EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1859310
Filing Year: 2023
Filename: 1859310_10-K_2023_0001213900-23-023197.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1. Business.
Introduction
We are a blank check company incorporated in Delaware in February 2021 for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K as our initial business combination. We may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or sector, but given the experience of our management team, we expect to focus on acquiring a business combination target that is a Minority Owned Business, such that, immediately following the completion of our initial business combination, our company would qualify as a Minority Controlled Business, with an enterprise value of approximately $250 million to $500 million. Management believes that this relative size of target opportunities will enable the Company to pursue companies that are the most attractive from a return standpoint and are less pursued by larger, more established sources of capital.
For purposes of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, references to:
“Minority Controlled Business” are to a business that would qualify for certification as a “minority business enterprise” by the National Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. In general, when non-minority institutional investors contribute a majority of the risk capital (equity) of a business, the business may be certified as a minority “controlled” enterprise if (w) the minority owners own at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the economic equity of the business; (x) minority management/owners control the day-to-day operations of the business; (y) minority management/owners retain a majority (no less than fifty-one percent (51%)) of the voting equity of the business; and (z) minority owners operationally control the board of directors (i.e., must appoint a majority of the board of directors). For purposes of this definition, a minority group member is an individual who is at least twenty-five percent (25%) Asian-Indian, Asian-Pacific, Black, Hispanic or Native American;
“Minority Owned Business” are to a business at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the equity ownership interest in which is owned by one or more minority individuals who are United States citizens or legal resident aliens and both the management and daily business operations of which are exercised by one or more minority individuals. For purposes of this definition, a minority group member is an individual who is at least twenty-five percent (25%) Asian-Indian, Asian-Pacific, Black, Hispanic or Native American.
Business Combination Agreement
On August 30, 2022, we entered into a Business Combination Agreement with Digerati Technologies, Inc., a Nevada corporation (“Digerati”), and MEOA Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of our company (such entity, “Merger Sub”, and such agreement, the “Business Combination Agreement”). The Business Combination Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby were approved by the board of directors of each of our company and of Digerati. The Business Combination Agreement provides, among other things, that Merger Sub will merge with and into Digerati, with Digerati as the surviving company in the merger and, after giving effect to such merger, Digerati shall be our wholly-owned subsidiary (such transactions, the “Business Combination”). In addition, our company will be renamed Verve Technology Corporation.
In accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions of the Business Combination Agreement, as amended, at the effective time of the merger of Merger Sub and Digerati contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (the “Effective Time”), based on an implied equity value of Digerati of $71,080,810: (i) each share of our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time will become one share of the common stock of our company following the completion of the Business Combination (such common stock being referred to herein as “New Digerati Common Stock”); (ii) each share of the common stock of Digerati (“Digerati Common Stock”) outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time (which, for the avoidance of doubt, will include shares of Digerati Common Stock issued upon the exercise of the those certain warrants to purchase shares of Digerati Common Stock that were issued to Post Road Special Opportunity Fund II LP and Post Road Special Opportunity Fund II Offshore LP (together, the “Post Road Warrant”) and upon the conversion of the Series B Preferred Stock and Series C Preferred Stock of Digerati, which exercise and conversions shall occur prior to the Effective Time) will be automatically cancelled and extinguished and converted into a right to receive shares of New Digerati Common Stock; (iii) each share of capital stock of Merger Sub issued and outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time will be automatically cancelled and extinguished and converted into one share of New Digerati Common Stock; (iv) all vested and unvested options to purchase shares of Digerati Common Stock will be assumed by our company and thereafter be settled or exercisable for shares of New Digerati Common Stock; (v) each warrant to purchase Digerati Common Stock (other than the Post Road Warrant, which shall be exercised prior to the Effective Time) will be assumed by our company and thereafter be a warrant to purchase shares of New Digerati Common Stock; provided, however, that those certain warrants to purchase up to 13,534,535 shares of Digerati Common Stock that Digerati issued to four (4) bridge lenders in November and December 2022 (the “Bridge Loan Warrants”) (although they will be assumed by our company) are not part of the implied equity value of Digerati; and (vi) each share of Digerati preferred stock that will remain outstanding following the consummation of the Business Combination will be assumed by our company and thereafter be convertible into shares of New Digerati Common Stock.
On February 14, 2023, the parties to the Business Combination Agreement amended the Business Combination Agreement (the “February Amendment”) to increase the implied equity value of Digerati from $68,680,807 to $71,080,810 to give effect to the issuance by Digerati to Maxim, immediately prior to the Closing of the Business Combination, of such number of shares of Digerati Common Stock as would be exchanged for an aggregate of 240,000 shares of New Digerati Common Stock upon the Closing of the Business Combination as partial compensation for financial advisory services that Maxim provided to Digerati in connection with the Business Combination. The February Amendment also clarified that the shares of Digerati Common Stock underlying the Bridge Loan Warrants would not be part of the implied equity value of Digerati of $71,080,810, and it clarified that none of the shares underlying any of the convertible promissory notes of Digerati that are outstanding upon the Closing of the Business Combination are part of the implied equity value of Digerati of $71,080,810.
On February 24, 2023, the parties to the Business Combination Agreement further amended the Business Combination Agreement to, among other things, extend the Termination Date (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) from February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2023.
The Business Combination is expected to close in the second calendar quarter of 2023, following the receipt of the required approval by our stockholders and the fulfillment of other customary closing conditions.
Digerati, through its operating subsidiaries in Texas, Florida and California that includes Shift8 Networks, Inc., dba, T3 Communications, T3 Communications, Inc., Nexogy Inc., and NextLevel Internet, Inc., provides cloud services specializing in Unified Communications as a Service (“UCaaS”) and broadband connectivity solutions for the business market. Digerati’s product line includes a portfolio of Internet-based telephony products and services delivered through its cloud application platform and session-based communication network and network services including Internet broadband, fiber, mobile broadband, and cloud WAN solutions. Digerati provides enterprise-class, carrier-grade services to the small-to-medium-sized business at cost-effective monthly rates. Digerati’s UCaaS or cloud communication services include fully hosted IP/PBX, video conferencing, mobile applications, Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) transport, SIP trunking, and customized VoIP services all delivered Only in the Cloud™. Digerati’s broadband connectivity solutions for the delivery of digital oxygen are designed for reliability, business continuity and to optimize bandwidth for businesses using Digerati’s cloud communication services and other cloud-based applications. Digerati is a currently a public company, the common stock of which is currently quoted on the OTCQB under the symbol “DTGI”.
The Business Combination Agreement and related agreements are further described in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on September 6, 2022 and in the Registration Statement on Form S-4 originally filed by us with the SEC on November 30, 2022 and amended on February 15, 2022.
Other than as specifically discussed, this report does not assume that the closing of the Business Combination will occur.
Recent Financing Transactions
On April 21, 2021, our sponsor, Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition, LLC, purchased 2,875,000 shares of our Class B common stock, or founder stock, for $25,000 in cash, or approximately $0.009 per share, in connection with our formation. In August 2021, we effected a stock dividend of 287,500 shares of our Class B common stock, resulting in the sponsor holding an aggregate of 3,162,500 founder shares.
On August 30, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of 12,650,000 units. Each unit consists of one share of our Class A common stock and one redeemable warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock for $11.50 per share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $126,500,000.
Simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we consummated the sale of 6,027,500 warrants, or the private placement warrants, at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, in a private placement to our sponsor and to Maxim Partners LLP, generating gross proceeds of $6,027,500. A total of 5,395,000 warrants were purchased by our sponsor and a total of 632,500 warrants were purchased by Maxim Partners LLC.
The proceeds of $128,397,500 from our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants was placed in a U.S.-based trust account maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee.
In connection with the meeting of the stockholders of our company that was held on November 29, 2022 (the “Extension Meeting”), the holders of 11,691,103 shares of our Class A common stock exercised their right to redeem such shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account. As a result of such redemptions, approximately $120.8 million (approximately $10.33 per share), representing approximately 92% of the assets held in the trust account prior to such redemptions, was removed from the trust account to pay such holders.
Business Strategy
Our initial business combination and value creation strategy will be to identify, acquire and, after our initial business combination, implement an operating strategy with a view of creating value for our stockholders through operational improvements, capital infusion or future acquisitions.
We intend to source initial business combination opportunities through our management team’s broad network of investors, entrepreneurs, board members, company executives, lawyers, accountants, brokers and other professionals who manage, provide services to or are involved with Minority Owned Businesses and Minority Controlled Businesses.
Business Combination Criteria
Our business combination criteria will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic sector, but we expect to focus on acquiring a business combination target that is a Minority Owned Business, such that, immediately following the completion of our initial business combination, our company would qualify as a Minority Controlled Business. Our management team will look to identify combination targets which are in need of strategic growth capital, will benefit from becoming a publicly listed company, may require creative business approaches to unlock additional value, or may need to repurchase debt, target strategic acquisitions or require working capital.
We have identified the following criteria that we believe are important and that we intend to use in evaluating initial business combination opportunities. While we intend to utilize these criteria in evaluating business combination opportunities, we expect that no individual criterion will entirely determine a decision to pursue a particular opportunity. Further, any particular initial business combination opportunity which we ultimately determine to pursue may not meet one or more of these criteria. We are seeking business targets that meet some or all of the following criteria:
● are fundamentally sound businesses that have a sustainable business model with the ability to successfully navigate the ebbs and flows of an economic downturn, and changes in the industry landscape and regulatory environment;
● can benefit from the vast network, experience, and guidance of our management team;
● have a defensible market position and demonstrate differentiated competitive advantages with high barriers to entry against new competitors;
● have recurring, predictable revenues and the history of, or the near-term potential to, generate stable and sustainable free cash flow;
● exhibit unrecognized value, desirable returns on capital, and a need for capital to achieve the company’s growth strategy;
● are able to structure around or ring fence exposure to legacy assets to the extent desirable to enhance stockholder returns or reduce volatility of such returns;
● have the potential for strong and continued growth both organically and through add-on acquisitions;
● are at an inflection point and would benefit from a catalyst such as incremental capital, innovation through new operational practices, product creation, or additional management expertise;
● have publicly traded comparable companies that operate in a similar industry sector or which have similar operating metrics which may help establish that the valuation of our initial business combination is attractive relative to such public peers; and
● are positioned to be publicly traded and can benefit from being publicly traded, with access to broader and more efficient capital markets, to drive improved financial performance and achieve key business strategies.
In evaluating prospective acquisitions, we expect, but are not required, to consider primarily the criteria and guidelines set forth above. In addition, we expect to consider, among other factors, the following with respect to any potential candidates:
● The target’s historical operating and financial performance;
● The target’s financial condition;
● The target’s growth potential;
● The experience and skill of existing personnel and availability of additional personnel;
● The target’s brand recognition and potential;
● The target’s capital requirements;
● The target’s internal structure and corporate governance;
● The regulatory environment with respect to the target and its market, and the impact of regulation and potential future regulation on the target’s business;
● Seasonality associated with the target’s business and the ability to offset seasonal fluctuations; and
● The ability to grow the target’s business both organically and through acquisitions.
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
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 that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm 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 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. 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% of net assets test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.
