EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1828914
Filing Year: 2021
Filename: 1828914_10-K_2021_0001193125-21-082982.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
In this Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Form 10-K”), references to the “Company” and to “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Athlon Acquisition Corp.
We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation on October 6, 2020 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 “Initial Business Combination”).
While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any industry or sector, we intend to focus on businesses in the health, wellness and fitness sectors and the products, devices, applications, and technology driving growth within these verticals. More specific examples in these sectors include, but are not limited to, nutrition, digital fitness programming, connected equipment, activewear, meditation and mental wellness, experiential fitness and wellness, recovery, and sleep. Our management team and Board of Directors have extensive knowledge and relationships within these markets, and we intend to capitalize on our ability to identify and acquire businesses that stand to benefit from our unique operational and strategic expertise.
In October 2020, we issued an aggregate of 5,750,000 shares of our Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”) for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to AAC Holdco, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. (the “Sponsor”). In October 2020, our Sponsor transferred an aggregate of 475,000 Founder Shares to certain of our directors. On January 11, 2021, we effected a 1.2:1 stock split, resulting in our Sponsor holding an aggregate of 6,330,000 Founder Shares and there being an aggregate of 6,900,000 Founder Shares outstanding.
On January 14, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) of 27,600,000 units (the “Units”). Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant (“Warrant”), with each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The Units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $276,000,000. Simultaneously with the Initial Public Offering, we completed the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 7,520,000 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, generating total proceeds of $7,520,000. The Private Placement Warrants were sold to the Sponsor. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the public warrants included as part of the Units in the Initial Public Offering, except that, so long as the Private Placement Warrants continue to be held by the Sponsor and its permitted transferees: (i) they are not redeemable by us, except under certain circumstances when the price per share of Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $10.00 (as adjusted), (ii) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold until 30 days after the completion of a business combination, (iii) they are exercisable on a cashless basis and (iv) they are entitled to registration rights.
The closing of the Initial Public Offering and sale of Private Placement Warrants generated total proceeds of $283,520,000. Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering and sale of Private Placement Warrants, an aggregate amount of $276,000,000 has been placed in the U.S. based trust account (the “Trust Account”) established in connection with the Initial Public Offering. Transaction costs amounted to $6,520,000, consisting of $5,520,000 of underwriting fees and $1,000,000 of other offering costs. In addition, $1,000,000 of cash was held outside of the Trust Account established in connection with the Initial Public Offering, which is available for the payment of offering costs and for working capital purposes.
As a result of the underwriter’s exercise in full of its over-allotment option, 900,000 of the Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.
On March 4, 2021, we announced that the holders of our Units may elect to separately trade the Class A common stock and Warrants included in the Units commencing on March 5, 2021 on the Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols of “SWET” and “SWETW,” respectively. Those Units not separated will continue to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “SWETU.”
For further details regarding our business, see the section titled “Proposed Business” contained in our prospectus dated January 11, 2021, incorporated by reference herein

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this annual report, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until completing an Initial Business Combination. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our Initial Business Combination. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our Initial Business Combination. If we fail to complete our Initial Business Combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed Initial Business Combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our Founder Shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our Initial Business Combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.
We may choose not to hold a stockholder vote to approve our Initial Business Combination if the business combination would not require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Except for as required by applicable law or stock exchange requirement, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Even if we seek stockholder approval, the holders of our Founder Shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our Initial Business Combination even if a majority of our public stockholders do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our Initial Business Combination. Since our board of directors may complete 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, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding our Initial Business Combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our Initial Business Combination.
If we seek stockholder approval of our Initial Business Combination, our initial stockholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such Initial Business Combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
We expect our initial stockholders to own 20% of our outstanding common stock at the time of any vote of our stockholders with respect to an Initial Business Combination. Our initial stockholders and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A common stock prior to the completion of our Initial Business Combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, if we seek stockholder approval of an Initial Business Combination, such Initial Business Combination will be approved if we receive the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares voted at such meeting, including the Founder Shares. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ Founder Shares, we would need 10,350,001, or 37.5% (assuming all outstanding shares are voted), or 1,725,001, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares voted), of the 27,600,000 public shares to be voted in favor of an Initial Business Combination in order to have our Initial Business Combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our Initial Business Combination, the agreement by our initial stockholders and management team to vote in favor of our Initial Business Combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval for such Initial Business Combination.
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 a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public 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. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or make us unable to satisfy a minimum cash 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 a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our Initial Business Combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our Initial Business Combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares is submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the Trust Account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B common stock results in the issues of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the shares of Class B common stock at the time of our Initial Business Combination. In addition, the amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an Initial Business Combination. The per share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred
underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
The ability of our public 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 shares.
If our Initial Business Combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our Initial Business Combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our Initial Business Combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the Trust Account until we liquidate the Trust Account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the Trust Account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our Initial Business Combination within 24 months after the closing of the Initial Public Offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our Initial Business Combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our Initial Business Combination within 24 months (by January 14, 2023) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a 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.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.
In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced, which has and is continuing to spread throughout parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic.” The COVID-19 outbreak has and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 continues to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19
or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity in third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
We may not be able to complete our Initial Business Combination within 24 months after the closing of the Initial Public Offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our Initial Business Combination within 24 months (by January 14, 2023) after the closing of the Initial Public Offering. Our ability to complete our Initial Business Combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our Initial Business Combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire.
If we have not completed our Initial Business Combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
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 shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, in the amount of $276,000,000, are held in an interest-bearing Trust Account. The proceeds held in the Trust Account may only be invested in direct 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 income (which we may withdraw to pay income taxes, if any) would be reduced. In the event that we are unable to complete our Initial Business Combination, our public shareholders 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 $276,000,000 as a result of negative interest rates, the amount of funds in the Trust Account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
If we seek stockholder approval of our Initial Business Combination, our initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants.
If we seek stockholder approval of our Initial Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our Initial Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial stockholders, directors, executive officers, advisors or their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our Initial Business Combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their respective affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. However, other than as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such purchases or transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such purchases or transactions. None of the funds in the Trust Account will be used to purchase public shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such purchases may include a contractual acknowledgment 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 initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their respective 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 any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining the requisite stockholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our Initial Business Combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our Initial Business Combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our Initial Business Combination that may not otherwise have been possible. We expect any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our Initial Business Combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our Initial Business Combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our Initial Business Combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their stock certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the date on which the vote on the proposal to approve
the Initial Business Combination is to be held. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a stockholder vote, we intend to require a public stockholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed.
