 

 

Vikas Desai(3)

 

 

2,875,000

 

 

 

100.0

%

 

 

2,500,000

 

 

 

20.0

%

 

 

 

Merrick Friedman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mitchell Hara

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seth Farbman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin K. Albert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harry DeMott

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark Pelson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Timothy J. Seymour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All executive officers, directors and

   director nominees as a group (8

   individuals)

 

 

2,875,000

 

 

 

100.0

%

 

 

2,500,000

 

 

 

20.0

%

 

 

 

*

less than 1%.

(1)

Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I, 60 Walnut Avenue, Suite 400, Clark, NJ 07066.

(2)

Interests shown consist solely of founder shares.

(3)

Our sponsor is the record holder of such shares. Vikas Desai is the manager of our sponsor, and as such has voting and investment discretion with respect to the common stock held of record by our sponsor and may be deemed to have beneficial ownership of the common stock held directly by our sponsor. Mr. Desai disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest he may have therein, directly or indirectly.

Immediately after this offering, our initial stockholders will beneficially own 20.0% of the then-issued and outstanding shares of our common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). Neither our sponsor nor any of our officers or directors have expressed an intention to 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 founder shares immediately prior to the consummation

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of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20.0% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Because of this ownership block, our initial stockholders 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.

The holders of the founder shares 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.

Our sponsor, executive officers, directors and advisors 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 issued upon exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in a letter agreement  with us 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 (1) with respect to 50% of the founder shares, the earlier of six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination and the date on which the closing price of our common stock exceeds $12.50 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing after our initial business combination and (2) with respect to the remaining 50% of the founder shares, six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier, in either case, if, subsequent to our initial business combination, we consummate a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property, and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the shares 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 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; (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor; or (h) in the event of our liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (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 agreements and by the same agreements entered into by our sponsor with respect to such securities (including provisions relating to voting, waiver of access to funds in the trust account and waiver of liquidation distributions described elsewhere in this prospectus).

Registration Rights

The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. These holders will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders will have “piggy-back” registration rights to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the underwriters may not exercise their demand and “piggyback” registration rights after five and seven years after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, and may not exercise their demand rights on more than one occasion.

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

In February 2021, our sponsor purchased 2,156,250 founder shares, and in June 2021, we effected a 1.3333-for-1.0 stock split of our common stock, so that our sponsor owns an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares. Our sponsor paid an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, for the founder shares. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon the completion of 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 founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20.0% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 375,000 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 shares 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 7,133,333  private placement warrants (or 7,833,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) for a purchase price of $0.75 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 $5,350,000 (or $5,875,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), depending on the number of private placement warrants purchased. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants (including the shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

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-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

Other than the foregoing, 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 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 closing of this offering, our sponsor has agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. As of June 30, 2021, we had borrowings of $10,000 (of up to $300,000 available to us) 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 December 31, 2021 or the closing of this offering. The loan will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the estimated $500,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions). 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 on a non-interest bearing basis 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

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would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $0.75 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. 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.

After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.

We will enter into indemnification agreements with each of our officers and directors a form of which is to be filed as an exhibit to this Registration Statement. These agreements will require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law against liabilities that may arise by reason of their service to us, and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.

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 issuable upon exercise of the foregoing, which is described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Registration Rights.”

Related Party Policy

We have not yet adopted a formal policy for the review, approval or ratification of related party transactions. Accordingly, the transactions discussed above were not reviewed, approved or ratified in accordance with any such policy.

Prior to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt a code of ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our code of ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company. A form of the code of ethics that we plan to adopt prior to the consummation of this offering is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter that we will adopt prior to the consummation of this offering, will be responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present will be required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee will constitute a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party transaction. A form of the audit committee charter that we plan to adopt prior to the consummation of this offering is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. We also require each of our directors and executive officers to complete a directors’ and officers’ questionnaire that elicits information about related party transactions.

These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.

To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our sponsor, officers or directors unless we, or a committee of independent directors, have obtained an opinion from independent investment banking firm or from another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Furthermore, no finder’s fees, reimbursements, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the

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consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, the following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors, 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 $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;

 

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

 

Repayment of non-interest bearing loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $0.75 per warrant at the option of the lender.

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

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DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our authorized capital stock consists of 100,000,000 shares of 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 common stock and one redeemable warrant. Each redeemable warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock. Each redeemable warrant has an exercise of $11.50 per whole share and shall expire on the five year anniversary of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part. In addition, we will not issue fractional shares. As a result, you must exercise warrants in multiples of four warrants for three full shares, at a price of $11.50 per full share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus, to validly exercise your warrants.

We expect the public shares and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 90th day following the date of this prospectus unless Chardan, the representative of the underwriters, informs us of its 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 public shares and 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 public shares and warrants.

In no event will the public shares and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K 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 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, 12,500,000 shares of our common stock will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 375,000 founder shares by our sponsor), consisting of:

 

10,000,000 public shares underlying the units being offered in this offering; and

 

2,500,000 founder shares 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 founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20.0% 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 the public shares and holders of the founder shares will vote together on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, except as required by law. 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.

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Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 100,000,000 shares of 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 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 Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. 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 $10.15 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to Chardan. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Unlike many blank check companies that hold stockholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a stockholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require these tender offer documents to 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, however, a stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer 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. 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.

However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or 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, 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

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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 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 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. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, we would need only 3,750,001, or 37.5%, of the 10,000,000 public shares sold in this offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination (assuming all outstanding shares are voted; or 625,001, or 6.25%, assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted and assuming our sponsor, officers and directors do not purchase any units in or after this offering) in order to have our initial business combination approved (in each case assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised). Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against, or abstain from voting for or against, 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 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, 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. However, if we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 15 months, we may, by resolution of our board of directors if requested by our sponsor, extend the period of time we will have to consummate an initial business combination by an additional 3 months, provided that, pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to be entered into between us and Continental Stock & Transfer & Trust Company on the date of this prospectus, the only way to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination in the absence of a definitive agreement is for our sponsor or its affiliates or designees, upon 5 days’ advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, to deposit into the trust account $1,000,000 or $1,150,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full ($0.10 per share in either case), on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline. Our public stockholders will not be entitled to vote or redeem their shares in connection with any such extension. In the event that our sponsor elects to extend the time to complete a business combination and deposits the applicable amount of money into trust, the sponsor would receive a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note equal to the amount of any such deposit that will not be repaid in the event that we are unable to close a business combination unless there are funds available outside the trust account to do so. In the event that we receive notice from out sponsor 5 days prior to the applicable deadline of its intent to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least three days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. Our sponsor and its affiliates or designees are not obligated to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination. To the extent that some, but not all, of our sponsor’s affiliates or designees, decide to extend the period of time to consummate our initial business combination, such affiliates or designees may deposit the entire amount required. If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination, such affiliates or designees may deposit the entire amount require. If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within such time period, we will, as promptly as possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem 100% of our outstanding public

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shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account, including a pro rata portion of any interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (and up to $100,000 of interest to pay liquidation expenses, and then seek to dissolve and liquidate. However, we may not be able to distribute such amounts as a result of claims of creditors which may take priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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.

Alternatively, we may propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination. In such case, our shareholders would be required to approve such amendment and we would be obligated to offer to redeem our public shares in connection therewith.

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, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.

Founder Shares

The founder shares are identical to the public shares 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 have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (A) to waive their 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) to waive their 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 (x) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (y) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (C) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein,  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; and (iii) 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 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.

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 (1) with respect to 50% of the founder shares, the earlier of six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination and the date on which the closing price of our common stock exceeds $12.50 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing after our initial business combination and (2) with respect to the remaining 50% of the founder shares, six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier, in either case, if, subsequent to our initial business combination, we consummate a

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liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares 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 warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as described herein, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrantholder may redeem its warrants only for a whole number of shares. This means that only a number in multiples of four of warrants may be exercised at any given time by a warrantholder. 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 pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares upon exercise of a warrant unless shares 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 warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a 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 warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the public shares underlying such unit.