Our Initial Business Combination Process
In evaluating prospective business combinations, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review process that will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews and inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of historical and projected financial and other information that will be made available to us.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our 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.
Members of our management team will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants following our initial public offering and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors were to be included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. However, subject to any pre-existing contractual or fiduciary obligations, our sponsor and officers and directors will offer all suitable business combination opportunities within our area of focus to us before any other person or company until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023.
Members of our management team are employed by or otherwise work with our sponsor or with entities affiliated with it or with other entities. Our sponsor and these other entities and their respective affiliates are continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for an initial business combination; we have not, however, selected any specific business combination target.
Each of our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. All of our directors and officers have agreed to offer all suitable business combination opportunities to our company before any other person or company until the consummation of our initial business combination, subject to any pre-existing contractual or fiduciary obligations they may have. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such other entity. We do not believe, however, that any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our sponsor and our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
We intend to leverage the capabilities of our advisors to assist us with the sourcing and evaluation of potential acquisition candidates. We believe the relationships, experience and expertise of these advisors will provide us with additional access and insight into potential target companies. However, our advisors are not executive officers of our company and have no written advisory agreement with us, nor do they have any other employment arrangements with us. Moreover, our advisors will not be under any fiduciary obligation to us nor will they perform board or committee functions, nor will they have any voting or decision-making capacity on our behalf. Our advisors will not be required to devote any specific amount of time to our efforts or be subject to the fiduciary requirements to which our board members are subject. Accordingly, if our advisors become aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the entities to which they have fiduciary or contractual obligations, they will honor their 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 may modify or expand our roster of advisors as we source potential business combination targets or create value in businesses that we may acquire.
Our Management Team
Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any member of our management team will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the initial business combination process.
We believe our management team’s operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, our management team’s relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our management team in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions.
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. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock in the target business for our shares of Class A common stock (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our shares of Class A common stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. 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.
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 of 1933, as amended, or 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) December 31, 2026, (2) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, (3) the last day of the fiscal year in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (4) 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 ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equaled or exceeded $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30th; or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equaled or exceeded $700 million as of the prior June 30th.
Financial Position
With funds available for an initial business combination, as of December 31, 2022, in the amount of approximately $10.7 million, before payment of deferred underwriting commissions and 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. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public 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 (including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.
If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.
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 (which may include a specified future issuance), 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 may target businesses larger than we could acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public 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, including pursuant to any specified future issuance, 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.
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 Annual Report on Form 10-K and/or the other reports that we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 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 affiliates.
To assist in the process of searching for and selecting a business combination target, in October 2021, we engaged PGP Capital Advisors, LLC (“PGP”), and as part of such engagement, PGP retained Vaughan Capital Advisors (“VCA”) as co-advisor. Pursuant to the agreements that we entered into with such entities for such services, we agreed to pay monthly fees to such advisors in the aggregate amount of $25,000 and to reimburse such advisors for their out-of-pocket costs and expenses. We also agreed to pay to such advisors an aggregate success fee upon the closing of a business combination transaction equal to the sum of: (i) three percent of the transaction value of the target company in such business combination up to $100 million, plus (ii) two percent of the transaction value of the target company greater than $100 million up to $200 million, plus (iii) one percent of the transaction value of the target company above $200 million. The success fee shall be reduced by the monthly fees previously paid to the financial advisors. The financial advisors shall have the option to receive an equivalent dollar amount of warrants and/or shares of our Class A Common Stock in lieu of cash up to twenty percent of the success fee payable.
On August 30, 2022, we amended the agreements with our financial advisors to provide for a $40,000 retainer payment to be paid within forty-five (45) days following the amendment and to provide that if the proposed business combination with Digerati closes, the advisors shall be entitled to an aggregate success fee upon the closing of the business combination equal to two percent of the transaction value of Digerati up to $100 million, with such success fee to be reduced by the aggregate amount of all payments to the advisors prior to the closing.
While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of any professional firms or individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis other than the engagements of PGP and VCA described above, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, particularly if the proposed business combination with Digerati is terminated. In that 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. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our executive officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation by us prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). None of our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be allowed to receive any compensation, finder’s fees or consulting fees from a prospective business combination target in connection with a contemplated initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an initial business combination candidate.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with an initial business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the initial business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with an initial business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
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 M&A transactions of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for our stockholders to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective business target, we expect to conduct a 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.
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 shares of Class A common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of our Class A common stock then outstanding;
● any of our directors, officers or substantial 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 non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination.
The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of Class A common stock or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders 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 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 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 shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account, as of December 31, 2022, was $10,297,411, or approximately $10.74 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. 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 shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the 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 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 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 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 shares of our Class A common stock 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 may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of the 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 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, unless otherwise required by applicable law, regulation or stock exchange rules, 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 our initial public 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, after giving effect to the redemption of 11,691,103 of the 12,650,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering in connection with the Extension Meeting, we would not need any of our remaining outstanding public shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination. 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 the proposed transaction.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of the 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 shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.
Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if we Seek Stockholder Approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our 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 Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” 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 our initial public 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 our initial public 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 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 or proxy materials 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 (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. 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. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced 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 tender offer materials or the date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.
If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed initial business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete an initial business combination with a different target until May 30, 2023.
Ability to Extend Time to Complete Business Combination
We will have until May 30, 2023 to consummate an initial business combination. Pursuant to the terms of our certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as amended in connection with the Extension Meeting, in order to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination during the six-month period between November 30, 2022 and May 30, 2023, our sponsor or its affiliates or designees must deposit into the trust account, for each additional one-month period, $83,333.33, on or prior to the date of the deadline with respect to such one-month extension period. 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.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination
Our certificate of incorporation provides that we will have until May 30, 2023 to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay liquidation 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 on or prior to May 30, 2023.
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 on or prior to May 30, 2023. However, if our sponsor, officers or directors acquire public shares in or after our initial public 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 on or prior to May 30, 2023.
Our sponsor, officers, and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our certificate of incorporation: (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023; or (ii) with respect to any other material 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 Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of the 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 $407,250 (as of December 31, 2022) 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 franchise and income 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 franchise and income taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.
If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution, based on the funds remaining in the trust account as of December 31, 2022, and after giving effect to the redemption of 11,691,103 of our public shares in connection with the Extension Meeting, would be approximately $10.74. 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 $10.74. Under Section 281(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses 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, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver.
In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. 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 (other than our independent public accountants) 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 our initial public 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 $10.15 per public share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We have access to up to approximately $407,250 of funds held outside the trust account (as of December 31, 2022) 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.
Under the Delaware General Corporation Law (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 on or prior to May 30, 2023 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 on or prior to May 30, 2023, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, 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 on or prior to May 30, 2023, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income 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 May 30, 2023 and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.
Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in the underwriting agreement entered into in connection with our initial public offering, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to 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 our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.
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 $10.15 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 certificate of incorporation: (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023; or (B) with respect to any other material 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 on or prior to May 30, 2023, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the initial business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights as described above. These provisions of our certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our 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 on or prior to May 30, 2023.
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 as of December 31, 2022 was approximately $10.74 per public share), including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place, if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 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 on or prior to May 30, 2023, 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 as of December 31, 2022 was approximately $10.74 per public share including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income 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 franchise and income 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.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, 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.
Employees
We currently have two 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.
Periodic Reporting and Available Information
We have registered our units, Class A common stock and public 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 were 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.
Our executive offices are located at 100 Executive Court, Waxahachie, Texas 75165, and our telephone number is (212) 444-7321.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
You should carefully consider each of the risks described below, together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, before making an investment decision with respect to our securities. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flow could be materially and adversely affected and you may lose all or part of your investment.
Summary Risk Factors
The following is a summary of certain material risks of which we are aware. You should carefully consider this summary, together with the more detailed description of each risk factor contained below.
● Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and/or by the military conflict between Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Belarus that started in February 2022.
● 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.
● If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors, and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed initial business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock.
● 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.
● 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 the per share redemption amount initially held in the trust account.
● If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate until May 30, 2023, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination, in which case our public stockholders may receive only $10.74 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
● We may seek business combination opportunities in industries outside of our management’s area of expertise.
● 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 $10.74 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.
● 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.
● 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.
● 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.
● 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.
● Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
● Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
● Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per founder share before giving effect to a stock dividend in August 2021, and, accordingly, our stockholders experienced immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class B common stock.
● 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.”
● We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting could adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.
RISKS RELATED TO THE CORONAVIRUS (“COVID-19”) PANDEMIC AND THE RUSSIAN MILITARY ACTION IN UKRAINE
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The outbreak of COVID-19 resulted in a widespread health crisis that adversely affected 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. We may be unable to complete a business combination if continued or renewed concerns relating to COVID-19 restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors, or the target company’s personnel, vendors, and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which the ongoing effects of COVID-19 impact our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information that 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.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by military conflict between Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Belarus that started in February 2022.
In February 2022, the Russian Federation and Belarus commenced a military action with the country of Ukraine. As a result of this action, various nations, including the United States, have instituted economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus. The impact of this action and related sanctions on the world economy are not determinable as of the date of this report, and the specific impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, as well as our search for a business combination, is also not determinable as of the date of this report. If the disruptions posed by the military action in Ukraine 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.
RISKS RELATED TO VOTING ON THE INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION
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 Annual Report on Form 10-K entitled “Business-Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote 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 our initial public offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions), in favor of our initial business combination. After giving effect to the redemption of 11,691,103 public shares in connection with the Extension Meeting, such stockholders own approximately 74% of our issued and outstanding shares. As a result, we would not need the votes of the holders of any of our public shares to approve an initial business combination. 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 ensure that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval for such initial business combination.
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 Class A common stock or warrants.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors, or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants or a combination thereof in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, they have no current commitments, plans, or intentions to 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 on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing, or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
Our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
After giving effect to the redemption of 11,691,103 public shares in connection with the Extension Meeting, our initial stockholders own shares representing approximately 74% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (excluding shares of Class A common stock that were issued to the underwriters upon the closing of our initial public 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 certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. 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 Class A common stock. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our initial stockholders, is divided into two classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of two 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.
Additional redemptions by our public stockholders will have the effect of further concentrating voting power with our sponsor.
After giving effect to the redemption of 11,691,103 Public Shares in connection with the Extension Meeting, our sponsor owns approximately 74% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock. Any additional redemptions by the holders of our public shares in connection with the closing of the proposed business combination with Digerati, or the closing of any other initial business combination, will have the effect of further concentrating voting power with our sponsor.
RISKS RELATED TO THE REDEMPTION OF SHARES
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, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of the 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 immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of the underwriters’ fees and commissions or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into 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.
Prior to the closing of our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights with respect to our remaining public shares, and therefore we 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 - which are not the case with respect to the proposed business combination with Digerati - 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 may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. Unless otherwise agreed with the underwriter of our initial public offering, the amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to 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 - which are not the case with respect to the proposed business combination with Digerati - 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.
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 Annual Report on Form 10-K entitled “Business - Business Strategy - Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023; and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. 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.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our 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 Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public 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.
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 the per share redemption amount initially held in the trust account.
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 (other than certain of our service providers, including, for example, 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.
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, 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 our initial public 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.