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the Trust Account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the Trust Account only upon the earlier 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 tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our Initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our Initial Business Combination within 24 months (by January 14, 2023) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete an Initial Business Combination within 24 months (by January 14, 2023) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In addition, if we are unable to complete an Initial Business Combination within 24 months (by January 14, 2023) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering for any reason, compliance with Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our Trust Account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond 24 months (January 14, 2023) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering before they receive funds from our Trust Account. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the Trust Account. Holders of 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.
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.
In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our Initial Business Combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share 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 share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and our stockholder’s equity would generally be required to be at least $5,000,000, and we would be required to have a minimum of 300 round lot holders (with at least 50% of such round lot holders holdings securities with a market value of $2,500) 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:
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a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
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reduced liquidity for our securities;
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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;
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a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and
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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, our Class A common stock and warrants are each listed on Nasdaq, our Units, Class A common stock and warrants will qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on Nasdaq, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Since the net proceeds of the 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, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because our net tangible assets exceed $5,000,000, 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 were immediately tradable following our Initial Public Offering and we will have a longer period of time to complete our Initial Business Combination than do companies subject to Rule 419.
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 20% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 20% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our Initial Business Combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our Initial Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation 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 20% of the shares sold in the 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 20% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our Initial Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our Initial Business Combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our Initial Business Combination in conjunction with a stockholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our Initial Business Combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our Initial Business Combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants being held in the Trust Account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least 24 months after our Initial Public Offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our Initial Business Combination, and we will depend on loans from our Sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our Initial Business Combination. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our Initial Business Combination.
As of December 31, 2020, we had not yet received the proceeds from our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our Sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our Sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the Trust Account or from funds released to us upon completion of our Initial Business Combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. Prior to the completion of our Initial Business Combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our Trust Account. If we are unable to complete our Initial Business within the required time period 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 an estimated $10.00 per public share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Subsequent to our completion of our Initial Business Combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the Initial Business Combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders or warrant holders following our Initial Business Combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per public share.
Our placing of funds in the Trust Account may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities (except for our independent registered public accounting firm) 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 consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. The underwriters of the Initial Public Offering as well as our registered independent public accounting firm will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our Initial Business Combination within the required time period, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our Initial Business
Combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the Trust Account, due to claims of such creditors. 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 other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or 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 the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. However, we have not asked our Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our Sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the Trust Account, the funds available for our Initial Business Combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our Initial Business Combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our Sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the Trust Account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the Trust Account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, 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 our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the Trust Account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per public share.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our officers and directors.
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 not to seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the Trust Account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the Trust Account or (ii) we consummate an Initial Business Combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the 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 some or 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, by paying public stockholders from the Trust Account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.
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.
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:
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restrictions on the nature of our investments; and
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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:
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registration as an investment company with the SEC;
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adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and
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reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are not currently subject to.
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the Trust Account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. An investment in our securities is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The Trust Account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our Initial Business Combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our Initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our Initial Business Combination within 24 months (by January 14, 2023) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering; and (iii) absent an Initial Business Combination within 24 months (by January 14, 2023) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-Initial Business Combination activity, 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 a business combination. If we are unable to complete our Initial Business Combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our Initial Business Combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our Initial Business Combination, and results of operations.
If we have not completed an Initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, our public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond such 24 months before redemption from our Trust Account.
If we are unable to complete an Initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of the interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public stockholders from the Trust Account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind-up, liquidate the Trust Account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public stockholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”). In that case, investors may be forced to wait
beyond 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering before the redemption proceeds of our Trust Account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our Trust Account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we complete our Initial Business Combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A common stock. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public stockholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our Initial Business Combination.
Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our Trust Account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our Initial Business Combination within 24 months (by January 14, 2023) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 24th month from the closing of the Initial Public Offering in the event we do not complete our Initial Business Combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our Trust Account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our Initial Business Combination within 24 months (by January 14, 2023) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after the consummation of our Initial Business Combination, which could delay the opportunity for our stockholders to elect directors.
In accordance with Nasdaq’s 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.
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the underlying Class A common stock or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A common stock included in the units.
We are not registering the 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 best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our Initial Business Combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.
If the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption.
In no event will warrants be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
If our shares of Class A common stock are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws.
You may only be able to exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis” under certain circumstances, and if you do so, you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
The warrant agreement provides that in the following circumstances holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do for cash and will, instead, be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act: (i) if the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the terms of the warrant agreement; and (ii) if we have so elected and the shares of Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act. If you exercise your public warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances described in clauses (i) and (ii) in the preceding sentence, you 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” of our shares of Class A common stock (as defined in the next sentence) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” is the average reported closing price of the shares of 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.
The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the shares of our Class A common stock, and you will not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our Initial Business Combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the shares of our Class A common stock. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within twenty business days of the closing of an Initial Business Combination.
The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees, holders of our private placement warrants and their permitted transferees 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 shares of Class A common stock.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with or prior to the issuance and sale of the securities in the Initial Public Offering, at or after the time of our Initial Business Combination, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the shares of Class A common stock into which Founder Shares are convertible, holders of our Private Placement Warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants, 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 conversion of such warrants. The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the Founder Shares, the Private Placement Warrants, any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such Private Placement Warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our 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 shares of common
stock owned by our initial stockholders, holders of our private placement warrants or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry, sector or geographic region nor have we selected any specific target businesses with which to pursue our Initial Business Combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Our efforts to identify a prospective Initial Business Combination target will not be limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While we may pursue an Initial Business Combination opportunity in any industry, sector or geographic region, we expect to focus our efforts on the health, wellness and fitness sectors and intend to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business or businesses that can benefit from our management team’s established global relationships and operating experience. Our management team has extensive experience in identifying and executing strategic investments globally and has done so successfully in a number of sectors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prohibits us from effectuating a business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations.
Because we have not yet selected any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our Initial Business Combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our 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 or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
Past performance by our management team and their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us or in the future performance of any business that we may acquire.
Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our management team or businesses associated with them is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our Initial Business Combination. You should not rely on the historical record of the performance of our management team’s or businesses associated with them as indicative of our future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or is likely to, generate going forward.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries, sectors or geographic regions that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
Although we expect to focus our search for a target business in the health, wellness and fitness sectors and the products, devices, applications, and technology driving growth within these verticals, we will consider a business combination in industries, sectors or geographic regions outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in the Initial Public Offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this annual report regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders or warrant holders, respectively, following our Initial Business Combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders or warrant holders 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 stock exchange listing rules, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our Initial Business Combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our Initial Business Combination, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our Initial Business Combination with an affiliated entity or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm that the price we are paying is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our Initial Business Combination.
We may issue additional shares of Class A common stock or shares of 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 Founder Shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our Initial Business Combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 380,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after the Initial Public Offering, there was 352,400,000 and 13,100,000 (authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B common stock. The Class B common stock is automatically convertible into Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our Initial Business Combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. As of December 31, 2020 and immediately after the Initial Public Offering, there were no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock or shares of 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 to redeem the warrants or upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our Initial Business Combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that prior to our Initial Business Combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the Trust Account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on any Initial Business Combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote. The issuance of additional shares of common stock or shares of preferred stock:
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may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in our securities;
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may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A common stock if shares of preferred stock are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A common stock;
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could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of Class A common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and
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may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or warrants.
Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial stockholders will receive additional shares of Class A common stock if we issue certain shares to consummate an Initial Business Combination.
The Founder Shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our Initial Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our Initial Business Combination, the number of shares
of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all Founder Shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of shares of Class A common stock by public stockholders), including the total number of shares of Class A common stock issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the Initial Business Combination, excluding any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities or rights exercisable or exchangeable for or convertible into shares of Class A common stock issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the Initial Business Combination and any private placement warrants issued to our Sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans, provided that such conversion of Founder Shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis. This is different than some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies in which the initial stockholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to our Initial Business Combination.
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 within the required time period, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, 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 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 within the required time period, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our Initial Business Combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or 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 ability to successfully effect our Initial Business Combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our Initial Business Combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our Initial Business Combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory
positions following our Initial Business Combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our Initial Business Combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our Initial Business Combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our Initial Business Combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to their fiduciary duties under Delaware law.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our Initial Business Combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our Initial Business Combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain stockholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our Initial Business Combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our Initial Business Combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our Initial Business Combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Our executive 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 executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our Initial Business Combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our Initial Business Combination.
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of the Initial Public Offering and until we consummate our Initial Business Combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. In addition, our Sponsor and our officers and directors may Sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an Initial Business Combination. Any such companies, businesses or ventures may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an Initial Business Combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our Initial Business Combination.
Our executive 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, executive officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our Sponsor, our directors or executive officers. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate
and in our stockholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Delaware law and we or our stockholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our stockholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our Sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors and officers also serve as 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 substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. We would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Members of our management team and board of directors have significant experience as founders, board members, officers or executives of other companies. As a result, certain of those persons have been, may be, or may become, involved in proceedings, investigations and litigation relating to the business affairs of the companies with which they were, are, or may in the future be, affiliated. This may have an adverse effect on us, which may impede our ability to consummate an Initial Business Combination.
During the course of their careers, members of our management team and board of directors have had significant experience as founders, board members, officers or executives of other companies. As a result of their involvement and positions in these companies, certain persons were, are now, or may in the future become, involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings relating to the business affairs of such companies or transactions entered into by such companies. Any such litigation, investigations or other proceedings may divert our management team’s and board’s attention and resources away from identifying and selecting a target business or businesses for our Initial Business Combination and may negatively affect our reputation, which may impede our ability to complete an Initial Business Combination.
Since our Sponsor, executive 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 Initial Business Combination target business is appropriate for our Initial Business Combination.
On October 13, 2020, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate 5,750,000 Founder Shares for $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. In October 2020, our Sponsor transferred an aggregate of 475,000 Founder Shares to certain of our directors. On January 11, 2021, we effected a 1.2:1 stock split of our Class B common stock, resulting in our Sponsor holding an aggregate of 6,330,000 Founder Shares and there being an aggregate of 6,900,000 Founder Shares outstanding. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our Sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of the Founder Shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of Founder Shares issued. The number of Founder Shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total number of
Founder Shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. The Founder Shares will be worthless if we do not complete an Initial Business Combination. In addition, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,520,000 Private Placement Warrants, each exercisable for one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $7,520,000, or $1.00 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete our Initial Business Combination. The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an Initial Business Combination and influencing the operation of the business following the Initial Business Combination. This risk may become more acute as the 24-month anniversary of the closing of the Initial Public Offering nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an Initial Business Combination.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of December 31, 2020 to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following the Initial Public Offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our Initial Business Combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the Trust Account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the Trust Account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
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default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an Initial Business Combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;
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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;
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our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand;
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our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding;
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our inability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock;
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using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
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limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
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increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and
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limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.
We may only be able to complete one Initial Business Combination with the proceeds of the 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 products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds held in the Trust Account from our Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants provided us with $266,340,000 that we may use to complete our Initial Business Combination and pay related fees and expenses.
We may effectuate our Initial Business Combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our Initial Business Combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our Initial Business Combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
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solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or
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dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our Initial Business Combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our Initial Business Combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our Initial Business Combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our Initial Business Combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our Initial Business Combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential Initial Business Combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
Our management may not maintain control of a target business after our Initial Business Combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our Initial Business Combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public 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 business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares 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 Class A common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A 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 shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not maintain control of the target business.
We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.
We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.
To the extent we complete our Initial Business Combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our Initial Business Combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders or warrant holders do not agree.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed Initial Business Combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. As a result, we may be able to complete our Initial Business Combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our Initial Business Combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our Initial Business Combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our Sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares in connection with such Initial Business Combination, all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate an Initial Business Combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated 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 a business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an Initial Business Combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval of holders of at least 65% of our common stock, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, at least 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated 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 amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our Initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an Initial Business Combination within 24 months (by January 14, 2023) of the closing of the Initial Public Offering or with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-Initial Business Combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered hereby, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an Initial Business Combination in order to effectuate our Initial Business Combination.