We are registering the offer and sale of our shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants at this time under the Securities Act. In addition, 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 issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to cause such registration statement to become effective and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrantholders 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 warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrantholders 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.

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Once the warrants become exercisable, we may call the warrants for redemption:

 

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 warrantholder; and

 

if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the public shares equals or exceeds $16.50 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period commencing once the warrants become exercisable and ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrantholders.

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 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 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 warrants, each warrantholder will be entitled to exercise its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the public shares may fall below the $16.50 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 warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise its warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, all holders of warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares 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” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the public shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares 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 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 our management does 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.

A holder of a 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 4.9% or 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.

If the number of outstanding public shares is increased by a stock dividend payable in public shares, or by a split-up of public shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding public shares. A rights offering to holders of public shares entitling holders to purchase public shares

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at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares equal to the product of (i) the number of shares 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 shares) and (ii) one (1) minus the quotient of (x) the price per share 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 public shares, in determining the price payable for public shares, 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 volume weighted average price of public shares as reported during the ten (10) trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the public shares 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 warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of public shares on account of such public shares (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 public shares in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of public shares 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 offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision 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 public share in respect of such event.

If the number of outstanding public shares is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of public shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding public shares.

Whenever the number of shares purchasable upon the exercise of the 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 purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares so purchasable immediately thereafter.

In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding public shares (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such public shares), 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 public shares), 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 warrants and in lieu of our shares 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 warrants immediately prior to such event. If less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of public shares in such a transaction is payable in the form of shares 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 warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the Black-Scholes value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants in order to determine and realize the option value component of the warrant. This formula is to

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compensate the warrantholder for the loss of the option value portion of the warrant due to the requirement that the warrantholder 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 warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the 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 warrants. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this 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 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 warrants being exercised. The warrantholders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of public shares and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares. After the issuance of shares upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one (1) vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.

In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares 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 $9.50 per public shares (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 $9.50 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 $16.50 per share redemption trigger price described above will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 165% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants.

No fractional interests in a share will be issued upon exercise of a warrant. 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 public shares to be issued to the warrantholders.

Private Placement Warrants

The private placement warrants (including the shares 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 they will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. Our sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. 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 the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.

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 for that number of shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares 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” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the public shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading

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day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent 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 sell the shares 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 $0.75 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 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 sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private placement warrants (including the shares 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.

 

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

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 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 founder shares immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our initial stockholders at 20.0% 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.

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Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain 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 provides, among other things, that:

 

If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, 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;

 

Alternatively, we may propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination. In such case, our shareholders would be required to approve such amendment and we would be obligated to offer to redeem our public shares in connection therewith;

 

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 or (ii) vote on any initial business combination;

 

Although we do not intend to enter into an initial business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors, our advisors 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 from 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 Nasdaq, 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 Nasdaq, Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination;

 

If our stockholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem

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100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares 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 (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions.

Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

We have opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains similar provisions providing that we may not engage in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:

 

prior to such time, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

 

upon consummation of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced (excluding certain shares); or

 

on or subsequent to such time, the business combination is approved by the Board and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholders.

Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale to the interested stockholder. Subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with that person’s affiliates and associates, owns, or within the previous three years owned, 15% or more of our voting stock.

Under some circumstances, this provision will make it more difficult for a person who is an interested stockholder to effect various business combinations with us for a three-year period.

Our certificate of incorporation will provide that our sponsor and its various affiliates, successors and transferees will not be deemed to be “interested stockholders” regardless of the percentage of our voting stock owned by them, and accordingly will not be subject to this provision.

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 by 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, subject to certain exceptions and unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (b) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, employee, agent to us or out stockholders, (c) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant

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to any provision of the DGCL, the amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (d) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks jurisdiction over such action or proceeding, then another court of the State of Delaware or, if no court of the State of Delaware has jurisdiction, then the United States District Court for the District of Delaware).

 

Although we believe this forum provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware 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, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of Delaware, such action we refer to as a foreign action, in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to (i) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in such court to enforce the forum provisions, such action we refer to as an enforcement action, and (ii) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such enforcement action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such stockholder.

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will state that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the exclusive forum for resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates a concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not purport to require suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act to be brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or another court of the State of Delaware. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all claims brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange 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 our 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 the company 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 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 founder shares.

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

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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. 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.

Securities Eligible for Future Sale

Immediately after the consummation of this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) we will have 12,500,000 (or 14,375,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares of common stock outstanding. Of these shares, the 10,000,000 shares (or 11,500,000 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 2,500,000 (or 2,875,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares and all 7,133,333 private placement warrants (or 7,833,333 private placement warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and the founder shares 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 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 then outstanding, which will equal 125,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 143,750 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full); or

 

the average weekly reported trading volume of the public shares 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

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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, our initial stockholders 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 issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering, requiring us to register such securities for resale. The holders of the majority of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the underwriters may not exercise their demand and “piggyback” registration rights after five and seven years after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, and may not exercise their demand rights on more than one occasion.

Listing of Securities

We have applied to list our units, public shares and warrants on Nasdaq under the symbols “AVHIU,” “AVHI” and “AVHIW,” respectively. We expect that our units will be listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement. Following the date our public shares and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that our public shares and warrants will be listed separately and as a unit on Nasdaq. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on Nasdaq.

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U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

The following is a discussion of the material U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our units, shares of common stock and warrants, which we refer to collectively as our securities. Because once the shares of common stock and warrants commence separate trading the components of a unit are separable at the option of the holder, the holder of a unit generally should be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as the owner of the underlying shares and warrants. As a result, the discussion below with respect to actual holders of shares and warrants should also apply to holders of units (as the deemed owners of the underlying shares and warrants that comprise the units). This discussion applies only to securities that are held as capital assets for U.S. federal income tax purposes and is applicable only to holders who purchased units in this offering.

This discussion is a summary only and does not describe all of the tax consequences that may be relevant to you in light of your particular circumstances, including but not limited to the alternative minimum tax, the Medicare tax on certain investment income and the different consequences that may apply if you are subject to special rules that apply to certain types of investors, including but not limited to:

 

our sponsor, officers or directors;

 

financial institutions or financial services entities;

 

broker-dealers;

 

governments or agencies or instrumentalities thereof;

 

regulated investment companies;

 

real estate investment trusts;

 

expatriates or former long-term residents of the United States;

 

persons that actually or constructively own five percent or more of our shares by vote or value;

 

insurance companies;

 

dealers or traders subject to a mark-to-market method of accounting with respect to the securities;

 

persons holding the securities as part of a “straddle,” hedge, integrated transaction or similar transaction;

 

U.S. holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar;

 

partnerships or other pass-through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes and any beneficial owners of such entities; and

 

tax-exempt entities.

If a partnership (or other entity classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) is the beneficial owner of our securities, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a partner in the partnership generally will depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. Partnerships holding our securities and partners in such partnerships are urged to consult their own tax advisors.

This discussion is based on the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and administrative pronouncements, judicial decisions and final, temporary and proposed Treasury regulations as of the date hereof, which are subject to change, possibly on a retroactive basis, and changes to any of which subsequent to the date of this prospectus may affect the tax consequences described herein. This discussion does not address any aspect of state, local or non-U.S. taxation, or any U.S. federal taxes other than income taxes (such as gift and estate taxes).