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 on or prior to May 30, 2023 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 May 30, 2023 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 on or prior to May 30, 2023 is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, 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 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 certificate of incorporation does not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of the 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 to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
RISKS RELATED TO PROCESS OF IDENTIFYING A TARGET AND CONSUMMATING AN INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION
Due to 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 $10.74 per share on our redemption of our public shares, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We have encountered intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more industry knowledge than we do, and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are many target businesses we could potentially acquire with the remaining net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, including Digerati, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, because we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of Class A common stock which our public stockholders redeem in connection with our initial business combination, target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. 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 $10.74 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, based on the funds in the trust account as of December 31, 2022, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than this amount 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 the per share redemption amount initially held in the trust account.”
If the remaining net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate until May 30, 2023, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.74 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
The remaining funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate until May 30, 2023, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that the remaining funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate until at least May 30, 2023; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed initial business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.74 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, based on the amount available in our trust account as of December 31, 2023, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than this amount 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 the per share redemption amount initially held in the trust account” and other risk factors below.
If the remaining net proceeds of our initial public 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 franchise and income 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.
As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately $407,250 in cash available to us outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. 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 working capital loans may be convertible into private placement-equivalent warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant (which, for example, would result in the holders being issued 1,500,000 warrants if $1,500,000 of notes were so converted), 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 $10.74 per share on our redemption of our public shares based on the amount available in our trust account as of December 31, 2023, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than such amount 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 the per share redemption amount initially held in the trust account” and other risk factors below.
The securities in which we invest the proceeds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the interest income available for payment of taxes or reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.74 per share.
The remaining net proceeds of our initial public offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants, in the amount of $10,297,411, as of December 31, 2022, and after giving effect to the redemption of 11,691,103 public shares in connection with the Extension Meeting, is being held in an interest-bearing trust account. The proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in U.S. Treasury obligations having a maturity of 185 days or less or in certain money market funds which invest only in direct U.S. Treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. Treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event of very low or negative yields, the amount of interest of income (which we are permitted to use to pay our taxes and up to $100,000 of dissolution expenses) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income. If the balance of the trust account is reduced below $10,297,411 as a result of negative interest rates, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.74 per share.
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 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 successfully able to 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 successfully able to 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.
Since we are not limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
While we intend to seek to complete an initial business combination with an attractive company or business that is a Minority Owned Business, such that, immediately following the completion of our initial business combination, our company would qualify as a Minority Controlled Business, we are not obligated to do so and may also pursue business combination opportunities with other types of business combination targets, except that we will not, under our certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Since we have not yet selected any specific target business with respect to a business combination other than Digerati with respect to the proposed 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 other than Digerati. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development-stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any 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.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries outside of our management’s area of expertise.
Although we intend to focus on identifying an operating company or business that is a Minority Owned Business, such that, immediately following the completion of our initial business combination, our company would qualify as a Minority Controlled Business, we will consider an initial business combination outside of this area if an initial business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company or we are unable to identify a suitable candidate in this area after having expanded a reasonable amount of time and effort in an attempt to do so. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors 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 Annual Report on Form 10-K 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.
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 $10.74 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, based on the funds available in the trust account as of December 31, 2022 after giving effect to the redemption of 11,691,103 public shares in connection with the Extension Meeting, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.74 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 the per share redemption amount initially held in the trust account” and related risk factors.
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, and/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.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our 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 that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm 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.
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 $10.74 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 $10.74 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, based on the amount available in the trust account as of December 31, 2022, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.74 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 the per share redemption amount initially held in the trust account” and related risk factors.
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, particularly Shawn D. Rochester, our Chief Executive Officer, and Robin D. Watkins, our Chief Financial Officer. 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. It is currently anticipated that, following the closing of the proposed business combination with Digerati, the only current officer or director of our company who will remain with the combined company will be Mr. Rochester, who will serve as a director of the combined company. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we employ after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements. In addition, the officers and directors of an initial business combination candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of an initial business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an initial business combination candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an initial business combination candidate’s management team will remain associated with the initial business combination candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an initial business combination candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
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 Class A common stock.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into concurrently with our initial public offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of the founder shares and exercise of the private placement warrants 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 Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the securities owned by our initial stockholders or holders of working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
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. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. As of the date of this report, there are 87,191,875 and 16,837,500 authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance, which amount includes the shares of Class A common stock reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants, including the private placement warrants, but not the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of Class B common stock. There are no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding. Shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A common stock or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of 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 certificate of incorporation provides that we may not issue securities that can vote with common stockholders on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity). We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation. However, our certificate of incorporation provides, 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 certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our certificate of incorporation, may be amended with the approval of our stockholders. However, our executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our certificate of incorporation: (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023; or (B) with respect to any other material 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 our stockholders;
● may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;
● could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and
● may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or warrants.
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, such as 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;
● crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars, including the military conflict between Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Belarus that started in February 2022;
● deterioration of political relations with the United States; and
● government appropriations of assets.
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, our operations might suffer, which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete an initial business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We 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 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 that approximates the per-share amounts in our trust account at such time, which is approximately $10.74 based on the funds available in our trust account as of December 31, 2022. 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 able to complete only one business combination with the proceeds of our initial public 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 our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, as of December 31, 2022, after giving effect to the redemption of 11,691,103 public shares in connection with the Extension Meeting, only $10,297,411 was available to complete our initial business combination and pay related fees and expenses (which includes up to $4,554,000 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 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.
If we have inadequate cash simultaneously to meet the closing requirements of an initial business combination and redeem all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption, we will return all shares submitted for redemption and continue to pursue an alternative transaction.
In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we would not be able to complete the business combination or redeem any such shares, all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption would be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead will search for an alternate initial business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our stockholders may not support.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds 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. Amending our certificate of incorporation with respect to pre-business combination activities will require the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 65% of the public warrants. In addition, our certificate of incorporation requires us to provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023. To the extent any such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
The provisions of our 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. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our 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 certificate of incorporation provides that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our initial public 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 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. Our initial stockholders own shares representing approximately 74% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock as of the date of this report (excluding shares of Class A common stock issued to the underwriters upon the closing of our initial public offering), will participate in any vote to amend our 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 certificate of incorporation which govern our pre-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 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 certificate of incorporation: (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023; or (ii) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, 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.
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 may be required to seek additional financing to complete an initial business combination that is larger than we could acquire with the funds currently available to us for an acquisition. 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 $10.74 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 franchise and income taxes on the liquidation of our trust account, based on the funds available in our trust account as of December 31, 2022, 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 receive only approximately $10.74 per share on the liquidation of our trust account based on the funds available in our trust account as of December 31, 2022, 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 the per share redemption amount initially held in the trust account,” under certain circumstances our public stockholders may receive less than $10.74 per share upon the liquidation of the trust account.
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.
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.
Over the past two years, fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage for special purpose acquisition companies, 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.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets has increased, attractive targets have become scarcer and there is more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
Over the past several years, a significant number of special purpose acquisition companies have been formed. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial business combination. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets have been available, and it may require more time, more effort and more resources to identify a suitable target and to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models has increased, which could cause target companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
RISKS RELATED TO THE TIMING OF COMPLETING AN INITIAL BUSINESS COMBINATION
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 on or prior to May 30, 2023. 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.
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 $10.74 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that we must complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023. 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 ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income 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 $10.74 per share based on the funds available in our trust account as of December 31, 2022, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.74 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 the per share redemption amount initially held in the trust account” and other risk factors below.
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.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM AND SPONSOR
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 public 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 public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay 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 any right, title, interest, or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if: (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account; or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage 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.
Past performance by the members of our management team or entities with which they are or have been affiliated may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.
Past performance by the members of our management team in their other endeavors or the other entities with which they are or have been affiliated is not a guarantee of future success. We cannot assure you that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or that any business combination we consummate will be successful. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team’s performance, or the performance of any other entities with which our management team is or has been affiliated, as indicative of our future performance or how an investment in our company will perform or the returns our company will, or is likely to, generate going forward. None of our management team has had experience with blank check companies or special purpose acquisition companies in the past.
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.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with 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. 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. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination. As of the date of this report, the only officer or director of our company who is expected to remain with our company following the closing of the proposed business combination with Digerati is Shawn D. Rochester, our President and CEO, who is expected to serve as a director of the combined company.
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 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. In particular, our officers and directors may be employed by or otherwise work with our sponsor or other entities that are investment managers to various public and private investment funds, which make investments in securities or other interests of or relating to companies in industries we may target for our initial business combination. Our officers and directors may also serve as officers or board members for other entities. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor and officers and directors are, and may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. Subject to any pre-existing contractual or fiduciary obligations, our sponsor and officers and directors shall offer all suitable business combination opportunities within our area of focus to us before any other person or company until we have consummated our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023.
Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties.
Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into an initial business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. We do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
In particular, our sponsor and its affiliates, as well as other entities affiliated with our officers and directors, may also invest in companies or businesses that qualify as Minority Controlled Businesses. As a result, there may be substantial overlap between companies that would be a suitable business combination target for us and companies that would make an attractive target for such other affiliates.
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 or directors. Our directors also serve as founders, officers and board members for other entities. 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 Annual Report on Form 10-K 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 that is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, regarding the fairness to our stockholders from a financial point of view of an initial business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the initial business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire during or after our initial public offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On April 21, 2021, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share. In August 2021, we effected a stock dividend, resulting in our sponsor holding an aggregate of 3,162,500 founder shares. If unrestricted and freely tradeable, the 3,162,500 founder shares would be valued at approximately $33.7 million, based on the closing price of Class A Common Stock on January 31, 2023. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023. In addition, our sponsor has purchased an aggregate of 5,395,000 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $5,395,000 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 or in connection with a tender offer. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsor, affiliates of our sponsor or an officer or director. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a business combination target, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the combined company resulting from the business combination. If we are liquidated without completing an initial business combination, out-of-pocket expenses advanced by our sponsor or its affiliates and loans made by our sponsor or its affiliates to us would not be repaid to the extent such amounts exceed cash held by us outside of the trust account (which such expenses and loans, as of December 31, 2022, amounted to $1,765,000).
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination.
We may structure an initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share 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.
Our certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers or other employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel, which may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors, officers or other employees.
Our certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers or other employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel except any action: (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination); (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery; (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction; or (D) any action arising under the Securities Act, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall have concurrent jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our certificate of incorporation. This choice of forum provision may make it more costly for a stockholder to bring a claim, and it may also limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims, although our stockholders cannot waive our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.
RISKS RELATED TO SPECIAL PURPOSE ACQUISITION COMPANIES (“SPACS”), GENERALLY
The nominal purchase price paid by our sponsor for the founder shares may result in significant dilution to the implied value of your public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination.