The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our Trust Account) may be amended with the approval of holders of at least 65% of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to facilitate the completion of an Initial Business Combination that some of our stockholders may not support.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of the 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 at least 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 at least 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in the Initial Public Offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Our initial stockholders, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our Initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our Initial Business Combination within 24 months (by January 14, 2023) from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-Initial Business Combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. 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 initial stockholders, executive 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.
Certain agreements entered into in connection with the Initial Public Offering may be amended without stockholder approval.
Each of the agreements related to the Initial Public Offering to which we are a party, other than the warrant agreement and the investment management trust agreement, may be amended without stockholder approval. Such agreements are: the underwriting agreement; the letter agreement among us and our initial stockholders, officers and directors; the registration rights agreement among us and our initial stockholders; the Private Placement Warrants purchase agreement between us and our Sponsor; and the administrative services agreement among us, our Sponsor and an affiliate of our Sponsor. These agreements contain various provisions that our public stockholders might deem to be material. For example, our letter agreement and the underwriting agreement contain certain lock-up provisions with respect to the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and other securities held by our initial stockholders, officers and directors. Amendments to such agreements would require the consent of the applicable parties thereto and would need to be approved by our board of directors, which may do so for a variety of reasons, including to facilitate our Initial Business Combination. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to any of these agreements prior to our Initial Business Combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to any such agreement. Any amendment entered into in connection with the consummation of our Initial Business Combination will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to such Initial Business Combination, and any other material amendment to any of our material agreements will be disclosed in a filing with the SEC. Any such amendments would not require approval from our stockholders, may result in the completion of our Initial Business Combination that may not otherwise have been possible, and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities. For example, amendments to the lock-up provision discussed above may result in our initial stockholders selling their securities earlier than they would otherwise be permitted, which may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our Initial Business Combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
We have not selected any specific business combination target but may target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the proceeds in the Trust Account. As a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the Trust Account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public stockholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed Initial Business Combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment may make it difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our Initial Business
Combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our Initial Business Combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our Initial Business Combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are unable to complete our Initial Business Combination within the required time period, our public stockholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public stockholders, 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.
Our initial stockholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
As of December 31, 2020, our initial stockholders own 20% of our issued and outstanding common stock. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. If our initial stockholders purchase any additional Class A common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial stockholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. 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 Sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms for three years with only one class of directors being 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 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.
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 50% 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 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 for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or to correct any defective provision or mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in this annual report or (ii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of the public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% 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 50% 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 (at a ratio different than initially provided), shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of 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 the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for certain adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that 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. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current
market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for certain adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met, including that (i) if the closing price of our Class A common stock for any 20 trading days within a 30-day trading period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for certain adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant), the Private Placement Warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding public warrants and (ii) holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of shares of Class A common stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A common stock. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (i) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (ii) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of shares of Class A common stock received is capped at 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
Our warrants and Founder Shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our shares of Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our Initial Business Combination.
Currently, we have outstanding a total of 13,800,000 public warrants and 7,520,000 Private Placement Warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. Our initial stockholders currently hold 6,900,000 shares of Class B common stock. The Class B common stock are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors makes any working capital loans, such lender may convert those loans into up to an additional 1,500,000 Private Placement Warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant. To the extent we issue common stock to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants or conversion of these Founder Shares could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock and reduce the value of the Class A common stock issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants and Founder Shares may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
Because each unit contains one-half of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other special purpose acquisition companies.
Each unit contains one-half of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one common share and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to complete an Initial Business Combination.
Unlike most blank check companies, if (i) we issue additional common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our Initial Business Combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our Initial Business Combination on the date of the completion of our Initial Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively. This may make it more difficult for us to complete an Initial Business Combination with a target business.
An active market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop or be sustained, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
The price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases). Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous Initial Business Combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an Initial Business Combination include historical and pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement 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 U.S. GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”), depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our Initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and 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 equals or exceeds $700,000,000 as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 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 prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates 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, 2021. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our Initial Business Combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our shares of Class A common stock and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any claim (A) as to which the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery or (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall have concurrent jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. 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.
Additionally, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal courts shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act against us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or agents. Section 22 of the Securities Act, however, created concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provisions, and the enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. While the Delaware courts have determined that such exclusive forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions, and there can be no assurance
that such provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to these provisions; however, we note that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us and may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
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.
If we effect our Initial Business Combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our Initial Business Combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such Initial Business Combination, and if we effect such Initial Business Combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our Initial Business Combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our Initial Business Combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our Initial Business Combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
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costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations;
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rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;
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complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;
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laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;
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exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;
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tariffs and trade barriers;
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regulations related to customs and import/export matters;
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local or regional economic policies and market conditions;
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unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;
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challenges in managing and staffing international operations;
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longer payment cycles;
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tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;
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currency fluctuations and exchange controls;
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rates of inflation;
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challenges in collecting accounts receivable;
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cultural and language differences;
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employment regulations;
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underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;
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corruption;
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protection of intellectual property;
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social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances;
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regime changes and political upheaval;
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terrorist attacks and wars; and
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deterioration of political relations with the United States.
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such Initial Business Combination, or, if we complete such Initial Business Combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Not applicable.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
ITEM 2. PROPERTY
We currently maintain our principal executive offices at 44 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. The cost for this space is included in the $5,000 per-month fee our Sponsor, charges us for office space, operational support and secretarial and administrative services. We consider our current office space, combined with the other office space otherwise available to our executive officers, adequate for our current operations.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
None.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our units, common stock and warrants are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Markets (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols SWETU, SWET and SWETW, respectively.
Holders
As of March 10, 2021, there was one holder of record of our Units, one holder of record of our Class A common stock and two holders of record of our warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our Initial Business Combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our Initial Business Combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our Initial Business Combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we incur any indebtedness in connection with our Initial Business Combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities
In October 2020, we issued an aggregate of 5,750,000 shares of our Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”) for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to our Sponsor. In October 2020, our Sponsor transferred an aggregate of 475,000 Founder Shares to certain of our directors. On January 11, 2021, we effected a 1.2:1 stock split, resulting in our Sponsor holding an aggregate of 6,330,000 Founder Shares and there being an aggregate of 6,900,000 Founder Shares outstanding.