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We have not sought, and will not seek, a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) as to any U.S. federal income tax consequence described herein. The IRS may disagree with the discussion herein, and its determination may be upheld by a court. Moreover, there can be no assurance that future legislation, regulations, administrative rulings or court decisions will not adversely affect the accuracy of the statements in this discussion. You are urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the application of U.S. federal tax laws to your particular situation, as well as any tax consequences arising under the laws of any state, local or foreign jurisdiction.

THIS DISCUSSION OF U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TAX ADVICE. WE URGE PROSPECTIVE HOLDERS TO CONSULT THEIR TAX ADVISORS CONCERNING THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF ACQUIRING, OWNING AND DISPOSING OF OUR SECURITIES, AS WELL AS THE APPLICATION OF ANY, STATE, LOCAL AND NON-U.S. INCOME, ESTATE AND OTHER TAX CONSIDERATIONS.

Personal Holding Company Status

We would be subject to a second level of U.S. federal income tax on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company (“PHC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. 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, it is possible that at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income. 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, it is possible that 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, no assurance can be given that we will not be a PHC following this offering or in the future. 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, subject to certain adjustments.

Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit

No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses the treatment of the units or instruments with terms substantially the same as the units for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, therefore, that treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of one share of common stock and one warrant, with each warrant exercisable to acquire three quarters of one share of our common stock. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in this manner and, by purchasing a unit, you agree to adopt such treatment for tax purposes. 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 common stock and the warrant based on the relative fair market value of each at the time of issuance. No statutory, administrative or judicial authority directly addresses how to determine the fair market value of securities, such as the share and the warrant, that are included as part of a unit but that do not trade separately from the unit at such time (which will be the case on the date the units are issued pursuant to this offering). Therefore, 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, we strongly urge each investor to consult its tax advisor regarding the determination of value for these purposes. The price allocated to each share and the warrant should be the holder’s initial tax basis in such share or warrant, as the case may be. Any disposition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a disposition of the share and the warrant comprising the unit, and the amount realized on the disposition should be allocated between the share and the one warrant based on their respective relative fair market values (as determined by each such unit holder on all the relevant facts and circumstances) at the time of disposition. The separation of the share of common stock and warrant constituting a unit should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

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The foregoing treatment of the units and a holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts. Because there are no authorities that directly address instruments that are similar to the units, no assurance can be given that the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Accordingly, each prospective investor is urged to consult its own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit). The balance of this discussion assumes that the characterization of the units described above is respected for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

U.S. Holders

This section applies to you if you are a “U.S. holder.” A U.S. holder is a beneficial owner of our units, shares of common stock or warrants who or that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

 

an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States;

 

a corporation (or other entity taxable as a corporation) 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 includible in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or

 

a trust, if (i) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more United States persons (as defined in the Code) have authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (ii) it has a valid election in effect under Treasury Regulations to be treated as a United States person.

Taxation of Distributions.    If we pay distributions in cash or other property (other than certain distributions of our stock or rights to acquire our stock) to U.S. holders of shares of our 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 that will be applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in our shares. Any remaining excess will be treated as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the shares and will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders — Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” below.

Dividends we pay to a U.S. holder that is a taxable corporation 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, dividends we pay to a non-corporate U.S. holder may constitute “qualified dividends” subject to tax at the preferential tax rate accorded to long-term capital gains. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the shares of common stock described in this prospectus may prevent a U.S. holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements with respect to the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income, as the case may be. If the holding period requirements are not satisfied, then a corporation may not be able to qualify for the dividends received deduction and would have taxable income equal to the entire dividend amount, and non-corporate holders may be subject to tax on such dividend at regular ordinary income tax rates instead of the preferential rate that applies to qualified dividend income.

Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants.    Upon a sale or other taxable disposition of shares of our common stock or warrants (which, in general, would include a redemption of our common stock or warrants that is treated as a sale of such securities as described below, and 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 in the shares or warrants so disposed of. Any such gain or loss will be capital gain or loss, and generally will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. holder’s holding period for the shares or warrants so disposed of exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the shares described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. If the running of the holding period for the shares is suspended, then non-corporate U.S. holders may not be able to satisfy the one-year holding period requirement for long-term capital gain treatment,

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in which case any gain on a sale or taxable disposition of the shares or warrants would be subject to short-term capital gain treatment and would be taxed at regular ordinary income tax rates. Long-term capital gains recognized by non-corporate U.S. holders are currently eligible to be taxed at reduced rates. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.

The amount of gain or loss recognized by a U.S. holder generally is 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 shares of our 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 shares or the warrants based upon the then relative fair market values of the shares and the warrants included in the units) and (ii) the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares of common stock or warrants so disposed of. A U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares 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 or warrant or, as discussed below, the U.S. holder’s initial basis for shares received upon exercise of warrants) reduced, in the case of shares, by any prior distributions treated as a return of capital.

Redemption of Common Stock.    In the event that a U.S. holder’s shares of common stock are redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Common Stock” or if we purchase a U.S. holder’s shares in an open market transaction (each of which we refer to as a “redemption”), the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as a sale or exchange of the shares under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale or exchange of the shares, the U.S. holder will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders — Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale or exchange of the shares, the U.S. holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution with the tax consequences described above under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions”. Whether a redemption qualifies for sale or exchange treatment will depend largely on the total number of shares of our stock treated as owned by the U.S. holder (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. holder described in the following paragraph) relative to all of our shares outstanding both before and after the redemption. The redemption of shares of common stock generally will be treated as a sale of the shares (rather than as a corporate distribution) if the redemption (i) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. holder, (ii) results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. holder’s interest in us or (iii) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the U.S. holder. These tests are explained more fully below.

In determining whether any of the foregoing tests are 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 shares 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 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 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 and the U.S. holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of stock owned by certain family members and the U.S. holder does not constructively own any other shares of our stock (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. holder as a result of owning warrants). The redemption of the shares will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend with respect to a U.S. holder if the 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. However, 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.” A U.S. holder should consult with its own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption.

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If none of the foregoing tests is satisfied, then the redemption will be treated as a corporate distribution and the tax effects will be as described under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions,” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. holder in the redeemed shares will be added to the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining shares, or, if it has none, to the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other stock constructively owned by it.

Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant.    Except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. holder generally will not recognize taxable gain or loss on the acquisition of common stock upon exercise of a warrant for cash. The U.S. holder’s tax basis in the share of 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 the units 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 the U.S. holder’s holding period for the shares received upon exercise of the warrant will begin on the date following the date of exercise or on the date of exercise of the warrants; in either case, the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. holder held the warrant. If a warrant is allowed to lapse unexercised, a U.S. holder generally will recognize a capital loss equal to such holder’s tax basis in the warrant.

The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant are not clear under current tax law. A cashless exercise may be tax-free, either because the exercise is not a realization event or because the exercise is treated as a “recapitalization” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either situation, a U.S. holder’s tax basis in the shares received generally should equal the holder’s tax basis in the warrants exercised therefor. If the cashless exercise were treated as not being a realization event (and not a recapitalization), it is unclear whether a U.S. holder’s holding period for the shares would be treated as commencing on the date of exercise or the day following the date of exercise of the warrants; in either case, the holding period would not include the period during which the U.S. holder held the warrants. If the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the shares would include the holding period of the warrants exercised therefor.

It is also possible that a cashless exercise could be treated in part as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss would be recognized. In such event, a U.S. holder could be deemed to have surrendered a number of warrants having an aggregate fair market value equal to the exercise price for the total number of warrants to be exercised. The U.S. holder would recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the fair market value of the shares received in respect of the warrants deemed surrendered and the U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in such warrants. Such gain or loss would be long-term or short-term, depending on the U.S. holder’s holding period in the warrants deemed surrendered. In this case, a U.S. holder’s tax basis in the shares received would equal the sum of the U.S. holder’s tax basis in the warrants exercised (i.e., the portion of the U.S. holder’s purchase price for the units that is allocated to the warrants, as described above under “— Allocation of Purchase Price and Characterization of a Unit”) and the exercise price of such warrants. It is unclear whether a U.S. holder’s holding period for the shares would commence on the date following the date of exercise or on the date of exercise of the warrant; in either case, the holding period would not include the period during which the U.S. holder held the warrants.

Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, including when a U.S. holder’s holding period would commence with respect to the shares received, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.

If we redeem warrants for cash 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, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants.” The tax consequences of an exercise of a warrant occurring after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the warrants for $0.01 as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Description of Securities — Redeemable Warrants — Public Stockholders’ Warrants” are unclear under current law. In the case of a cashless exercise, the exercise may be treated either as if we redeemed such warrant for shares of common stock or as an exercise of the warrant. If the cashless exercise of a warrant for shares of common stock is treated as a redemption, then such redemption generally should be treated as a tax-deferred recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in which case a U.S. holder should not recognize any gain or loss on such redemption and accordingly, a U.S. holder’s basis in the shares received should equal the U.S. holder’s basis in the warrant and the holding period of the shares would include the holding

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period of the warrant. If the cashless exercise of a warrant is treated as such, the tax consequences generally should be as described under the heading “U.S. Holders — Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant.” In the case of an exercise of a warrant for cash, the tax treatment generally should be as described above under the heading “U.S. Holders — Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant.” Due to the lack of clarity under current law regarding the treatment of an exercise of a warrant after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the warrant for $0.01, there can be no assurance as to which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of the exercise of a warrant occurring after our giving notice of an intention to redeem the warrant as described above.

Possible Constructive Distributions.    The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant 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 to the number of such shares or to such exercise price increases the warrant holders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares 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, such as other securities, to the holders of our shares, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of our shares, in each case which is taxable to the holders of such shares as a distribution (as described under “U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions” above). Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax 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 interest resulting from the adjustment.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding.    In general, information reporting requirements may apply to dividends paid to a U.S. holder and to the proceeds of the sale or other disposition of our units, shares of common stock and warrants, unless the U.S. holder is an exempt recipient. Backup withholding may apply to such payments if the U.S. holder fails to provide a taxpayer identification number, 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. Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules will be allowed as a refund or a credit against a U.S. holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability provided the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

All U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the application of information reporting and backup withholding to them.

Non-U.S. Holders

This section applies to you if you are a “Non-U.S. holder.” As used herein, the term “Non-U.S. holder” means a beneficial owner of our units, shares of common stock or warrants who or that is an individual, corporation, estate or trust and is not a U.S. holder. A “Non-U.S. holder” generally does not include an individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition. If you are such an individual, you should consult your tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership or sale or other disposition of our securities.

Taxation of Distributions.    In general, any distributions (including constructive distributions) we make to a Non-U.S. holder of shares of our common stock, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles), will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Provided such dividends are not effectively connected with the Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and are not attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment under an applicable treaty), we will be required to withhold tax from the gross amount of the dividend at a rate of 30%, unless such Non-U.S. holder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and provides proper certification of its eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, as applicable). 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. Any distribution not constituting a dividend will be treated first as reducing (but not below zero) the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares

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and, to the extent such distribution exceeds the Non-U.S. holder’s adjusted tax basis, as gain realized from the sale or other disposition of the shares, which will be treated as described under “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” below. In addition, if we determine that we are likely to be classified as a “United States real property holding corporation” (see “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants” below), we will withhold 15% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits, including a distribution in redemption of our common stock. See also “Non-U.S. Holders — Possible Constructive Distributions” for potential U.S. federal tax consequences with respect to constructive distributions.

Dividends we pay to a Non-U.S. holder that are effectively connected with such Non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (or, if an income tax treaty applies, are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the non-U.S. holder) will generally not be subject to withholding tax, provided such Non-U.S. holder complies with certain certification and disclosure requirements (usually by providing an IRS Form W-8ECI). Instead, such dividends will generally be subject to regular U.S. federal income tax as if the Non-U.S. holder were a United States resident, subject to an applicable income tax treaty providing otherwise. A Non-U.S. corporation receiving effectively connected dividends may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” imposed at a rate of 30% (or a lower treaty rate).

Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants.    Subject to the discussion of FATCA and backup withholding below, a Non-U.S. holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax in respect of gain recognized on a sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition of our common stock, which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within the required period of time, or warrants (including an expiration or redemption of our warrants), in each case without regard to whether those securities were held as part of a unit, unless:

 

the gain is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by the Non-U.S. holder within the United States (and, under certain income tax treaties, is attributable to a United States permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the Non-U.S. holder); or

 

we are or have been a “United States real property holding corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of disposition or the period that the Non-U.S. holder held our common stock, and, in the case where shares of our common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, the Non-U.S. holder has owned, directly or constructively (including through ownership of warrants), more than 5% of our common stock at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or such Non-U.S. holder’s holding period for our common stock. There can be no assurance that our common stock will be treated as regularly traded on an established securities market for this purpose.

Unless an applicable income tax treaty provides otherwise, gain described in the first bullet point above will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates as if the Non-U.S. holder were a United States resident. Any gains described in the first bullet point above of a Non-U.S. holder that is a foreign corporation may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” at a 30% rate (or lower treaty rate).

If the second bullet point above applies to a Non-U.S. holder, gain recognized by such holder on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our common stock or warrants will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. In addition, a buyer of our common stock or warrants from such holder may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 15% of the amount realized upon such disposition. We cannot determine whether we will be a United States real property holding corporation in the future until we complete an initial business combination. We will be classified as a United States real property holding corporation if the fair market value of our “United States real property interests” equals or exceeds 50% of the sum of the fair market value of our worldwide real property interests plus our other assets used or held for use in a trade or business, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Redemption of Common Stock.    The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a Non-U.S. holder’s shares of common stock generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption of a U.S. holder’s shares of common stock, as described under “U.S. Holders — Redemption of Shares” above, and the consequences of the redemption to the Non-U.S. holder will be as described

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above under “Non-U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions” and “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants,” as applicable.

Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant.    The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a Non-U.S. holder’s exercise of a warrant, or the lapse of a warrant held by a Non-U.S. holder, generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the exercise or lapse of a warrant by a U.S. holder, as described under “U.S. holders — Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant” above, although to the extent a cashless exercise results in a taxable exchange, the consequences would be similar to those described above in “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants.” The U.S. federal income tax treatment for a Non-U.S. holder of a redemption of warrants for common stock will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment for a U.S. holder of a redemption of warrants for common stock, as described above in “U.S. Holders — Exercise, Lapse or Redemption of a Warrant.” The U.S. federal income tax treatment for a Non-U.S. holder of a redemption of warrants for cash (or if we purchase warrants in an open market transaction) would be similar to that described above in “Non-U.S. Holders — Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Common Stock and Warrants.”

Possible Constructive Distributions.    The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant 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. Nevertheless, the Non-U.S. holders of the warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment to the number of such shares of common stock  or to such exercise price increases the warrantholders’ proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares 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, such as other securities, to the holders of our common stock, or as a result of the issuance of a stock dividend to holders of our common stock, in each case which is taxable to the holders of such shares as a distribution (as described under “Non-U.S. Holders — Taxation of Distributions” above). Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax in the same manner as if the Non-U.S. holders of the warrants received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest resulting from the adjustment.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding.    Information returns will be filed with the IRS in connection with payments of dividends and the proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our units, common stock and warrants. A Non-U.S. holder may have to comply with certification procedures to establish that it is not a United States person in order to avoid information reporting and backup withholding requirements. The certification procedures required to claim a reduced rate of withholding under a treaty generally will satisfy the certification requirements necessary to avoid the backup withholding as well.

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. The amount of any backup withholding from a payment to a Non-U.S. holder will be allowed as a credit against such holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability and may entitle such holder to a refund, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

All Non-U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the application of information reporting and backup withholding to them.