We offered our units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit in our initial public offering and the amount in our trust account was initially $10.15 per public share, implying an initial value of $10.15 per public share. However, prior to our initial public offering, our sponsor paid a nominal aggregate purchase price of $25,000 for the founder shares, or approximately $0.009 per share. As a result, the value of our public shares may be significantly diluted upon the consummation of our initial business combination, when the founder shares are converted into public shares. For example, the following table shows the dilutive effect of the founder shares, after giving effect to the dividend effected in August 2021, on the implied value of the public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination, assuming that our equity value at that time is $5,743,411, which is the amount in the trust account as of December 31, 2022 after payment of deferred underwriting commissions, assuming no interest is earned on the funds held in the trust account and no public shares are redeemed in connection with our initial business combination, and without taking into account any other potential impacts on our valuation at such time, such as the trading price of our public shares, the business combination transaction costs, any equity issued or cash paid to the target’s sellers or other third parties, or the target’s business itself, including its assets, liabilities, management and prospects, as well as the value of our public and private warrants. At such valuation, each of our shares of common stock would have an implied value of $1.34 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, which would be an 86.6% decrease as compared to the initial implied value per public share of $10.00 (the price per unit in our initial public offering, assuming no value to the public warrants).
Public shares 958,897
Founder shares 3,162,500
Maxim shares 158,125
Total shares 4,279,522
Total funds in trust available for initial business combination (less deferred underwriting commissions) $ 5,743,411
Initial implied value per public share $ 10.00
Implied value per share upon consummation of initial business combination $ 1.34
The value of the founder shares following completion of our initial business combination is likely to be substantially higher than the nominal price paid for them, even if the trading price of our common stock at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per share.
Upon the closing of our initial public offering, our sponsor had invested in us an aggregate of $5,420,000, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the founder shares and the $5,395,000 purchase price for the private placement warrants being purchased by our sponsor. Assuming a trading price of $10.00 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, the 3,162,500 founder shares would have an aggregate implied value of $31,625,000. Even if the trading price of our common stock was as low as $1.71 per share, and the private placement warrants were worthless, the value of the founder shares would be equal to the sponsor’s initial investment in us. As a result, our sponsor is likely to be able to recoup its investment in us and make a substantial profit on that investment, even if our public shares have lost significant value. Accordingly, our management team, which owns interests in our sponsor, may have an economic incentive that differs from that of the public shareholders to pursue and consummate an initial business combination rather than to liquidate and to return all of the cash in the trust to the public shareholders, even if that business combination were with a riskier or less-established target business. For the foregoing reasons, you should consider our management team’s financial incentive to complete an initial business combination when evaluating whether to redeem your shares prior to or in connection with the initial business combination.
We are a recently 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 recently formed company with no operating results. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We 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.
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.”
As of December 31, 2022, we had cash of $407,250 and working capital deficit of $2,517,615. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in pursuit of financing plans and our initial business combination. Management’s plans to 2022 up to six (6) one-month extensions to May 30, 2023. We filed a certificate of amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation on November 29, 2022 with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware to effect such extension. As per such extension, an additional $83,333.33 must be deposited into the Trust Account for each month extended. As of the date of this report, an aggregate of $250,000 has been deposited into the Trust Account in connection with three one-month extensions. The funds for such extensions were provided by Digerati pursuant to an agreement dated November 9, 2022 between MEOA and Digerati whereby, among other things, Digerati agreed to provide up to $500,000 to be deposited into the Trust Account to extend the business combination period up to six times (for a total extension of six months from November 30, 2022).
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we had net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and filed a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our initial public 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.
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.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
RISKS RELATED TO BEING PUBLICLY TRADED
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.
Our units, warrants and Class A common stock have been approved for listing on Nasdaq. We cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq 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 of our securities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
● a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
● reduced liquidity for our securities;
● a determination that our Class A common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;
● a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and
● a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our units, warrants and Class A common stock are listed on Nasdaq, our units, Class A common stock and warrants are 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.
We have received a notice from the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department notifying us that we are not in compliance with the market value of listed securities requirement pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(2).
On January 24, 2023, we received a written notice (the “Notice”) from the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) notifying us that for the last 30 consecutive business days, our Market Value of Listed Securities (“MVLS”) was below the minimum of $35 million required for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(2).
In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(C), we have been provided a period of 180 calendar days, or until July 24, 2023, to regain compliance. The Notice states that the Nasdaq staff will provide written confirmation of compliance that we have achieved compliance with Rule 5550(b)(2) if at any time before July 24, 2023, our MVLS closes at $35 million or more for a minimum of ten consecutive business days. The Notice is only a notification of deficiency, not of imminent delisting, and has no current effect on the listing or trading of our securities on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
If compliance is not achieved by July 24, 2023, the Notice states that we will receive written notification that our securities are subject to delisting. At that time, we may appeal the delisting determination to a Hearings Panel.
We anticipate that, as a result of our proposed business combination with Digerati, as contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, the combined company will be subject to meeting all of the applicable Nasdaq initial listing standards. In the interim, we will continue to monitor our MVLS and consider all other available options to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(2). However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(2), or that our proposed business combination with Digerati will be consummated in a timely manner or at all.
RISKS RELATED TO CERTAIN LAWS AND REGULATIONS
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 a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. Our initial public offering was not intended for persons 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 certificate of incorporation: (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023; or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete an initial business combination or may result in our liquidation.
We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used. Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which: (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30th; or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
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 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 have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting could adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our management is likewise required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation of those internal controls. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
We identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting in that, since inception in 2021 to the present, we did not effectively segregate certain accounting duties due to the small size of our accounting staff. As a result of, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2022.
In addition, we identified a material weakness related to an ineffective Financial Statement Reporting Close process where the controls over reconciliations did not identify a material difference during the financial statement close process and resulted in a material error where an adjustment was ultimately recorded. As a result of, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2022.
To respond to this material weakness, we plan to devote effort and resources to improve our internal control over financial reporting. Our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects. For a discussion of the material weakness that management identified, see Item 9a - Controls and Procedures included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Any failure to maintain such internal control could adversely impact our ability to report our financial position and results from operations on a timely and accurate basis. If our financial statements are not accurate, investors may not have a complete understanding of our operations. Likewise, if our financial statements are not filed on a timely basis, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the stock exchange on which our common stock is listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. In either case, there could result a material adverse effect on our business. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock.
We can give no assurance that the measures we plan to take will remediate the material weakness identified or that any additional material weaknesses will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention of these controls. In addition, even if we are successful in strengthening our controls and procedures, in the future those controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of our financial statements.
Changes in SEC regulations or policies may adversely impact our ability to negotiate and complete the Business Combination.
On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules relating to, among other items, enhancing disclosures in business combination transactions involving SPACs and private operating companies; amending the financial statement requirements applicable to transactions involving shell companies; effectively eliminating the safe harbor relating to the use of projections in SEC filings in connection with proposed business combination transactions; increasing the potential liability of certain participants in proposed business combination transactions; and the extent to which SPACs could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, including a proposed rule that would provide SPACs a safe harbor from treatment as an investment company if they satisfy certain conditions that limit a SPAC’s duration, asset composition, business purpose, and activities. These rules, if adopted, whether in the form proposed or in revised form, may materially increase the costs and time needed to complete an initial business combination or impair our ability to complete an initial business combination.
The majority member of our sponsor is Sphere 3D Corp., an Ontario, Canada corporation that is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the trading symbol “ANY”. As a result of this relationship with a non-US entity, it is possible that any proposed business combination may be subject to review by U.S. governmental authorities, which could delay or prevent the consummation of an initial business combination, thereby leading to the liquidation of our company.
Although our sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company, the majority member of our sponsor is Sphere 3D Corp., an Ontario, Canada corporation that is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the trading symbol “ANY”. Due to the fact that our sponsor is controlled by a non-US person, it is possible that we will not be able to complete an initial busines combination with a U.S. target company in the event that the transaction is subject to review by a U.S. governmental entity, such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or such transaction may ultimately be prohibited. As a result, the pool of potential target companies with which we could complete an initial business combination may be limited. Further, if any proposed initial business combination is subject to review by a U.S. governmental entity, the time necessary to conduct such review, or a decision to prohibit the proposed transaction, could prevent us from completing an initial business combination prior to the expiration of the business combination period (as it may be extended), thereby forcing us to liquidate. In such case, our public stockholders may only receive $10.74 per share, based on the amount available in the trust account as of December 31, 2022, or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
RISKS RELATED TO TAX CONSIDERATIONS
An investment in our initial public offering involves uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences.
An investment in our initial public offering involved uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, the Internal Revenue Service could challenge the allocation an investor makes with respect to allocating the purchase price of a unit between the share of Class A common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of Class A common stock included in each unit. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of warrants included in the units is unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our shares of Class A common stock suspend the running of a stockholder’s holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A common stock is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered a “qualified dividend” for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on stockholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite stockholder approval under Delaware law, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a stockholder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the stockholder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to stockholders to pay such taxes. Stockholders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
Unanticipated changes in tax laws may affect future financial results.
We are a U.S. corporation and thus are subject to various U.S. federal, state and local taxes. New U.S. laws and policies relating to taxes may have an adverse effect on our business and future profitability. Further, existing U.S. tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to our company.
In recent years, the federal government has made significant changes to U.S. tax laws, including through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Tax Act”) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) was signed into law, with tax provisions primarily focused on implementing a 15% minimum tax on global adjusted financial statement income, effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022, and a 1% excise tax on share repurchases occurring after December 31, 2022. We may be subject to the new excise tax with respect to any exercise by our public stockholders of their redemption rights upon consummation of an initial business combination. Further, the current administration had previously set forth several tax proposals that would, if enacted, make further significant changes to U.S. tax laws (including provisions enacted pursuant to the Tax Act). Such proposals include, but are not limited to: (i) an increase in the U.S. income tax rate applicable to corporations from 21% to 28%; (ii) an increase in the maximum U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to individuals; and (iii) an increase in the U.S. federal income tax rate for long-term capital gain for certain taxpayers with income in excess of a threshold amount. Congress may consider some or all of these proposals in connection with additional tax reform to be undertaken by the current administration. It is unclear whether these or similar changes will be enacted and, if enacted, how soon any such changes could take effect. The passage of any legislation as a result of these proposals and other similar changes in U.S. federal income tax laws could adversely affect our business and future profitability. Investors are urged to consult with their legal and tax advisors with respect to any such legislation and the potential tax consequences of holding our securities.
Significant judgment is required in determining our provision and our valuation allowance for income taxes and other tax liabilities. Although we believe that our tax provisions are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the final determination of any tax audits or tax disputes will not be different from what is reflected in our historical income tax provisions and accruals. To the extent we are required to pay amounts in excess of our reserves, such differences could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated statement of income for a particular future period. In addition, an unfavorable tax settlement could require use of our cash and result in an increase in our effective tax rate in the period in which such resolution occurs.
A new 1% U.S. federal excise tax could be imposed on us in connection with redemptions.
On August 16, 2022, the IRA was signed into federal law. The IRA provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases (including redemptions) of stock by publicly traded U.S. corporations and certain U.S. subsidiaries of publicly traded non-U.S. corporations. The excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its shareholders from which shares are repurchased. The amount of the excise tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. However, for purposes of calculating the excise tax, repurchasing corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances against the fair market value of stock repurchases during the same taxable year. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the excise tax. The U.S. Department of Treasury has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out, and prevent the abuse or avoidance of the excise tax. The IRA applies only to repurchases that occur after December 31, 2022.