On January 14, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) of 27,600,000 Units. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable Warrant, with each whole Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The Units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $276,000,000. Simultaneously with the Initial Public Offering, we completed the private placement of 7,520,000 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, generating total proceeds of $7,520,000. The Private Placement Warrants were sold to the Sponsor. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the public warrants included as part of the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that, so long as the Private Placement Warrants continue to be held by the Sponsor and its permitted transferees: (i) they are not redeemable by us, except under certain circumstances when the price per share of Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $10.00 (as adjusted), (ii) they (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold until 30 days after the completion of a business combination, (iii) they are exercisable on a cashless basis and (iv) they are entitled to registration rights.
The closing of the Initial Public Offering and sale of Private Placement Warrants generated total proceeds of $283,520,000. Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering and sale of Private Placement Warrants, an aggregate amount of $276,000,000 has been placed in the Trust Account established in connection with the Initial Public Offering. Transaction costs amounted to $6,520,000 consisting of $5,520,000 of underwriting fees and $1,000,000 of other offering costs. In addition, $1,000,000 of cash was held outside of the Trust Account established in connection with the Initial Public Offering, which is available for the payment of offering costs and for working capital purposes.
As a result of the underwriter’s exercise in full of its over-allotment option, 900,000 of the Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account (excluding deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our Initial Business Combination. We may withdraw interest to pay our taxes. We estimate our annual franchise tax obligations, based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding after the completion of the Initial Public Offering, to be $300,000, which is the maximum amount of annual franchise taxes payable by us as a Delaware corporation per annum, which we may pay from funds from the Initial Public Offering held outside of the Trust Account or from interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and released to us for this purpose. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the Trust Account. We expect the interest earned on the amount in the Trust Account will be sufficient to pay our 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, the remaining proceeds held in the Trust Account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
We intend to use the funds held outside the Trust Account primarily identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete the Initial Business Combination.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Not required for a smaller reporting company.

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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
The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and the notes related thereto which are included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Overview
We are a blank check company formed under the laws of the State of Delaware on October 6, 2020, for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses. We intend to effectuate our Initial Business Combination using cash from the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.
We expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete a Initial Business Combination will be successful.
Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any operating revenues to date. Our only activities from October 6, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 were organizational activities and those necessary
to prepare for the Initial Public Offering, described below. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our Initial Business Combination. We expect to generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held after the Initial Public Offering. We expect that we will 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 in connection with searching for, and completing, an Initial Business Combination.
For the period from October 6, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had a net loss of $2,241, which consisted of formation and operating expenses.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2020, we had cash of $4,457. Until the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, our only source of liquidity was an initial purchase of common stock by the Sponsor and loans from our Sponsor.
On January 14, 2021, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 27,600,000 Units, at a price of $10.00 per Unit, which included the exercise in full by the underwriter of its over-allotment option in the amount of 3,600,000 Units, generating gross proceeds of $276,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the sale of 7,520,000 Private Placement Warrants to our Sponsor at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant generating gross proceeds of $7,520,000.
Following the Initial Public Offering, the full exercise of the over-allotment option, and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, a total of $276,000,000 was placed in the Trust Account. We incurred $15,649,762 in transaction costs, including $5,520,000 of underwriting fees, $9,660,000 of deferred underwriting fees and $469,762 of other offering costs.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account (less deferred underwriting fees and income taxes payable), to complete our Initial Business Combination. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our Initial Business Combination, the remaining proceeds held in the Trust Account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
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, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete an Initial Business Combination.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an 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 may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to us. In the event that an Initial Business Combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts, but no proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant, at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants.
We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an Initial Business Combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our Initial Business Combination.
Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our Initial Business Combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon consummation of our Initial Business Combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Initial Business Combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our Initial Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our Initial Business Combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the Trust Account. In addition, following our Initial Business Combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements
We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2020. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities other than an agreement to pay the Sponsor a monthly fee of $5,000 for office space, operational support and secretarial and administrative services. We began incurring these fees on January 11, 2021 and will continue to incur these fees monthly until the earlier of the completion of the Initial Business Combination and our liquidation.
The underwriters are entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $9,660,000 in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that we complete an Initial Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.
Critical Accounting Policies
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and income and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have not identified any critical accounting policies.
Recent Accounting Standards
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statements.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Not required for smaller reporting companies.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
This information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is incorporated herein by reference.

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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. CONTROL 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 principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management evaluated, with the participation of our current principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer (our “Certifying Officers”), the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, our Certifying Officers concluded that, as of December 31, 2020, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.
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.
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.
PART III

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT
Directors and Executive Officers
Our current directors and executive officers are as follows:
Name
Age
Position
Chris Hickey
Chief Executive Officer and Director
David Poltack
Chief Financial Officer
Mark Wan
Executive Chairman and Director
Jared Smith
Director
Paraag Marathe
Director
Daniel Gallagher
Director
Daniel Burns
Director
Mark Wan, Executive Chairman and Director
Mr. Wan has over 30 years of successful private equity and venture investment experience. Mr. Wan co-founded Causeway, an investment fund focused on sports media, sports technology, fitness, and related industries, in 2013. Prior to forming Causeway, he was a co-founding partner of Three Arch Partners from 1993 to 2013, a healthcare-focused investment firm that raised over $1 billion of capital commitments across five funds. Prior to Three Arch Partners, Mr. Wan was a general partner at Brentwood Associates, a private equity firm headquartered in Los Angeles. Mr. Wan has served on numerous public and private company boards.
He currently sits on the boards of Tracksmith, Freeletics, FloSports, Stio, VenueNext, QuintEvents, and AcelRx (NASDAQ: ACRX). Prior public boards include Perclose acquired by Abbott Healthcare, Odyssey Healthcare acquired by Genitive, and epocrates acquired by AthenaHealth. Mr. Wan is a co-owner of the NBA’s Boston Celtics, NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, English Premier League’s Leeds United, and esports team, Team Liquid. Mr. Wan received his BS in electrical engineering from Yale University and his MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Mr. Wan is well-qualified to serve on our Board of Directors because of his significant experience in private equity and venture financing.