FATCA Withholding Taxes.    Provisions commonly referred to as “FATCA” impose withholding of 30% on payments of dividends (including constructive dividends) on our common stock or warrants to “foreign financial institutions” (which is broadly defined for this purpose and in general includes investment vehicles) and certain other non-U.S. entities unless various U.S. information reporting and due diligence requirements (generally relating to ownership by U.S. persons of interests in or accounts with those entities) have been satisfied by, or an exemption applies to, the payee (typically certified as to by the delivery of a properly completed IRS Form W-8BEN-E). The IRS has issued proposed regulations (on which taxpayers may rely until final regulations are issued) that would generally not apply these withholding requirements to gross proceeds from sales or other disposition proceeds from our securities. Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing FATCA may be subject to different rules. Under certain circumstances, a Non-U.S. holder might be eligible for refunds or credits of such withholding taxes; and a Non-U.S. holder might be required to file a U.S. federal income tax return to claim such refunds or credits. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisers regarding effects of FATCA on their investment in our securities.

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THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX DISCUSSION SET FORTH ABOVE IS INCLUDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY AND MAY NOT BE APPLICABLE DEPENDING UPON A HOLDER’S PARTICULAR SITUATION. HOLDERS ARE URGED TO CONSULT THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS WITH RESPECT TO THE TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR COMMON STOCK AND WARRANTS, INCLUDING THE TAX CONSEQUENCES UNDER STATE, LOCAL, ESTATE, NON-U.S. AND OTHER TAX LAWS AND TAX TREATIES AND THE POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF CHANGES IN U.S. OR OTHER TAX LAWS.

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UNDERWRITING

Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the underwriting agreement between us and Chardan, the representative of the underwriters, named below and the sole book-running manager of this offering, 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

Chardan Capital Markets, LLC

B. Riley Securities, Inc.  

 

 

Total

 

10,000,000

 

The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the several underwriters are subject to 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 provides that the underwriters will purchase all of the units if any of them are purchased. If an underwriter defaults, the underwriting agreement provides that the purchase commitments of the non-defaulting underwriters may be increased or the underwriting agreement may be terminated. 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 $0.08 per unit.

The following table summarizes the compensation and estimated expenses that we will pay to the underwriters in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

 

 

Per Unit(1)

 

Total(1)

 

 

Without

Over-allotment

 

With

Over-allotment

 

Without

Over-allotment

 

With

Over-allotment

Underwriting Discounts and Commissions paid by us

 

$

0.55

 

$

0.55

 

$

5,500,000

 

$

6,325,000

____________

(1)

Includes $0.35 per unit, or $3,500,000 (or up to $4,025,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to Chardan for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to Chardan only on completion of an initial business combination.

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If we do not complete our initial business combination within 15 months, which is extendable at our sponsor’s option to 18 months, as described herein, from the closing of this offering, Chardan has agreed that (i) it will forfeit any rights or claims to the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account and (ii) that 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 $500,000.

We have also agreed to pay for the FINRA-related fees and expenses of the underwriters’ legal counsel. In addition, we have agreed to pay or reimburse the underwriters for travel, lodging and other “road show” expenses, expenses of the underwriters’ legal counsel and certain diligence and other fees, including the preparation, binding and delivery of bound volumes in form and style reasonably satisfactory to the representative, transaction Lucite cubes or similar commemorative items in a style as reasonably requested by the representative, and reimbursement for background checks on our directors, director nominees and executive officers, which such fees and expenses are capped at an aggregate of $150,000.

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

We intend to apply to have our units listed on Nasdaq under the trading symbol “AVHIU”. We expect that our public shares and warrants will be listed under the symbols “AVHI” and “AVHIW”, respectively, once the public shares 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 1,500,000 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 Agreements

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 Chardan, the representative of the underwriters, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any units, warrants, shares of common

154


 

stock or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of common stock, 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 issuable upon exercise of the warrants and (4) issue securities in connection with an initial business combination. Chardan, the representative of the underwriters, in its 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 (1) with respect to 50% of the founder shares, the earlier of six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination and the date on which the closing price of our common stock exceeds $12.50 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing after our initial business combination and (2) with respect to the remaining 50% of the founder shares, six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier, in either case, if, subsequent to our initial business combination, we consummate a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial stockholders with respect to any founder shares.

The private placement warrants (including the shares 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”).

Right of First Refusal

Subject to certain conditions, we granted Chardan, for a period ending 12 months after the date of the consummation of our business combination, a right of first refusal to act as book-running managing underwriter or placement agent with at least 25% of the economics for any and all future public and private equity, convertible and debt offerings for us or any of our successors or subsidiaries. In accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(6)(A), such right of first refusal shall not have a duration of more than three years from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

Stabilization

The underwriters have advised us that they, pursuant to Regulation M under the Exchange Act, and certain persons participating in the offering may engage in short sale transactions, 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

155


 

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.

These transactions may be effected on the Nasdaq, in the over-the-counter market or otherwise.

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 are not under any contractual obligation to engage any of the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so. However, any of the underwriters may introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital in the future. If any of the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay such underwriter 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 any of the underwriters and no fees for such services will be paid to any of 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 they are affiliated a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the completion of a business combination.

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 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.

156


 

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 Chardan, the representative of the underwriters, is 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.

157


 

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

The units are not intended to be offered or sold to and should not be offered or sold to any retail investor in the European Economic Area (the “EEA”). For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU, as amended (“MiFID II”); or (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive 2002/92/EC, as amended (the “Insurance Mediation Directive”), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in the Directive 2003/71/EC (as amended, the “Prospectus Directive”). No key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014, as amended (the “PRIIPs Regulation”) for offering or selling the units or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared. Offering or selling the units or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA may be unlawful under the PRIIPS Regulation. This prospectus has been prepared on the basis that any offer of the units in any Member State of the EEA will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Directive from a requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of units. This prospectus is not a prospectus for the purpose of the Prospectus Directive.

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.

158


 

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 “Israeli 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 50million 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), or FIEL, and the Initial Purchaser will not offer or sell any securities, 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.

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;

159


 

 

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.

United Kingdom

This prospectus is only being distributed to, and is only directed at, persons in the United Kingdom that are qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive that are also (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the “Order”) and/or (ii) high net worth entities falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated (each such person being referred to as a “relevant person”).

This prospectus and its contents are confidential and should not be distributed, published or reproduced (in whole or in part) or disclosed by recipients to any other persons in the United Kingdom. Any person in the United Kingdom that is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

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LEGAL MATTERS

Reed Smith LLP, New York, New York, 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 & Williams LLP, New York, New York.

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EXPERTS

The financial statements of Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I as of February 8, 2021, and for the period from January 25, 2021 (inception) through February 8, 2021, appearing in this prospectus have been audited by Marcum LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon (which contains an explanatory paragraph relating to substantial doubt about the ability of Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I to continue as a going concern as described in Note 1 to the financial statements), appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, and are included in reliance on such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

 

 

162


 

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 the 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.

 

163


 

 

ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

 

 

 


F-1


 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Stockholder and the Board of Directors of

Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I (the “Company”) as of February 8, 2021 and the related statements of operations, changes in stockholder’s equity and cash flows for the period from January 25, 2021 (inception) through February 8, 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 8, 2021 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from January 25, 2021 (inception) through February 8, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Explanatory Paragraph — Going Concern

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company’s ability to execute its business plan is dependent upon its completion of the proposed initial public offering described in Note 3 to the financial statements. The Company lacks the financial resources it needs to sustain operations for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the issuance date of the financial statements. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans with regard to these matters are also described in Notes 1 and 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might become necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.

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) (the “PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

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

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

/s/ Marcum LLP

Marcum LLP

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

New York, NY

February 25, 2021, except for paragraph 2 in Note 9 which is dated August 4, 2021.