Any redemption or other repurchase that occurs in connection with our initial business combination may be subject to the excise tax. Whether and to what extent we would be subject to the excise tax would depend on a number of factors, including (i) the fair market value of the redemptions and repurchases in connection with our initial business combination, (ii) the fair market value of the shares issued in connection with our initial business combination, (iii) the nature and amount of any equity issuances within the same taxable year of our initial business combination, and (iv) the content of regulations and other guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In addition, because the excise tax would be payable by our company, and not by the redeeming holder, the mechanics of any required payment of the excise tax have not been determined.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR SECURITIES
We did not register the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless.
We did not register the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant 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 reasonable best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration under the Securities Act of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our reasonable best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant 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 this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the financial statements contained herein 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 above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will be required to use our reasonable 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 shares of Class A common stock included in the units. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying shares of Class A common stock for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
If you exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis,” you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
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 of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Second, if our Class A common stock is at any time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our reasonable best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. 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 of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” is the average reported last sale price of the Class A common stock 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 shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
Our warrant agreement designates 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 provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
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 Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we give proper notice of such redemption and provided certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. 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, Maxim or their permitted transferees.
Our warrants are accounted for as derivative liabilities and are recorded at fair value upon issuance with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
We have 18,677,500 warrants outstanding (comprised of 12,650,000 public warrants as part of the units offered in our initial public offering and 6,027,500 private placement warrants). We account for both the public warrants and the private placement warrants as a warrant liability. At each reporting period (1) the accounting treatment of the warrants will be re-evaluated for proper accounting treatment as a liability or equity and (2) the fair value of the liability of the warrants will be remeasured and the change in the fair value of the liability will be recorded as other income (expense) in our income statement. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Our warrants and founder shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued 12,650,000 shares of Class A common stock as part of the units offered in our initial public offering (of which 11,691,103 shares of Class A common stock were redeemed in connection with the Extension Meeting) and, simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we issued in a private placement, private placement warrants to purchase an aggregate of 6,027,500 shares of Class A Common Stock at $11.50 per share. Our initial stockholders currently own an aggregate of 3,162,500 founder shares. The founder shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor or its affiliates, or any of our officers or directors, makes any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be converted into private placement-equivalent warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant (which, for example, would result in the holders being issued 1,500,000 warrants if $1,500,000 of notes were so converted), at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.
To the extent we issue shares of Class A common stock to effectuate an initial business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive business combination vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and reduce the value of the shares of Class A common stock issued to complete the initial business combination. Therefore, our warrants 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 our initial public offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor, Maxim or their permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by us, (ii) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Item 2. Properties.
Our executive and administrative offices are located in Waxahachie, Texas, and are provided to us, rent-free, by an affiliate of our sponsor. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
We are not currently a party to material litigation proceedings, nor, to our knowledge, is any material legal proceeding threatened against us or any of our officers or directors in their corporate capacity.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
None
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
Our units, Class A common stock and warrants are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbols MEOAU, MEOA and MEOAW, respectively. Our units commenced public trading on August 26, 2021 and our Class A common stock and warrants commenced separate public trading on October 18, 2021.
Holders
As of March 14, 2023 there was one holder of record of our units, one holder of record of our separately traded Class A common stock, three holders of record of our separately traded warrants, and one holder of record of our Class B common stock.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. 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 business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offering
On April 21, 2021, we issued 2,875,000 shares of our Class B common stock to our sponsor for $25,000 in cash, at a purchase price of approximately $0.009 per share, in connection with our formation. Such shares were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. At December 31, 2022, there were 3,162,500 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding, after giving retroactive effect to the stock dividend that the Company effected in August 2021, of which 412,500 shares were subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option was not exercised in full. As a result of the underwriters’ election to fully exercise their over-allotment option on August 30, 2021, none of the Class B shares are subject to forfeiture any longer.
On August 30, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of 12,650,000 units. Each unit consists of one share of our Class A common stock and one redeemable warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock for $11.50 per share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $126,500,000. Maxim Group LLC acted as sole book-running manager. The securities sold in the initial public offering were registered under the Securities Act on a Registration Statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-258241), which was declared effective by the SEC on August 25, 2021.
Simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we consummated a private placement of 6,027,500 private placement warrants, at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, to our sponsor and to Maxim Partners LLP, generating gross proceeds of $6,027,500. A total of 5,395,000 warrants were purchased by our sponsor and a total of 632,500 warrants were purchased by Maxim Partners LLC. Such securities were issued pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Following the closing of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, an aggregate amount of $128,397,500 (which amount includes the deferred underwriting discount) was placed in a trust account established in connection with the initial public offering.
Transaction costs amounted to $8,998,713, consisting of $2,403,500 of underwriting fees, $4,554,000 of deferred underwriting fees, $586,779 of other offering costs, and $1,454,434 of the fair value of the representative’s common stock.
In addition, approximately $407,250 (as of December 31, 2022) of cash is held outside of the trust account and is available for the payment of offering costs and for working capital purposes.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account not previously released to us (less taxes payable) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay our franchise and income taxes. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete 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 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 intend to use the funds held outside the trust account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate, complete a business combination, and implement our plan of dissolution.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer
In connection with the Extension Meeting, which was held on November 29, 2022, the holders of 11,691,103 shares of our Class A common stock exercised their right to redeem such shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account. As a result of such redemptions, approximately $120.8 million (approximately $10.33 per share), representing approximately 92% of the assets held in the trust account prior to such redemptions, was removed from the trust account to pay such holders.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item 6. Reserved
Not applicable

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
References to the “Company,” “Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Inc.,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Inc. The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this Annual Report, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those made, projected or implied in the forward-looking statements. Please see the “Risk Factors” section for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Such statements include, but are not limited to, possible business combinations and the financing thereof, and related matters, as well as all other statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Form 10-K. The Company’s securities filings can be accessed on the EDGAR section of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC’s”) website at www.sec.gov. Except as expressly required by applicable securities law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated on February 18, 2021 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 (the “Business Combination”).
Our sponsor is Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The registration statement for our initial public offering was declared effective on August 25, 2021. On August 30, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) of 12,650,000 Units, which included the full exercise by the underwriters of the over-allotment option to purchase an additional 1,650,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $126,500,000. Transaction costs amounted to $8,998,713, consisting of $2,403,500 of underwriting fees, $4,554,000 of deferred underwriting fees, $586,779 of other offering costs, and $1,454,434 of the fair value of the representative’s common stock. Of the $8,998,713 aggregate transaction costs, $741,209 was allocated to expense associated with the warrant liability.
We issued 158,125 shares of Class A common stock, with a fair value of $1,454,434, to Maxim, the representative of the underwriters, which is deemed compensation by FINRA and therefore subject to a lock-up for a period of 180 days immediately following the commencement of sales of the IPO. Additionally, Maxim has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any such shares until the completion of our initial Business Combination. In addition, Maxim has agreed (i) to waive its redemption rights with respect to such shares in connection with the completion of our initial Business Combination and (ii) to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such shares if we fail to complete our initial Business Combination on or prior to May 30, 2023.
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, we consummated the sale of an aggregate of 6,027,500 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per warrant in a private placement to our Sponsor and to Maxim Partners LLC, generating gross proceeds to us of $6,027,500. A total of 5,395,000 Private Placement Warrants were issued to the Sponsor and a total of 632,500 Private Placement Warrants were issued to Maxim Partners LLC.
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, an amount of $128,397,500 ($10.15 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the IPO and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) and will only be invested 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. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account that may be released to our company to pay our franchise and income tax obligations (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), the proceeds from the IPO 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 certificate of incorporation: (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of the public shares if we do not complete the initial Business Combination on or prior to May 30, 2023; or (ii) with respect to any other material provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-Business Combination activity; and (c) the redemption of the public shares if we are unable to complete the initial Business Combination on or prior to May 30, 2023, subject to applicable law. In connection with the Extension Meeting, the holders of 11,691,103 public shares exercised their right to redeem such shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account. As a result of such redemptions, approximately $120.8 million (approximately $10.33 per share), representing approximately 92% of the assets held in the Trust Account prior to such redemptions, was removed from the Trust Account to pay such holders.
Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial 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.
We will have until May 30, 2023 to complete the initial Business Combination. Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, each as amended in connection with the Extension Meeting, a deposit in the amount of $83,333.33 must be made into the Trust Account for each month extended during the six month period from November 30, 2022 to May 30, 2023. 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. If we are unable to complete the initial Business Combination on or prior to May 30, 2023, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible, but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay the franchise and income 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 the 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 the warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete the initial Business Combination on or prior to May 30, 2023.
Business Combination Agreement
On August 30, 2022, we entered into the Business Combination Agreement with Digerati Technologies, Inc. (“Digerati”) and MEOA Merger Sub, Inc. (“Merger Sub”). The Business Combination Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby were approved by the board of directors of each of our company and Digerati. The Business Combination Agreement provides for, among other things, the merger of Merger Sub with and into Digerati, with Digerati as the surviving company in the merger and, after giving effect to such merger, Digerati becoming our wholly-owned subsidiary. In addition, we will be renamed Verve Technology Corporation upon the consummation of the Business Combination.
In accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions of the Business Combination Agreement, at the Effective Time, based on an implied equity value of Digerati of $71,080,810: (i) each share of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time will become one share of New Digerati Common Stock; (ii) each share of the common stock of Digerati outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time (which, for the avoidance of doubt, will include shares of the common stock of Digerati issued upon the exercise of the Post Road Warrant and upon the conversion of Digerati’s outstanding shares of Series B Preferred Stock and Series C Preferred Stock, which exercise and conversions shall occur prior to the Effective Time) will be automatically cancelled and extinguished and converted into a right to receive shares of New Digerati Common Stock; (iii) each share of capital stock of Merger Sub issued and outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time will be automatically cancelled and extinguished and converted into one share of New Digerati Common Stock; (iv) all vested and unvested options to purchase Digerati common stock will be assumed by our company and thereafter be settled or exercisable for shares of New Digerati Common Stock; (v) each warrant to purchase shares of Digerati common stock (other than the Post Road Warrant, which shall be exercised prior to the Effective Time) will be assumed by our company and thereafter be a warrant to purchase shares of New Digerati Common Stock; (provided, however, that those certain warrants to purchase up to 13,534,535 shares of Digerati Common Stock that Digerati issued to four (4) bridge lenders in November and December 2022 (the “Bridge Loan Warrants”) (although they will be assumed by our company) are not part of the implied equity value of Digerati; and (vi) each share of Digerati preferred stock that will remain outstanding after the Effective Time will be assumed by our company and thereafter be convertible into shares of New Digerati Common Stock.
On February 14, 2023, the parties to the Business Combination Agreement amended the Business Combination Agreement (the “February Amendment”) to increase the implied equity value of Digerati from $68,680,807 to $71,080,810 to give effect to the issuance by Digerati to Maxim, immediately prior to the Closing of the Business Combination, of such number of shares of Digerati Common Stock as would be exchanged for an aggregate of 240,000 shares of New Digerati Common Stock upon the Closing of the Business Combination as partial compensation for financial advisory services that Maxim provided to Digerati in connection with the Business Combination. The February Amendment also clarified that the shares of Digerati Common Stock underlying the Bridge Loan Warrants would not be part of the implied equity value of Digerati of $71,080,810, and it clarified that none of the shares underlying any of the convertible promissory notes of Digerati that are outstanding upon the Closing of the Business Combination are part of the implied equity value of Digerati of $71,080,810.