Chris Hickey, Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Hickey is an established executive in the health, wellness and fitness consumer industry with 20 years of experience leading a range of companies and well-known brands. Mr. Hickey served as CEO and President of The Isopure Company a high-growth, private equity-backed sports nutrition company from 2013 to 2016. Mr. Hickey was recruited to Isopure to transition and grow a 25+ year old leading sports nutrition company from its founder legacy to a scalable business and team, and led the resulting sale to Glanbia plc, the Ireland-based global performance nutrition and ingredients company.
Prior to his experience at Isopure, Mr. Hickey was the Chief Marketing Officer of EXOS (formerly Athletes’ Performance) a private equity-backed human performance company focused on an integrated system of Mindset, Nutrition, Movement, and Recovery. During Mr. Hickey’s tenure, EXOS successfully expanded its leadership in human performance from its roots as an elite athlete service-based performance provider to one that integrates coaching, methodology and technology to drive personalized program engagement and outcomes for large employers and their employees, scaling from a start-up to a successful sale to BDT Capital Partners and Madrone Capital Partners.
Prior to EXOS, Mr. Hickey was the Group Director for Performance Nutrition for Abbott Nutrition with responsibility of leading the EAS, Myoplex, and ZonePerfect brands. In this role, Mr. Hickey pioneered the concept of sports nutrition “supplierships” with professional sports leagues including the NFL/NFLPA, MLB/MLBPA, and NBPA through the NSF certified for sport program.
Prior to his experience at Abbott Nutrition, Mr. Hickey held various marketing leadership positions at Molson Coors, General Mills, and Proctor & Gamble. Mr. Hickey also previously served as CEO of No Cow, from April 2017 to October 2018, and as a board member and CEO of Kalahari Snacks from December 2018 to December 2020, which both operate in the health food space. Mr. Hickey also served as Operating Partner of AF Ventures, a venture capital fund investing in consumer product companies, from November 2018 to October 2020. Mr. Hickey received his MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and his BS in accounting from Villanova University. Mr. Hickey currently sits on the boards for Onnit, a high-growth direct-to-consumer nutrition and fitness supplement brand, and Momentous, a premium active nutrition brand and platform with a customer base including over 100 professional teams. Mr. Hickey is well-qualified to serve on our Board of Directors because of his significant experience in the health, wellness and fitness consumer industry.
David Poltack, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Poltack has over 20 years of private equity and venture capital experience. Mr. Poltack joined Causeway in 2017 as Chief Financial Officer where he is responsible for all financial, operational and administrative functions of the firm including financial reporting, human resources, facilities, IT and investor relations. From 2011 to 2017, he was the Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director at Globespan Capital Partners, an IT focused global venture capital firm that raised over $1 billion of capital across six fund generations. His earlier career included 11 years at TVM Capital, a global venture capital firm, as a general partner of corporate finance and six years at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Throughout his career, Mr. Poltack has been actively involved in hundreds of financing transactions, numerous merger and acquisitions and several IPOs.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Credit Sesame. Prior board experience includes Analogix Semiconductor (acquired by Shanhai Capital), CyDex Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Ligand), MarketLive (acquired by Vista Equity Partners), and Nantero. Mr. Poltack earned a bachelor’s degree in accountancy, with honors, from Boston College, an MBA, with honors, from Suffolk University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Our Independent Directors
Daniel Burns, Director
Mr. Burns served for over 10 years as the CEO of EXOS, where he currently sits on the board as Executive Chairman. Under his control, EXOS successfully expanded its leadership in human performance from its roots as an elite athlete service-based performance provider, to one that integrates coaching, methodology and technology to drive personalized program engagement and outcomes for large employers and their employees. As a market leader today in both sports and employer health and performance, EXOS has received accolades including Fast Company Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Sport, Fast Company Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Fitness, Inc. 5000 for four consecutive years, and the Presidential “E” Award for Export Service. In 2018, Mr. Burns led the sale of EXOS to Madrone Capital Partners and BDT Capital Partners.
Previously, he was a management consultant at Bain & Company and then in business operations at the National Basketball Association. He is a member of the Investment Committee for the Arizona Founders Fund and supports several portfolio companies with their business strategies. He also serves as an advisory board member of Arizona State University’s Sports Law and Business program. Mr. Burns has been honored by and served as a keynote speaker at the Economic Club of Phoenix, Arizona Business Leadership, and Arizona Growth and Leadership Forum. Mr. Burns earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and History from Amherst College, graduating magna cum laude, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mr. Burns is well-qualified to serve on our Board of Directors because of his extensive leadership experience in the sports and fitness industries.
Daniel Gallagher, Director
Mr. Gallagher has over 15 years of leadership experience in the fitness industry. He currently is the CFO at Crunch Holdings LLC (“Crunch”), one of the fastest growing full-size health club franchise concepts in the U.S. Crunch was recently ranked the “Best in Fitness Category” by Franchise Business Review. Most recently, in the summer of 2019, Mr. Gallagher guided Crunch through a sale process resulting in a successful transaction with the TPG Growth Fund.
From 1999 through 2015, Mr. Gallagher served in various leadership roles at Town Sports International “TSI” (NASDAQ: CLUB), including the positions of CFO, President and CEO. During Mr. Gallagher’s tenure at TSI, he drove revenue growth largely through a successful M&A strategy and was instrumental in completing TSI’s initial public offering and numerous debt financings.
Previously, Mr. Gallagher was a CPA with almost a decade of experience starting his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a global accounting and consulting firm, where he led financial audits of multiple public and private companies. Mr. Gallagher’s tenure at PwC included a managerial role in the Transaction Services Group leading the due diligence process supporting the investment decisions of multiple strategic clients and private equity firms. Mr. Gallagher has a strong finance and accounting background and holds a BA from Villanova University. Mr. Gallagher is well-qualified to serve on our Board of Directors because of his extensive leadership experience in the fitness industry.
Paraag Marathe, Director
Mr. Marathe is in his 20th year with the San Francisco 49ers, an NFL team, concurrently serving as President of 49ers Enterprises and Executive Vice President of Football Operations. On the football side, Mr. Marathe continues in his long-respected role as the team’s chief contract negotiator and salary cap architect, while overseeing the team’s football analytics department, among other football duties.