 

F-2


 

 

 

ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

BALANCE SHEETS

 

 

 

June 30, 2021

 

 

February 8, 2021

 

 

 

(unaudited)

 

 

 

 

 

ASSETS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CURRENT ASSETS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash

 

$

4,045

 

 

$

29,983

 

Deferred offering costs

 

 

69,228

 

 

 

5,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL ASSETS

 

$

73,273

 

 

$

34,983

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDER'S EQUITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CURRENT LIABILITIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

 

$

1,071

 

 

$

1,000

 

Accrued offering costs

 

 

38,351

 

 

 

 

Promissory note - related party

 

 

10,000

 

 

 

10,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

 

 

49,422

 

 

 

11,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total liabilities

 

 

49,422

 

 

 

11,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STOCKHOLDER'S EQUITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock; $0.0001 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized; 2,875,000 issued
   and outstanding (1), (2)

 

 

287

 

 

 

287

 

Additional paid-in capital

 

 

24,713

 

 

 

24,713

 

Accumulated deficit

 

 

(1,149

)

 

 

(1,017

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total stockholder's equity

 

 

23,851

 

 

 

23,983

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STOCKHOLDER'S EQUITY

 

$

73,273

 

 

$

34,983

 

 

 

(1)

Includes up to 375,000 shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5).

 

(2)

Shares of Common stock have been retroactively restated to reflect the recapitalization of the Company in the form of a 1.3333 for 1 stock split (see Note 5).

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

F-3


 

ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the period

January 25, 2021

 

 

For the period

January 25, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

(inception) Through

June 30, 2021

 

 

(inception) Through

February 8, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

(unaudited)

 

 

 

 

EXPENSES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General and administrative

 

 

 

 

 

$

1,149

 

 

$

1,017

 

Total expenses

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,149

 

 

 

1,017

 

NET LOSS

 

 

 

)

 

$

(1,149

)

 

$

(1,017

)

WEIGHTED AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING, BASIC AND

   DILUTED (1), (2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,500,000

 

 

 

2,500,000

 

BASIC AND DILUTED NET LOSS PER SHARE

 

 

 

 

 

$

(0.00)

 

 

$

(0.00)

 

 

(1)

This number excludes an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares of Class B common stock subject to forfeiture if the overallotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriter (see Note 5).

(2)

Shares of Common stock have been retroactively restated to reflect the recapitalization of the Company in the form of a 1.3333 for 1 stock split (see Note 5).

 

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

 

F-4


 

ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional

 

 

Accumulated

 

 

stockholder's

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

paid-in capital

 

 

deficit

 

 

equity

 

Balance, January 25, 2021 (inception)

 

 

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Issuance of Common stock to Sponsor (1), (2)

 

 

2,875,000

 

 

 

287

 

 

 

24,713

 

 

 

 

 

 

25,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1,017

)

 

 

(1,017

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance, February 8, 2021

 

 

2,875,000

 

 

 

287

 

 

 

24,713

 

 

 

(1,017

)

 

 

23,983

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(132

)

 

 

(132

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance, June 30, 2021

 

 

2,875,000

 

 

$

287

 

 

$

24,713

 

 

$

(1,149

)

 

$

23,851

 

 

(1)

Includes 375,000 shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5).

(2)

Shares of Common stock have been retroactively restated to reflect the recapitalization of the Company in the form of a 1.3333 for 1 stock split (see Note 5).

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

 

F-5


 

ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

 

 

 

 

For the period

January 25, 2021

 

 

For the period

January 25, 2021

 

 

 

 

(inception) Through

June 30, 2021

 

 

(inception) Through

February 8, 2021

 

 

 

 

(unaudited)

 

 

(unaudited)

 

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

 

$

(1,149

)

 

$

(1,017

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating

   activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

 

 

 

1,071

 

 

 

1,000

 

Net cash flows used in operating activities

 

 

 

(78

)

 

 

(17

)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Payment of offering costs

 

 

 

(30,877

)

 

 

(5,000

)

Proceeds from issuance of common stock to Sponsor

 

 

 

25,000

 

 

 

25,000

 

Proceeds from sponsor note

 

 

 

10,000

 

 

 

10,000

 

Net cash flows provided by financing activities

 

 

 

4,123

 

 

 

30,000

 

NET CHANGE IN CASH

 

 

4,045

 

 

 

29,983

 

CASH, BEGINNING OF PERIOD

 

 

 

 

 

 

CASH, END OF PERIOD

 

$

4,045

 

 

$

29,983

 

Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deferred offering costs included in accrued offering costs and due to

   affiliates

 

 

$

38,351

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

F-6


ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Note 1 — Description of Organization and Business Operations

Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on January 25, 2021. The Company is a blank check company formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (the “Business Combination”).

The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.

As of June 30, 2021, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from January 25, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed initial public offering (“Proposed Public Offering”), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Proposed Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.

The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a Proposed Public Offering of 10,000,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the shares of common stock included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”) at $10.00 per Unit (or 11,500,000 Units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), which is discussed in Note 3, and the sale of 7,133,333 warrants (or 7,833,333 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $0.75 per Private Warrant in a private placement to Achari Sponsor Holdings I LLC (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 a Business Combination having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into an initial Business Combination. The Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, management has agreed that an amount equal to at least $10.15 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering, including the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”), located in the United States and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7 of 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 funds in the Trust Account, as described below.

The Company will provide its holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “public stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.15 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants. The Public Shares subject to redemption will be recorded at redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Offering in accordance with the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.”

F-7


ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

The Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 immediately prior to or upon such consummation of a Business Combination and, if the Company seeks stockholder approval, a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a stockholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal 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 containing substantially the same information as would be included in a proxy statement 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. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor has agreed to vote its Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Proposed Public Offering (a) in favor of approving a Business Combination and (b) not to redeem any shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a Business Combination or sell any shares to the Company in a tender offer in connection with a Business Combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against, or abstain from voting for or against, the proposed transaction.

 

Notwithstanding the above, if the Company seeks stockholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from 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 has agreed (a) to waive its redemption rights with respect to the Founder Shares and Public Shares held by it in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the Company’s initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination or (ii) with respect to any other provision 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.

 

The Company will have to 15 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering to complete a Business Combination with one three (3) month extension (the “Combination Period”). If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but 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 the Company to pay its tax obligations (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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, 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. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the Company’s warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period.

Alternatively, we may propose an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination. In such case, our shareholders would be required to approve such amendment and we would be obligated to offer to redeem our public shares in connection therewith.

The Sponsor has agreed to waive its liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsor acquires Public Shares in or after the Proposed Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust

F-8


ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within 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 assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Proposed Public Offering price per Unit ($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 vendor for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.15 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 $10.15 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 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”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except 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.

 

 

Going Concern Consideration

At June 30, 2021, the Company had $4,045 in cash and a working capital deficit of $45,377. The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. Management plans to address this uncertainty through a Proposed Public Offering as discussed in Note 3. There is no assurance that the Company’s plans to raise capital or to consummate a Business Combination will be successful within the Combination Period. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

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

The accompanying unaudited financial statements as of June 30, 2021 and for the period from January 25, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021 have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP for interim financial information and Article 10 of Regulation S-X.  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 January 25, 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 any future period.

Emerging Growth Company

The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements

F-9


ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

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

Use of Estimates

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

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

Cash and cash equivalents

The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company did not have any cash equivalents as of February 8, 2021 or June 30, 2021.

Deferred Offering Costs

Deferred offering costs consist of legal, accounting and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering. Deferred offering costs will be allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Proposed Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Upon completion of the Proposed Public Offering, offering costs associated with warrant liabilities will be expensed, and presented as non-operating expenses in the statement of operations and offering costs and associated with the common stock will be charged to stockholders’ equity. 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.

Income Taxes

The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under 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.

ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company

F-10


ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of June 30, 2021 or February 8, 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 deemed to be de minimis for the period from January 25, 2021 (inception) through February 8, 2021 and from January 25, 2021 (inception) through June 30, 2021. The Company’s deferred tax assets were deemed to be de minimis as of June 30, 2021 and February 8, 2021.

Net Loss Per Common Share

Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, excluding shares of common stock subject to forfeiture by the Initial Stockholders. Weighted average shares were reduced for the effect of an aggregate of 375,000 shares of common stock that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters (see Note 5). At June 30, 2021 and February 8, 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 period presented.

Concentration of Credit Risk

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

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.

 

Fair Value Measurements

 

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP stablishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:

 

 

Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets.

 

Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and

 

Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

F-11


ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

 

Derivative Financial Instruments

 

The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”. Derivative instruments are initially recorded at fair value on the grant date and re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statements of operations. Derivative assets and liabilities are classified in the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date.

Recent Accounting Standards

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

Note 3 — Public Offering

Pursuant to the Proposed Public Offering, the Company intends to offer for sale 10,000,000 Units (or 11,500,000 Units if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit will consist of one share of common stock and one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each Public Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share (see Note 7).

 

Note 4 — Private Placement

The Sponsor has agreed to purchase an aggregate of 7,133,333 Private Placement Warrants (or 7,833,333 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.75 per Private Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $5,350,000 (or $5,875,000 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 Private Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase three quarters of one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per full share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7). A portion of the proceeds from the Private Placement Warrants 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 proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.

The Company will account for the 7,133,333 Private Warrants to be issued in connection with the Private Placement Units purchase (or 7,833,333 Private Warrants assuming the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such re-measurement, the warrant liability will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Company’s statement of operations.

 

Note 5 — Related Party Transactions

Founder Shares

In February 2021, our sponsor purchased 2,156,250 founder shares, and in June 2021, we effected a 1.3333-for-1.0 stock split of our common stock, so that our sponsor owns an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares. Our sponsor paid an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, for the founder shares. The Founder Shares include an aggregate of up to 375,000 shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment is not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor will collectively own 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Public Offering (assuming the Sponsor does not purchase any Public Shares in the Proposed Public Offering).

F-12


ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

The Sponsor has agreed that it will not transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until (1) with respect to 50% of the shares, the earlier of six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination and the date on which the closing price of our common stock exceeds $12.50 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing after our initial business combination and (2) with respect to the remaining 50% of the shares, six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier, in either case, if, subsequent to our initial business combination, we consummate a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property.

Promissory Note — Related Party

On January 25, 2021, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note to the Sponsor (the “Promissory Note”), pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000. The Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) December 31, 2021 or (ii) the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering. As of June 30, 2021 and February 8, 2021, there was $10,000 outstanding under the Promissory Note.

Related Party Loans

In addition, in order to meet the Company’s working capital needs following the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s officers and directors or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds from time to time or at any time, in whatever amounts they deem reasonable at their sole discretion (“Working Capital Loans”). Each loan would be evidenced by a promissory note. The notes would be paid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion up to $1,500,000 of the notes may be converted upon consummation of a Business Combination into additional Private Placement Warrants to purchase shares of common stock at a conversion price of $0.75 per Private Warrant. Such Private Placement Warrants will be identical to the Private Placement Warrants to be issued at the closing of the Proposed Public Offering.  

 

Note 6 — Commitments and Contingencies

Registration Rights

The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to an agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of Proposed Public Offering requiring the Company to register such securities for resale. The holders of a majority of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, except short form demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the consummation of a Business Combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. The registration rights agreement does not contain liquidated damages or other cash settlement provisions resulting from delays in registering the Company’s securities. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Underwriting Agreement

The Company will grant the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of Proposed Public Offering to purchase up to 1,500,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Proposed Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions.

The underwriters will be entitled to a cash underwriting discount of $0.20 per unit, or $2,000,000 in the aggregate (or $2,300,000 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 $3,500,000 in the aggregate (or $4,025,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment is exercised in full). The deferred fee will be paid in cash upon the closing of a Business Combination from the amounts held in the Trust Account, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.

F-13


ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Note 7 — Stockholders’ Equity

Preferred Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of $0.0001 par value preferred stock. At June 30, 2021 and February 8, 2021, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.

Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 100,000,000 shares of common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of June 30, 2021 and February 8, 2021, there were 2,875,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, of which an aggregate of up to 375,000 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 Sponsor will collectively own 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock after the Proposed Public Offering (assuming Sponsor does not purchase any Public Shares in the Proposed Public Offering).

 

Note 8 — Warrants

Public Warrants — Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination or (b) one year from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

The Company will not be obligated to deliver any shares pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and the Company will not be obligated to issue shares upon exercise of a warrant unless shares 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 warrants.

The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to cause such registration statement to become effective and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of a 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. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of a 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.

Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the Public Warrants:

 

in whole and not in part;

 

at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

at any time after the warrants become exercisable;

 

upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and

 

if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Public Shares equals or exceeds $16.50 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading

F-14


ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

 

days within a 30-trading day period commencing once the warrants become exercisable and ending three business days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may not exercise its 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 the Company is unable to effect such registration or qualification

If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement. The exercise price and number of shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, except as described below, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuance of common stock at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrants. 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.

 

Private WarrantsThe Private Warrants will be identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units being sold in the Proposed Public Offering, except that the Private Warrants and the shares of Common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Warrants will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, at the holder’s option, and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.

 

The exercise price and number of shares of Common stock issuable on exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, extraordinary dividend or our recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of shares of Common stock at a price below their respective exercise prices. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrants. 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.

 

In addition, if the Company issues additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of a Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.50 per share of common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company’s board of directors, and in the case of any such issuance to the initial shareholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by them 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 a Business Combination on the date of the consummation of a Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Company’s Common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.50 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the greater of (i) the Market Value or (ii) the price at which the Company issues the additional shares of common stock or equity-linked securities.

 

F-15


ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Note 9 — Subsequent Events

The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to February 25, 2021, the date that the financial statements were available to be issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements other than noted below.

In June 2021, the Company effected a 1.3333-for-1.0 stock split of the Company’s Common Stock, so that the Sponsor owns an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares. All shares and the associated amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the shares capitalizations resulting from the stock split.

 

 

F-16


 

 

 

10,000,000 Units

Achari Ventures Holdings Corp. I

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

        , 2021

 

Chardan

Sole Book-Running Manager

Until         , 2021 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that buy, sell or trade our public shares, 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.

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. 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.

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.

 

 

 

 


 

 

PART II

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.

The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:

 

Legal fees and expenses

 

$

250,000

Accounting fees and expenses

 

 

37,500

SEC/FINRA Expenses

 

 

41,118

Travel and road show

 

 

20,000

Nasdaq listing and filing fees

 

 

75,000

Printing and engraving expenses

 

 

35,000

Miscellaneous expenses

 

 

41,382

Total offering expenses

 

$

500,000

____________

Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and officers.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that all of our directors, officers, employees and agents shall be entitled to be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the DGCL. Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law concerning indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents is set forth below.

Section 145. Indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents; insurance.

 

(a)

A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the person’s conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that the person’s conduct was unlawful.

 

(b)

A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or

 

2


 

 

the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.

 

(c)

To the extent that a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith.

 

(d)

Any indemnification under subsections (a) and (b) of this section (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the present or former director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because the person has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Such determination shall be made, with respect to a person who is a director or officer at the time of such determination, (1) by a majority vote of the directors who are not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, even though less than a quorum, or (2) by a committee of such directors designated by majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (3) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, or (4) by the stockholders.

 

(e)

Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in this section. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by former officers and directors or other employees and agents may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the corporation deems appropriate.