On February 24, 2023, the parties to the Business Combination Agreement further amended the Business Combination Agreement to, among other things, extend the Termination Date (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) from February 25, 2023 to April 28, 2023.
The Business Combination is expected to close in the second calendar quarter of 2023, following the receipt of the required approval by our stockholders and the fulfillment of other customary closing conditions.
Recent Developments
On August 30, 2022, an affiliate of our sponsor funded an extension loan in the amount of $1,265,000 and caused such amount to be deposited into the Trust Account in order provide additional time for our company to complete an initial business combination. The loan is unsecured and non-interest bearing. If we complete an initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023, we will, at the option of our sponsor (or its affiliate), (i) repay the extension loan out of the proceeds of our Trust Account that are released to our company, or (ii) convert a portion or all of the loan into warrants to purchase shares of our common stock at a price of $1.00 per warrant, which warrants will be identical to the Private Placement Warrants issued to our sponsor at the time of our IPO. If we do not complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023, we will only repay the extension loan from funds held outside of our Trust Account.
On September 3, 2021, an affiliate of our sponsor funded a working capital loan in the amount of up to $500,000. The loan is unsecured and non-interest bearing. If we complete an initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023, we will, at the option of our sponsor (or its affiliate), (i) repay the loan out of the proceeds of our Trust Account that are released to our company, or (ii) convert a portion or all of the loan into warrants to purchase shares of our common stock at a price of $1.00 per warrant, which warrants will be identical to the Private Placement Warrants issued to our sponsor at the time of our IPO. If we do not complete our initial business combination on or prior to May 30, 2023, we will only repay the working capital loan from funds held outside of our Trust Account.
At the Extension Meeting, our stockholders approved an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the date by which we must consummate an initial business combination from November 30, 2022 up to six (6) one-month extensions to May 30, 2023. We filed a certificate of amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation on November 29, 2022 with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware to effect such extension. As per such extension, an additional $83,333.33 must be deposited into the Trust Account for each month extended. As of the date of this report, an aggregate of $250,000 has been deposited into the Trust Account in connection with three one-month extensions. The funds for such extensions were provided by Digerati pursuant to an agreement dated November 9, 2022 between MEOA and Digerati whereby, among other things, Digerati agreed to provide up to $500,000 to be deposited into the Trust Account to extend the business combination period up to six times (for a total extension of six months from November 30, 2022).
Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern Considerations
As of December 31, 2022, we had $407,250 in cash and working capital deficit of $2,517,615.
Our liquidity needs up to December 31, 2022 had been satisfied through a capital contribution from our Sponsor of $25,000 for the founder shares and the loan under an unsecured promissory note from our Sponsor of up to $300,000. After consummation of the IPO on August 30, 2021, we had approximately $1.6 million in our operating bank account, and working capital of approximately $0.8 million. On September 3, 2021, the Sponsor agreed to provide us with loans in such amounts as may be required to fund our working capital requirements up to an aggregate of $500,000. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, provide us Working Capital Loans.
On February 28, 2022, March 21, 2022, and September 19, 2022, our Sponsor (or an affiliate of our Sponsor) agreed to loan to us $174,000, $163,000, and $163,000, respectively, as part of the Working Capital Loans. The promissory notes are non-interest bearing and payable upon consummation of our initial Business Combination. At the lender’s discretion, the promissory notes may be repayable in warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant. As of December 31, 2022, there was $500,000 of borrowings. We assessed the provisions of the convertible promissory notes under ASC 815-15. The derivative component of the obligations is initially valued and classified as derivative liabilities with an offset to a discount on the promissory notes. To calculate the value of the embedded derivative the Monte Carlo Model was utilized to fair value the underlying warrants and the compound option. The fair value of the conversion feature was zero at the dates of issuance and at December 31, 2022.
Based on the foregoing, management believes that we will not have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity to meet our needs through the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination or May 30, 2023. Over this time period, we will be using these funds for paying existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective initial Business Combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination.
We are within 12 months of our mandatory liquidation date as of the time of filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In connection with our assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” we have until May 30, 2023 to consummate a Business Combination. It is uncertain that we will be able to consummate a Business Combination by this time. If a Business Combination is not consummated by this date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of our company. Management has determined that insufficient working capital and the mandatory liquidation, should a Business Combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
The consolidated financial statements included in this report do not include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should we be unable to continue as a going concern.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian military action in Ukraine and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus and/or such military action could have a negative effect on our financial position, results of its operations, and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the consolidated financial statements included in this report. The consolidated financial statements included in this report do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IR Act”) was signed into federal law. The IR Act provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases of stock by publicly traded U.S. domestic corporations and certain U.S. domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign corporations occurring on or after January 1, 2023. The excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its shareholders from which shares are repurchased. The amount of the excise tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. However, for purposes of calculating the excise tax, repurchasing corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances against the fair market value of stock repurchases during the same taxable year. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the excise tax. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out and prevent the abuse or avoidance of the excise tax.
Any redemption or other repurchase that occurs after December 31, 2022, in connection with a Business Combination, extension vote or otherwise, may be subject to the excise tax. Whether and to what extent we would be subject to the excise tax in connection with a Business Combination, extension vote or otherwise would depend on a number of factors, including (i) the fair market value of the redemptions and repurchases in connection with the Business Combination, extension or otherwise, (ii) the structure of a Business Combination, (iii) the nature and amount of any “PIPE” or other equity issuances in connection with a Business Combination (or otherwise issued not in connection with a Business Combination but issued within the same taxable year of a Business Combination) and (iv) the content of regulations and other guidance from the Treasury. In addition, because the excise tax would be payable by us and not by the redeeming holder, the mechanics of any required payment of the excise tax have not been determined. The foregoing could cause a reduction in the cash available on hand to complete a Business Combination and in our ability to complete a Business Combination.
Results of Operations
As of December 31, 2022, we had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from February 18, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2022 relates to our formation and the Initial Public Offering and search for a target for our initial Business Combination. We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. We will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our initial Business Combination, at the earliest. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering. We expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, we had a net income of $5,940,296, which included a gain from the change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $6,659,839, benefit from income tax of $253,660, capital gains on trust of $8 and interest income earned on cash held in Trust Account of $1,515,362, offset by formation and operating costs of $2,006,244.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt obligations, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations, purchase obligations or long-term liabilities.
Administrative Services Agreement
On August 25, 2021, we entered into an Administrative Support Agreement (the “Support Agreement”) with Sphere 3D Corp. (“Sphere”), an affiliate of our Sponsor, pursuant to which we agreed that, commencing on the date that our securities were first listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market, we would pay to Sphere $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support services. Upon the earlier of the completion of the initial Business Combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying such monthly fees. The Support Agreement was amended on May 16, 2022, at which time we and Sphere agreed that, notwithstanding anything in the Support Agreement to the contrary, the monthly payment referenced in clause (i) of the Support Agreement shall, beginning with respect to the monthly period that began on February 26, 2022 and ended on March 25, 2022, and continuing thereafter until the earlier of the consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation, accrue without interest thereon and be due and payable on the earlier of the consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation. The Support Agreement was further amended on January 17, 2023 to provide that we would pay to Sphere an amount equal to $100,000 to be applied against accrued payments under the Support Agreement plus up to an additional amount equal to $25,000 to be applied against any remaining accrued payments, with the balance to be applied against future fees under the Support Agreement.
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, the shares of Class A common stock that were issued to the representative of the underwriters in the IPO, Private Placement Warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans and/or Extension Loans (and any shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans and/or Extension Loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement dated August 25, 2021, requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to Class A Common Stock). The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the initial Business Combination. 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 for the IPO and may not exercise their demand rights on more than one occasion.
Underwriting Agreement
The underwriter had a 45-day option from the date of the IPO to purchase up to an aggregate of 1,650,000 additional Units at the public offering price less the underwriting commissions to cover over-allotments, if any. On August 30, 2021, the underwriter fully exercised its over-allotment option.
The underwriter is entitled to a deferred underwriting discount of 3.6% of the gross proceeds of the Initial Public Offering, which included the exercise of the over-allotment option, or $4,554,000, held in the Trust Account upon the completion of our initial Business Combination subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement. On August 30, 2022, we amended the underwriting agreement to reflect a commission value equal to the product of (i) $4,554,000 and (ii) one (1) minus the quotient resulting by dividing the percentage of redemptions of all public shares that were originally issued in the Initial Public Offering by two (2). Additionally, the payment of the deferred underwriting commission shall be paid in cash but shall be subordinate to the payments of up to $2,500,000 of Sponsor loans to our company and up to $2,500,000 of debt repayment to other parties.
Financial Advisory Agreements
In November 2021, we entered into agreements with PGP Capital Advisors and Vaughan Capital Advisors whereby such entities would provide financial advisory services to our company. Pursuant to such agreements, we would pay monthly fees to such advisors in the aggregate amount of $25,000 and would reimburse such advisors for their out-of-pocket costs and expenses. We also agreed to pay to such advisors an aggregate success fee upon the closing of a business combination transaction equal to the sum of: (i) three percent (3%) of the transaction value of the target company in such business combination up to $100 million, plus (ii) two percent (2%) of the transaction value of the target company greater than $100 million up to $200 million, plus (iii) one percent (1%) of the transaction value of the target company above $200 million. The success fee shall be reduced by the monthly fees previously paid to the financial advisors. The financial advisors shall have the option to receive an equivalent dollar amount of warrants and/or shares of our Class A common stock in lieu of cash up to twenty percent (20%) of the success fee payable.
On August 30, 2022, we amended the agreements with our financial advisors to provide for a $40,000 retainer payment to be paid within forty-five (45) days following the amendment and to provide that if the proposed Business Combination with Digerati closes, the advisors shall be entitled to an aggregate success fee upon the closing of the Business Combination equal to two percent (2%) of the transaction value of Digerati up to $100 million, with such success fee to be reduced by the aggregate amount of all payments to the advisors prior to the closing.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.
Critical Accounting Policies
Offering Costs
We comply with the requirements of ASC 340-10-S99-1. Deferred offering costs consists of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Public Offering. Offering costs are allocated to the separable financial instruments to be issued in the IPO based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Upon closing of the IPO on August 30, 2021, offering costs associated with warrant liabilities were expensed, and offering costs associated with the Class A common stock were charged to temporary equity. Transaction costs amounted to $8,998,713, of which $741,209 were allocated to expense associated with the warrant liability.
Convertible Instruments
We account for our promissory notes that feature conversion options in accordance with ASC No. 815, Derivatives and Hedging Activities (“ASC No. 815”). ASC No. 815 requires companies to bifurcate conversion options from their host instruments and account for them as freestanding derivative financial instruments according to certain criteria. The criteria includes circumstances in which (a) the economic characteristics and risks of the embedded derivative instrument are not clearly and closely related to the economic characteristics and risks of the host contract, (b) a promissory note that embodies both the embedded derivative instrument and the host contract is not re-measured at fair value under otherwise applicable GAAP with changes in fair value reported in earnings as they occur and (c) a separate instrument with the same terms as the embedded derivative instrument would be considered a derivative instrument.
Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
We account for our Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to possible redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) is classified in temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. Our Class A common stock feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2022, the 958,897 shares of Class A common stock is presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ deficit section of our balance sheets. There was no change to redemption value at December 31, 2022 since the incurred taxes exceed the interest earned inception to date. The dissolution expense of $100,000 is not included in the redemption value of the shares subject to possible redemption since it is only taken into account in the event of our liquidation. In connection with the Extension Meeting, stockholders holding 11,691,103 public shares exercised their right to redeem such shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account. As a result of such redemptions, approximately $120.8 million (approximately $10.33 per share), representing approximately 92% of the assets held in the Trust Account prior to such redemptions, was removed from the Trust Account to pay such holders.
Net Income (Loss) Per Common Stock
We have two classes of shares, Class A common stock and Class B common stock. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. We have not considered the effect of the outstanding warrants to purchase 18,677,500 shares of Class A common stock in the calculation of diluted income per share, since their exercise is contingent upon future events. As a result, diluted net income per common stock is the same as basic net income per common stock for the periods.
Derivative Financial Instruments
We evaluated the 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 sheets 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.
Warrant Liability
We evaluated the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants to be issued in the IPO (collectively, “Warrants”) in accordance with ASC 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging - Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity” and concluded that a provision in the Warrant Agreement related to certain tender or exchange offers precludes the Warrants from being accounted for as components of equity. As the Warrants meet the definition of a derivative as contemplated in ASC 815, the Warrants will be recorded as derivative liabilities on the balance sheets and measured at fair value at inception (on the date of the IPO) and at each reporting date in accordance with ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement”, with changes in fair value recognized in the statements of operations in the period of change.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2022, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
Inflation
We do not believe that inflation had a material impact on our business, revenues or operating results during the period presented.
Emerging Growth Company Status
We are 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 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 its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, 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 our financial statement 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.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Not applicable

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
The Financial Statements of the Company, the Notes thereto and the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm thereon required by this Item 8 begin on page of this Annual Report on Form 10-K located immediately following the signature page.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this Report, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management evaluated, with the participation of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer (our “Certifying Officers”), the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2022, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, our Certifying Officers concluded that, as of December 31, 2022, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective.
Specifically, management’s determination was based on the following material weaknesses which existed as of December 31, 2022. Since inception in 2021 to the present, we did not effectively segregate certain accounting duties due to the small size of our accounting staff. In addition, we restated our financial statements as of August 25, 2021 regarding the classification of redeemable Class A Shares, which constitutes a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. Regarding the restatement our balance sheet included in our Form 8-K, as filed with the SEC on September 3, 2021, certain redemption provisions not solely within our control require common stock subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. We had previously classified a portion of the Class A common stock in permanent equity. We restated our financial statements to classify all Class A common stock as temporary equity and any related impact, as the threshold in our charter would not change the nature of the underlying shares as redeemable and thus would be required to be disclosed outside of permanent equity.
In addition, we identified a material weakness related to an ineffective Financial Statement Reporting Close process where the controls over reconciliations did not identify a material difference during the financial statement close process and resulted in a material error where an adjustment was ultimately recorded. As a result of, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2022.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of control deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Notwithstanding the determination that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective, as of December 31, 2022, and that there were material weaknesses as identified in this Annual Report, we believe that our consolidated financial statements contained in this Annual Report fairly present our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the years covered hereby in all material respects.
To respond to this material weakness, we have devoted, and plan to continue to devote, significant effort and resources to the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements, we plan to enhance these processes to better evaluate and understand the nuances of the complex accounting standards that apply to our financial statements. Our plans at this time include providing enhanced access to accounting literature, research materials and documents and increased communication among our personnel and third-party service providers.
We do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors and all instances of fraud. Disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
In light of these material weaknesses, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our audited financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Accordingly, management believes that the audited financial statements included in this Annual Report present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B. Other Information.
None

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Officers and Directors
Our officers and directors are as follows:
Name
Age
Position
Shawn D. Rochester
Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of the Board of Directors
Robin D. Watkins
Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, Secretary and Director
Ronald D. Busby, Sr.
Director
Patrick F. Linehan
Director
Julianne Malveaux
Director
Shawn D. Rochester. Mr. Rochester is our President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Rochester has served as Chief Executive Officer of Good Steward LLC and as Founder of PHD Enterprises since June 2013, and he served as Vice Chairman of Highland Poe from April 2021 to September 2021. Good Steward LLC, PHD Enterprises and Highland Poe provide, collectively, services relating to financial consulting, economic advocacy, corporate strategy and equitable growth. He is also a sought-after speaker, an economic development advocate and the author of the critically acclaimed book, The Black Tax: The Cost of Being Black in America, which book is a data-driven, evidence-based account of the massive systemic financial burden Black Americans have endured since the early 1600s. Since his book’s debut, Mr. Rochester has advised Fortune 100 C-suite executives and given presentations before state legislatures and the United Nations on how his PHD economic framework leads to truly inclusive and equitable economic strategies that drive jobs, business and capital strategies that spur a stronger U.S. and international eco-system. Mr. Rochester has received citations from the New York State Assembly and the New York City Council for his work in economic development and was also selected by the International Human Rights Commission Relief Fund Trust (IHRC-RFT) to be listed in its 2019 almanac as one of the Top 100 Human Rights Defenders for his efforts to educate people on the financial cost of discrimination (past and present) against members of the African Diaspora in America. During his time in the private sector, from October 2007 to May 2013, Mr. Rochester served as the Global Director of New Business Development for Amphenol Corporation’s AITC Group, responsible for mergers, acquisitions and identifying new growth opportunities for a substantial portfolio of businesses covering the IT and Data Communications marketplace. Earlier in his career, Mr. Rochester worked for IBM Corporation in Corporate Development, Finance & Planning, and Treasury. Mr. Rochester also was a member of IBM’s Emerging Business Opportunities (EBO) program, where he worked with various global general managers to identify, fund and monitor businesses that represented significant revenue generating opportunities. Mr. Rochester holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, with a concentration in Accounting and Finance, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester. We believe that Mr. Rochester is well-qualified to serve as a director of our company due to his corporate development, strategic planning and transactional experience with global industry leading organizations, as well as his status and experiences as a thought leader in, and deep connections in, the minority-owned business community.
Robin D. Watkins CPA. Ms. Watkins is our Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary, and is a member of our Board of Directors. Ms. Watkins, who started her career implementing Sarbanes-Oxley mandates for US Airways and other public companies, brings more than twenty years of strategic financial and operational accounting to our company. Ms. Watkins currently serves as acting Chief Financial Officer at United Way of the National Capital Area, after having served as Vice President of Finance & Accounting. Prior to that, Ms. Watkins held senior and mid-level positions at Deloitte LLP, where she served as a Manager in the Advisory Consulting Practice from May 2018 until September 2021, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she served as Senior Associate from May 2010 to May 2018. As a result of such service, Ms. Watkins is highly regarded for the strategic planning and audit-readiness advice given to federal agencies such as the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security, as well as the US Postal Service. Ms. Watkins is well-versed in financial risk mitigation assessments, internal controls, and compliance audits. During her career, Ms. Watkins has also consulted a wide range of non-profit and community-based organizations, performing services that included financial statement preparation and analysis, internal audits, risk assessments, and tax return preparation. Ms. Watkins holds a BA in Accounting from Drexel University and is a member of the American Institute of CPAs. We believe that Ms. Watkins is well-qualified to serve as a director of our company due to her experience advising and providing services to public companies and other organizations, and her background in strategic financial and operational accounting.
Ronald D. Busby, Sr. Mr. Busby is a member of our Board of Directors. As President and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC), in which capacity he has served since he founded USBC in March 2009, Mr. Busby brings a lifetime of small and minority-owned business, executive management and public policy expertise to our company. Mr. Busby launched his business career working in positions of increasing responsibility at Exxon, IBM, and Coca Cola USA during the 1980’s. Later, he formed his own company, USA Superclean, as well as two other successful janitorial firms - Building Maintenance Services and American Janitorial Services. Mr. Busby is the former president of the Greater Phoenix Black Chamber of Commerce and currently serves on the Pfizer Small Business Council, National Newspapers Publishers Association Foundation Board of Directors, and the White House African American Leadership Council. He also served on the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Council on Underserved Communities. Mr. Busby has testified before the United State Congress and has appeared on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC to discuss the changing economics and viability of Black-owned companies in America. A native of Oakland, California, Mr. Busby holds a BA in Marketing and Economics from Florida A&M and an MBA from Clark Atlanta University. He is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. We believe that Mr. Busby is well-qualified to serve as a director of our company due to his experiences founding, operating and growing successful businesses, as well as his public policy expertise and his deep connections in the minority-owned business community.
Patrick F. Linehan. Mr. Linehan is a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Linehan has been a Partner at the internationally recognized law firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLP since January 2013, where he represents individuals and corporations in both civil litigation and criminal investigations matters. Mr. Linehan is also a member of the firm’s Securities Enforcement, Antitrust/Competition, Government Contracts and Financial Services practice groups. Mr. Linehan has been recognized as a Washington, DC “Super Lawyer” 2019-2021 (Criminal Defense: White-Collar) and 2017-2018 (Securities Litigation), and Legal 500 US in 2016 (Litigation: White-Collar Criminal Defense). Mr. Linehan holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, an Ed.M. from Harvard University and a B.A. from Yale University. His bar memberships include the District of Columbia and the State of New York. We believe that Mr. Linehan is well-qualified to serve as a director of our company due to his long experience advising business entities regarding securities, regulatory and litigation matters.
Julianne Malveaux, Ph.D. Dr. Malveaux is a member of our Board of Directors. She is an internationally known author, public speaker, and thought leader on how race, gender, and economics impact our country. Dr. Malveaux served as the president of Bennett College in North Carolina from June 2007 to May 2012, and during her distinguished academic career she has been faculty or visiting faculty at the New School for Social Research, San Francisco State University, University of California Berkeley, College of Notre Dame (San Mateo, California), Michigan State University and Howard University. Dr. Malveaux currently serves as a Senior Advisor at Cover Communications, a minority-owned strategic communications and public affairs firm. As a senior advisor, Dr. Malveaux provides advice to CEOs and industry leaders on how to achieve their talent acquisition and supplier/vendor relations diversity goals. She is also a prolific public speaker on issues related to women and economics, and racial equity in public policy. Her community service work includes serving as the Honorary Co-Chair of the Social Action Commission of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and serving on the boards of the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit think tank that carries out economic research and analyzes the economic impact of policies and proposals, and The Recreation Wish List Committee of Washington, DC. A native of San Francisco, California, Dr. Malveaux holds a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT and a B.A. in Economics from Boston College, as well as honorary degrees from Benedict College, Sojourner-Douglass College and the University of the District of Columbia. We believe that Dr. Malveaux is well-qualified to serve as a director of our company due to her background in economics, her experiences as a thought leader regarding racial and gender equity in public policy, as well as the personal, professional and academic connections that she has developed during her distinguished career.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
We have five directors. Our board of directors is divided into two 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 two-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 Shawn D. Rochester and Robin D. Watkins, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Ronald D. Busby, Sr., Patrick F. Linehan and Julianne Malveaux, Ph.D., will expire at our second 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.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has 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
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Busby and Linehan, and Dr. Malveaux, serve as members of our audit committee, with Mr. Linehan serving as chair of 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 Messrs. Busby and Linehan, and Dr. Malveaux, 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 Mr. Linehan qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details 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
We have established a compensation committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Busby and Linehan, and Dr. Malveaux, serve as members of our compensation committee, with Dr. Malveaux serving as chair 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. Each of Messrs. Busby and Linehan, and Dr. Malveaux, is independent.