While serving as San Francisco 49ers team president from 2014-16 and COO from 2010-13, Mr. Marathe oversaw the development of Levi’s Stadium and helped bring to life the vision of an unparalleled fan experience at the venue. Within 49ers Enterprises, he oversees outside business ventures, advisory efforts, and major investment opportunities for the club.
In 2018, Mr. Marathe led the effort to purchase a minority ownership stake in Leeds United Football Club of the English Championship League. Mr. Marathe holds a seat on the Leeds United Board of Directors. Mr. Marathe was named the Chairman of USA Cricket in October 2018 and moved quickly to ensure USA Cricket earned recognition by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Prior to joining the San Francisco 49ers, Mr. Marathe spent three years at management consulting firm Bain & Company. Before that, he worked in the sports consulting group at the International Management Group (IMG). Mr. Marathe received his bachelor’s degree with high honors from the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley and his MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Mr. Marathe is well-qualified to serve on our Board of Directors because of his extensive leadership experience in the professional sports industry.
Jared Smith, Director
Mr. Smith is President of Ticketmaster and Executive Vice President of Live Nation (NYSE: LYV), overseeing the company’s leading live event technology and services platform. During his more than 17-year career with Ticketmaster and Live Nation, Mr. Smith’s efforts were responsible for the development of key industry advancements including Ticketmaster’s TM+, Presence, SafeTix and Verified Fan products.
Mr. Smith’s previous roles at Ticketmaster include, President of North America and Chief Operating Officer. In these roles, he reinvented Ticketmaster’s approach to client, artist, and fan engagement and transformed its sales, product, and support organizations. Mr. Smith has been honored on Billboard’s Power 100 list in 2020, 2019, 2017 and has been twice named to both Sports Business Journal and Billboard Magazine’s “40 Under 40” lists in 2014 and 2015.
Prior to joining Ticketmaster in 2003, Mr. Smith held various leadership roles in live event management and sports business sales and marketing. He holds a BA from The University of Iowa. Mr. Smith is well-qualified to serve on our Board of Directors because of his extensive leadership experience in the live event management industry.
Director Independence
Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. Our board of directors has determined that Jared Smith, Paraag Marathe, Daniel Gallagher and Daniel Burns are “independent directors” as defined in Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Audit Committee
Effective January 6, 2021, we established an audit committee of the board of directors. The members of our audit committee are Daniel Burns, Daniel Gallagher and Paraag Marathe, and Mr. Gallagher serves as chair of the audit committee. All members of our audit committee are independent of and unaffiliated with our Sponsor.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mr. Gallagher qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:
•
assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent registered public accounting firm; the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us;
•
pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; reviewing and discussing with the independent registered public accounting firm all relationships the independent registered public accounting firm have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence;
•
setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues;
•
meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, including
reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and
•
reviewing with management, the independent, 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
Effective January 6, 2021, we established a compensation committee of the board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Daniel Burns, Daniel Gallagher and Jared Smith. Mr. Burns serves as chair of the compensation committee.
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) evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation;
•
reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers;
•
reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans;
•
implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;
•
assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;
•
approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our executive officers and employees;
•
producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and
•
reviewing, evaluating, and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Effective January 6, 2021, we established a nominating committee of the board of directors. The members of the nominating committee are Daniel Burns, Paraag Marathe and Jared Smith. Mr. Marathe serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee.
We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
•
screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of stockholders or to fill vacancies on the board of directors;
•
developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines;
•
coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and
•
reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary.
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders. Prior to our Initial Business Combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Code of Ethics
Effective January 6, 2021, we adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. You can review this document by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and the charters of the committees will be provided without charge upon request from us. If we make any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics other than technical, administrative or other non-substantive amendments, or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC or Nasdaq rules, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our officers, directors, and persons who own more than ten percent of a registered class of our equity securities to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Officers, directors, and ten percent stockholders are required by regulation to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely on copies of such forms received or written representations from certain reporting persons that no Form 5s were required for those persons, we believe that, during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, all filing requirements applicable to our officers, directors, and greater than ten percent beneficial owners were complied with.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
No executive officer has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Until consummation of an Initial Business Combination, we will pay our Sponsor, an aggregate fee of $5,000 per month for providing us with office space, operational support and secretarial and administrative services. However, this arrangement is solely for our benefit and is not intended to provide any of our officers or directors with compensation in lieu of a salary. We may also pay consulting, success or finder fees to our Sponsor, officers, directors, initial stockholders or their affiliates in connection with the consummation of our Initial Business Combination. They will also receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses, performing business due diligence on suitable target businesses and business combinations, as well as traveling to and from the offices, plants, or similar locations of prospective target businesses to examine their operations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us.
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 shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials furnished to our shareholders. The amount of such compensation may not be known at the time of a shareholder meeting held to consider an Initial Business Combination, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation. In this event, such compensation will be publicly disclosed at the time of its determination in a Current Report on Form 8-K, as required by the SEC.
Since our formation, we have not granted any stock options or stock appreciation rights or any other awards under long-term incentive plans to any of our executive officers or directors.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock 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 officers and directors; and
•
all of our officers and directors as a group.
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record of beneficial ownership of the warrants included in the units offered in the IPO or the Private Placement Warrants as the warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date hereof.
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1)
Amount and
Nature of
Beneficial
Ownership (2)(4)
Approximate
Percentage of
Outstanding
Shares
AAC HoldCo, LLC (our Sponsor)(3)
6,330,000
18.4 %
Mark Wan(3)
6,330,000
18.4 %
Chris Hickey
450,000
1.3 %
David Poltack(4)
-
-
Jared Smith
30,000 *
Paraag Marathe
30,000 *
Daniel Gallagher
30,000 *
Daniel Burns
30,000 *
All executive officers and directors as a group (seven individuals)
6,900,000
%
(1) Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following is c/o Athlon Acquisition Corp., 44 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA 02138.
(2) Interests shown consist solely of Founder Shares, classified as Class B common stock. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our Initial Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment.