 

(f)

The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, the other subsections of this section shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in such person’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office. A right to indemnification or to advancement of expenses arising under a provision of the certificate of incorporation or a bylaw shall not be eliminated or impaired by an amendment to such provision after the occurrence of the act or omission that is the subject of the civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which indemnification or advancement of expenses is sought, unless the provision in effect at the time of such act or omission explicitly authorizes such elimination or impairment after such action or omission has occurred.

 

(g)

A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under this section.

 

(h)

For purposes of this section, references to “the corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under this section with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as such person would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued.

 

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(i)

For purposes of this section, references to “other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to any employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the corporation” as referred to in this section.

 

(j)

The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.

 

(k)

The Court of Chancery is hereby vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all actions for advancement of expenses or indemnification brought under this section or under any by law, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise. The Court of Chancery may summarily determine a corporation’s obligation to advance expenses (including attorneys’ fees).

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers, and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person in a successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, we will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to the court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

In accordance with Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, will provide that no director shall be personally liable to us or any of our stockholders for monetary damages resulting from breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such limitation on or exemption from liability is not permitted under the DGCL. The effect of this provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is to eliminate our rights and those of our stockholders (through stockholders’ derivative suits on our behalf) to recover monetary damages against a director for breach of the fiduciary duty of care as a director, including breaches resulting from negligent or grossly negligent behavior, except, as restricted by Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL. However, this provision does not limit or eliminate our rights or the rights of any stockholder to seek non-monetary relief, such as an injunction or rescission, in the event of a breach of a director’s duty of care.

If the DGCL is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the liability of directors, then, in accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the liability of our directors to us or our stockholders will be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL, as so amended. Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation limiting or eliminating the liability of directors, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to further limit or eliminate the liability of directors on a retroactive basis.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also provide that we will, to the fullest extent authorized or permitted by applicable law, indemnify our current and former officers and directors, as well as those persons who, while directors or officers of our corporation, are or were serving as directors, officers, employees or agents of another entity, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, in connection with any threatened, pending or completed proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, against all expense, liability and loss (including, without limitation, attorney’s fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by any such person in connection with any such proceeding.

 

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Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person eligible for indemnification pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will be indemnified by us in connection with a proceeding initiated by such person only if such proceeding was authorized by our board of directors, except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification.

The right to indemnification which will be conferred by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is a contract right that includes the right to be paid by us the expenses incurred in defending or otherwise participating in any proceeding referenced above in advance of its final disposition, provided, however, that if the DGCL requires, an advancement of expenses incurred by our officer or director (solely in the capacity as an officer or director of our corporation) will be made only upon delivery to us of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such officer or director, to repay all amounts so advanced if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified for such expenses under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or otherwise.

The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses will not be deemed exclusive of any other rights which any person covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may have or hereafter acquire under law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our bylaws, an agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation affecting indemnification rights, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing at the time of such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also permit us, to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law, to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other that those specifically covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Our bylaws, which we intend to adopt immediately prior to the closing of this offering, include the provisions relating to advancement of expenses and indemnification rights consistent with those which will be set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In addition, our bylaws provide for a right of indemnity to bring a suit in the event a claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses is not paid in full by us within a specified period of time. Our bylaws also permit us to purchase and maintain insurance, at our expense, to protect us and/or any director, officer, employee or agent of our corporation or another entity, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not we would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the DGCL.

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our bylaws affecting indemnification rights, whether by our board of directors, stockholders or by changes in applicable law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing thereunder with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision.

We will enter into indemnification agreements with each of our officers and directors a form of which is to be filed as an exhibit to this Registration Statement. These agreements will require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law against liabilities that may arise by reason of their service to us, and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.

Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement to be filed as an exhibit to this Registration Statement, we have agreed to indemnify the underwriters and the underwriters have agreed to indemnify us against certain civil liabilities that may be incurred in connection with this offering, including certain liabilities under the Securities Act.

Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.

In February 2021, our sponsor purchased 2,156,250 founder shares, and in June 2021, we effected a 1.3333-for-1.0 stock split of our common stock, so that our sponsor owns an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares. Our sponsor paid an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share, for the founder shares. The number

 

5


 

of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares of common stock upon the completion of this offering. Such securities were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Our sponsor is an accredited investor for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D.

In addition, our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase from us an aggregate of 7,133,333 private placement warrants (or 7,833,333 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $0.75 per warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $5,350,000 (or $5,875,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). This purchase will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the completion of our initial public offering. This issuance will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.

 

(a)

Exhibits.    The list of exhibits preceding the signature page of this registration statement is incorporated herein by reference.

 

(b)

Financial Statements.    See page F-1 for an index to the financial statements and schedules included in the registration statement.

Item 17. Undertakings.

 

(a)

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriters at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriters to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.

 

(b)

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

(c)

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:

 

(1)

For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.

 

(2)

For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

(3)

For the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser, if the registrant is subject to Rule 430C, each prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) as part of a registration statement relating to an offering, other than registration statements relying on Rule 430B or other than prospectuses filed in reliance on Rule 430A, shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the date it is first used after effectiveness. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or

 

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made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such first use, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such date of first use.

 

(4)

For the purpose of determining liability of a registrant under the Securities Act to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of an undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:

 

(i)

Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;

 

(ii)

Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by an undersigned registrant;

 

(iii)

The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and

 

(iv)

Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.

 

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EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit

 

Description

1.1

 

Form of Underwriting Agreement***

3.1

 

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation*

3.2

 

Form of Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation**

3.3

 

By Laws*

4.1

 

Specimen Unit Certificate*

4.2

 

Specimen public shares Certificate*

4.3

 

Specimen Warrant Certificate**

4.4

 

Form of Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC and the Registrant**

5.1

 

Opinion of Reed Smith LLP***

10.1

 

Form of Letter Agreement among the Registrant and our officers, directors and Achari Sponsor Holdings I LLC**

10.2

 

Promissory Note, dated January 25, 2021, issued to Achari Sponsor Holdings I LLC*

10.3

 

Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC and the Registrant**

10.4

 

Form of Registration Rights Agreement between the Registrant and certain security holders**

10.5

 

Securities Subscription Agreement, dated February 7, 2021, between the Registrant and Achari Sponsor Holdings I LLC*

10.6

 

Form of Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement between the Registrant and Achari Sponsor Holdings I LLC**

10.7

 

Form of Indemnity Agreement*

10.8

 

Form of Investor Agreement*

14

 

Form of Code of Ethics*

23.1

 

Consent of Marcum LLP**

23.2

 

Consent of Reed Smith LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1)***

24

 

Power of Attorney (included on signature page)*

99.1

 

Form of Audit Committee Charter*

99.2

 

Form of Compensation Committee Charter*

99.3

 

Consent of Seth Farbman***

99.4

 

Consent of Harry DeMott***

99.5

 

Consent of Kevin K. Albert***

99.6

 

Consent of Mark A. Pelson***

99.7

 

Consent of Timothy J. Seymour***

 

*

Previously filed

**

Filed Herewith

***

To be filed by amendment

 

 

 

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of New York, State of New York, on the 23rd day of September, 2021.

 

 

 

ACHARI VENTURES HOLDINGS CORP. I

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

 

/s/ Vikas Desai

 

 

 

 

Name: Vikas Desai

Title:   Chief Executive Officer

 

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Vikas Desai and Mitchell Hara his true and lawful attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution and resubstitution for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities to sign any and all amendments including post-effective amendments to this registration statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the SEC, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact or his substitute, each acting alone, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue thereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Name

 

Position

 

Date

 

 

 

 

 

/s/ Vikas Desai

 

Chief Executive Officer and Director

 

           September 23, 2021

Vikas Desai

 

(Principal Executive Officer)

 

 

/s/ Mitchell Hara

 

Chief Financial Officer

 

           September 23, 2021

Mitchell Hara

 

(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

 

 

 

 

9