We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
● reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, if any is paid by us, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation;
● reviewing and approving on an annual basis the compensation, if any is paid by us, of all of our other officers;
● reviewing on an annual basis our executive compensation policies and plans;
● implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;
● assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;
● approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees;
● 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 also provides 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 would 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 participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Messrs. Busby and Linehan and Dr. Malveaux. 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 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.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. The Code of Ethics is available under the “Governance” section of our website, www.meoaus.com. We will also provide a copy of the Code of Ethics to stockholders upon request.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
None of our officers or directors has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers, and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers 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. As of the date of this report, it is anticipated that Shawn D. Rochester, our Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of our Board of Directors, will resign as an officer of our company but continue to serve on the Board of Directors of our company following the consummation of the Business Combination, and that all of our other directors and executive officers will resign from such positions effective upon the consummation of the 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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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of March 15, 2023, 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 and directors that beneficially owns shares of our common stock;
● all our executive officers and directors as a group; and
● each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our Class A common stock, our Class B common stock, and our Class A common stock and Class B common stock voting together as a single class. The percentage ownership of our common stock is based on 4,279,522 shares of our common stock outstanding as of March 15, 2023, after giving effect to the redemption of 11,691,10 public shares in connection with the Extension Meeting, consisting of 1,117,022 shares of our Class A common stock and 3,162,500 shares of our Class B common stock issued.
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 warrants offered in our initial public offering or the private placement warrants as such warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of March 15, 2023.
Class A Common Stock Beneficially Owned Class B Common Stock Beneficially Owned (2) % of Total
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) Number of Shares % Number of Shares
%
Voting Power
Directors and Executive Officers
Shawn D. Rochester (4) - - - - -
Robin D. Watkins (4) - - - - -
Ronald D. Busby, Sr. (4) - - - - -
Patrick F. Linehan (4) - - - - -
Julianne Malveaux (4) - - - - -
All executive officers and directors as a group (5 individuals) - - - - -
Five Percent Holders
Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Sponsor, LLC(2)(3) - - 3,162,500 100 % 73.9 %
Owl Creek Credit Opportunities Master Fund, Ltd.(5) 310,000 27.8 % - - 7.2 %
(1) Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Inc., 100 Executive Court, Waxahachie, Texas 75165.
(2) Interests shown consist solely of founder shares, which are shares of our Class B common stock. Such shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to certain adjustments.
(3) Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Sponsor, LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of the shares reported herein. The majority member of our sponsor is Sphere 3D Corp., an Ontario corporation. All decisions regarding the voting or disposition of the securities of our company that are held by our sponsor are exercised by the Board of Directors of Sphere 3D Corp., and not by any individual manager or member of our sponsor.
(4) Does not include any shares held by our sponsor. This individual is a member of our sponsor but does not have voting or dispositive control over the shares held by our sponsor.
(5) Based on information contained in a Schedule 13G filed by Owl Creek Asset Management, L.P. (the “Investment Manager”) and Jeffrey A. Altman with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 10, 2023. The Investment Manager is the investment manager of Owl Creek Credit Opportunities Master Fund, Ltd. (“Master Fund”), and Jeffrey A. Altman is the managing member of the general partner of the Investment Manager. Each of the Investment Manager and Mr. Altman disclaims beneficial ownership of the securities of our company that are held by Master Fund for purposes of Section 16 of the Exchange Act, except to the extent of his or its pecuniary interest therein, if any. The address for the foregoing is 640 Fifth Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10019.
Our initial stockholders beneficially own approximately 73.9% of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock (excluding the shares of Class A common stock issued to the representative of the underwriters upon the closing of our initial public 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 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 or in connection with a tender offer.
Our sponsor and our executive officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Restrictions on Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants
The founder shares, private placement warrants, and any shares of Class A common stock issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in a letter agreement with us entered into by our sponsor, officers and directors. Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination; or (ii) the date on which we consummate a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock 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. In addition, the lock-up provisions of the insider letter provide that the founder shares and the private placement warrants, and any shares of Class A common stock issued upon conversion or exercise thereof are not transferable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. However, any such securities may be transferred or sold: (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor or Maxim, or any affiliates of our sponsor or Maxim; (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member 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 securities 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 the limited liability company agreement of our sponsor or of Maxim Group LLC, upon dissolution of our sponsor and/or Maxim, as applicable; 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 (e) or (g) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreement, and by the same agreements entered into by our sponsor and/or Maxim with respect to such securities (including provisions relating to voting, the trust account, and liquidation distributions).
Registration Rights
The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants, the representative’s shares 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 executed in connection with our initial public 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. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lockup period.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
On April 21, 2021, we issued an aggregate of 2,875,000 founder shares to our sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 in cash, or approximately $0.009 per founder share. In August 2021, we effected a stock dividend, resulting in our initial stockholder holding an aggregate of 3,162,500 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 completion of our initial public offering (not including the shares of Class A common stock issuable to the underwriters upon the closing of our initial public offering). The founder shares (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.
Simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 5,395,000 warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $5,395,000. In addition, Maxim, the representative of the underwriters, purchased an aggregate of 632,500 warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $632,500. The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants underlying the units sold in our initial public offering except that the private placement warrants, so long as they are held by our sponsor, the underwriters or their permitted transferees: (i) will not be redeemable by us; (ii) may not (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis; and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. The private placement warrants (including the shares of Class A common stock 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 below under “- 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.
Commencing on August 25, 2021, we agreed to pay to an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. Pursuant to an amendment to this agreement, we and the applicable affiliate of our sponsor agreed that the $10,000 monthly payment shall, beginning with respect to the monthly period that began on February 26, 2022, and continuing thereafter until the earlier of the consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation, accrue without interest thereon and be due and payable on the earlier of the consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation. On January 17, 2023, we further amended this agreement to provide that we would pay to the applicable affiliate of our sponsor an amount equal to $100,000 to be applied against accrued payments under this agreement plus up to an additional amount equal to $25,000 to be applied against any remaining accrued payments, with the balance to be applied against future fees under this agreement.
Unless disclosed herein, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates 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 our initial public offering, we issued an unsecured promissory note to our sponsor, pursuant to which we were able to borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of our initial public offering. This loan was non-interest bearing, unsecured and due at the earlier of September 30, 2021 or the closing of our initial public offering. Through August 30, 2021, we had drawn down $285,778 under the promissory note with our sponsor to pay for offering expenses. On September 3, 2021, in connection with the closing of our initial public offering, we repaid the full $285,778 loan to our sponsor.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account, if any, to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant (which, for example, would result in the holders being issued warrants to purchase 1,500,000 shares if $1,500,000 of notes were so converted), 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. As of the date of this report, our sponsor and/or its affiliates have provided working capital loans and/or extension loans to us in the aggregate amount of $1,765,000, of all which remains outstanding as of the date of this report. Such loans do not bear interest and are due upon the closing of our initial business combination. We have not sought, and 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 have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares, representative’s shares, private placement warrants, the warrants issuable upon conversion of working capital loans (if any) and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares, which is described under the section entitled “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters-Registration Rights.”
On September 3, 2021, we entered into a letter agreement with our sponsor pursuant to which our sponsor agreed to provide us with loans in such amounts as may be required by us to fund our working capital requirements up to an aggregate of $500,000. Our sponsor has provided to us loans in the full amount set forth in the letter agreement, which amount remains outstanding as of the date of this report.
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.
We have adopted a code of ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our code of ethics, conflict of interest situations include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company.
In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter, is 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 is required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee constitutes a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee is required to approve a related party transaction. 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 an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Furthermore, no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. 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 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 and anticipated to be 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;
● Repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender; and
● Payment of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support provided by an affiliate of our sponsor until the consummation of an initial business combination.
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.
Conflicts of Interest
Our initial stockholders, including our sponsor and certain of our directors and officers, have agreed to offer all suitable business combination opportunities within our industry to the Company before any other person or company until the consummation by the Company of a business combination, subject to any pre-existing contractual or fiduciary obligations they may have.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Our stockholders 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 on or prior to May 30, 2023. 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 (and the underlying securities) will expire worthless. Our initial stockholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination; or (ii) the date on which we consummate a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock 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. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the Class A common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or saleable by our sponsor or its permitted transferees until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our sponsor and officers and directors may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.
● Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
● Our sponsor, officers or directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a business combination and financing arrangements as we may obtain loans from our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or any of our officers or directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such working capital loans may be convertible into private placement-equivalent warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant (which, for example, would result in the holders being issued 1,500,000 warrants if $1,500,000 of notes were so converted), 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 certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may present a conflict of interest:
Name of Individual
Name of Affiliated Entity
Entity’s Business
Affiliation
Shawn D. Rochester
Good Steward LLC
Financial consulting and economic development advisory services
Chief Executive Officer
Robin D. Watkins
United Way of the National Capital Area
Economic advocacy, and related programs and services
Acting Chief Financial Officer
Ronald D. Busby, Sr.
U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.
Economic advocacy and advisory services
President and Chief Executive Officer
Patrick F. Linehan
Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Legal services
Partner
Julianne Malveaux, Ph.D.
Cover Communications
Strategic communications and public affairs
Senior Advisor
Accordingly, if any of the above executive officers or directors becomes aware of an initial 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 other 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 or with any of our officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
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 and public shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public 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 certificate of incorporation provides 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 certificate of incorporation provides that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us or our stockholders for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted under the Delaware General Corporation Law as the same exists or may hereafter be amended.
We have entered into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also 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 have purchased 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.
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.
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 Messrs. Busby and Linehan and Dr. Malveaux are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services.
The firm of Marcum LLP acts as our independent registered public accounting firm. The following is a summary of fees paid to Marcum LLP for services rendered.
Audit Fees
During the fiscal period ended December 31, 2022, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were $121,803 for the services they performed in connection with the audit of our annual financial statements for the fiscal period ended December 31, 2021 and review of financial statements included in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed during 2021, and during the fiscal period ended December 31, 2021, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were $156,303 for the services they performed in connection with our initial public offering.
Audit-Related Fees
During the fiscal periods ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render assurance related services related to the performance of the audit or review of financial statements.
Tax Fees
During the fiscal periods ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render services to us for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.
All Other Fees
During the fiscal periods ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were no fees billed for products and services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm other than those set forth above.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.
(a) The following documents are filed as a part of this report:
1. Financial Statements. See the Index to Consolidated Financial Statements on page.
2. Exhibits. See Item 15(b) below.
(b) Exhibits. The exhibits listed on the Exhibit Index, which appears at the end of this report, are filed as part of, or are incorporated by reference into, this report.
(c) Financial Statement Schedule. See Item 15(a)(1) above.