(3) AAC HoldCo, LLC is the record holder of the shares reported herein. Causeway Media Partner II, L.P. is the sole member of AAC HoldCo, LLC. Mr. Wan, by virtue of his shared control over our sponsor, may be deemed to beneficially own shares held by our sponsor.
(4) Does not include any shares indirectly owned by this individual as a result of his ownership interest in our sponsor.
* Less than 1%.
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 the
agreements entered into by our initial stockholders. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable (i) in the case of the Founder Shares, until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our Initial Business Combination or earlier if, subsequent to our Initial Business Combination, the closing price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our Initial Business Combination and (B) the date following the completion of our Initial Business Combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property and (ii) in the case of the Private Placement Warrants and the respective shares of Class A common stock underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our Initial Business Combination except in each case (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members or partners of our sponsor or their affiliates (including members of our sponsor’s members), any affiliates of our sponsor, or any employees of such affiliates, (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of such person’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of such person’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of such person; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the Private Placement Warrants or shares of Class A common stock, as applicable, were originally purchased; (f) by virtue of the laws of the State of Delaware or our Sponsor’s organizational documents upon liquidation or dissolution of our sponsor, (g) to the company for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our Initial Business Combination; (h) in the event of our liquidation prior to our consummation of our Initial Business Combination; or (i) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to the completion of our Initial Business Combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (f) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions and the other restrictions contained in the letter agreement.
Our executive officers and AAC HoldCo, LLC, our Sponsor, are our “promoters,” as that term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Equity Compensation Plans
As of December 31, 2020, we had no compensation plans (including individual compensation arrangements) under which equity securities of the registrant were authorized for issuance.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
On October 13, 2020, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate 5,750,000 Founder Shares for a total purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. In October 2020, our Sponsor transferred an aggregate of 475,000 Founder Shares to certain of our directors. On January 11, 2021, we effected a 1.2:1 stock split of our Class B common stock, resulting in our Sponsor holding an aggregate of 6,330,000 Founder Shares and there being an aggregate of 6,900,000 Founder Shares outstanding. The number of Founder Shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of the Initial Public Offering would be a maximum of 27,600,000 Units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such Founder Shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering.
At the closing of our Initial Public Offering, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,520,000 at a price of $1.00 per warrant, or $7,520,000, in a private placement. Each Private Placement Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. The Private Placement Warrants (including the
Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold until 30 days after the completion of our Initial Business Combination.
We currently utilize office space at 44 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 from our Sponsor. Subsequent to the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we will pay our Sponsor $5,000 per month for office space, operational support and secretarial and administrative services provided to members of our management team. Upon completion of our Initial Business Combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.
No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our Sponsor, executive 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 fees and expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on payments that may be made to our Sponsor, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates.
Our Sponsor loaned us funds to be used for a portion of the expenses of the Initial Public Offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and were repaid at the closing of the Initial Public Offering.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended Initial Business Combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required on a non-interest basis. If we complete an Initial Business Combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the Initial Business Combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-transaction company at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our Initial Business Combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our Trust Account.
Any of the foregoing payments to our Sponsor, repayments of loans from our sponsor or repayments of working capital loans prior to our Initial Business Combination will be made using funds held outside the Trust Account.
After our Initial Business Combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such 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.
Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors will adopt a policy setting forth the policies and procedures for its review and approval or ratification of “related party transactions.” A “related party transaction” is any consummated or proposed transaction or series of transactions: (i) in which the company was or is to be a participant; (ii) the amount of which exceeds (or is reasonably expected to exceed) the lesser of $120,000 or 1%
of the average of the company’s total assets at year end for the prior two completed fiscal years in the aggregate over the duration of the transaction (without regard to profit or loss); and (iii) in which a “related party” had, has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. “Related parties” under this policy will include: (i) our directors, nominees for director or executive officers; (ii) any record or beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities; (iii) any immediate family member of any of the foregoing if the foregoing person is a natural person; and (iv) any other person who maybe a “related person” pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the policy, the audit committee will consider (i) the relevant facts and circumstances of each related party transaction, including if the transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained in arm’s-length dealings with an unrelated third party, (ii) the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction, (iii) whether the transaction contravenes our code of ethics or other policies, (iv) whether the audit committee believes the relationship underlying the transaction to be in the best interests of the company and its stockholders and (v) the effect that the transaction may have on a director’s status as an independent member of the board and on his or her eligibility to serve on the board’s committees. Management will present to the audit committee each proposed related party transaction, including all relevant facts and circumstances relating thereto. Under the policy, we may consummate related party transactions only if our audit committee approves or ratifies the transaction in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the policy. The policy will not permit any director or executive officer to participate in the discussion of, or decision concerning, a related person transaction in which he or she is the related party.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES.
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to WithumSmith+Brown, PC, or Withum, for services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by Withum in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Withum for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements, and other required filings with the SEC for the period from October 6, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 totaled approximately $69,000. The above amounts include interim procedures and audit fees.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related services consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay Withum for consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards for the period from October 6, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
Tax Fees. We did not pay Withum for tax planning and tax advice for the period from October 6, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
All Other Fees. We did not pay Withum for other services for the period from October 6, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
Pre-Approval Policy
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our Initial Public Offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, AND SCHEDULES
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this Form 10-K:
(1) Financial Statements:
Description
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Financial Statements:
Balance Sheet
Statement of Operations
Statement of Changes in Stockholder’s Equity
Statement of Cash Flows
Notes to Financial Statements
to
(2) Financial Statement Schedules:
None.
(b) We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of such material can also be obtained from the Public Reference Section of the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, at prescribed rates or on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
Exhibit No.
Description
3.1
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.*
3.2
Bylaws.**
4.1
Specimen Unit Certificate.**
4.2
Specimen Class A Common Stock Certificate.**
4.3
Specimen Warrant Certificate.**
4.4
Description of Securities.
4.5
Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Company.*
10.1
Letter Agreement among the Registrant, AAC Holdco, LLC and each of the executive officers and directors of the Company.*
10.2
Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Company.*
10.3
Registration Rights Agreement among the Company, AAC HoldCo, LLC and the Holders signatory thereto.*
10.4
Promissory Note issued to AAC HoldCo, LLC.**
Code of Ethics.**
31.1
Certification of Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2
Certification of Principal Financial Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Certification pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
* Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 15, 2021
** Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (SEC File No. 333-251605).